Two years ago, Argonaut moved into a new 40,000-square-foot space that serves as Denver’s top- selling beverage alcohol location. Outside view of the store below.
Building a New Store B
uilding a new store was not something that Argonaut’s owners entered into lightly. Vaughn said they spent a solid year working with the architect on planning the store before construction even began. “We were looking at all the different ways that we could make the building efficient and try to use what had we learned from being in business in an older store. When we built this store we tried to be progressive, and we tried to go fairly green.”
The new building uses its roof to incorporate solar
power, and where practical, recycled materials were used in construction. The lighting system is adjustable and there are lots of windows to allow the maximum use of ambient light.
“I think in the old days, liquor stores kind of viewed themselves as fortresses,” said Vaughn. “They didn’t have a lot of windows and were closed in. We decided to go in the opposite direction and make the building as attractive on the outside as it is beautiful on the inside.”
Contrary to conventional wisdom, taking a green approach doesn’t have to cost a lot more. “There are a lot of things you can do that don’t cost you a lot more money,” said Vaughn. “A couple of things probably cost us a little bit more, but overall it’s the right direction to go in, and the payback on it comes over a period of time.
“I’m not really a nuts-and-berries green guy, but it was great,” he said of the experience. “I learned a lot and it wasn’t hard to do, so I would recommend it to anybody.”
22 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • March/April 2011 Outpacing the Economy W
ith the difficult economy over the last few years, the largest American corporations have decided to hold onto their cash, even if they collectively have more than a trillion dollars in reserve. So, in some respects, it’s surprising to see a relatively small, indepen- dent business decide to make the major capital expendi- ture that building a new headquarters entails, but Vaughn says Argonaut has been somewhat of an anom- aly and that his business has grown steadily in recent years. “We made the decision that the right thing to do was to go forward and not stay stuck where we were. Our business was growing even two years ago, and we committed to building a new building and being part of the redevelopment along Colfax Avenue.”
