Van's Liquors co-owners Jeff Jansen (far right) and Glen "Bart" Bartleme (second from left) are joined by two long-time employees who can do just about anything that needs to be done in the store: Joleen Reisen (far left) and Teresa Phillips. Jeff's father Ron Jansen, the other co-owner, is not pictured here.
Small Town Store with Regional Appeal
By Jeremy Nedelka R
on Jansen didn't follow the typical path to owning a retail store when he purchased Van's Liquors in 1987. He'd sold his beer wholesale business a week
earlier, knew very little about wine, had no retail experi- ence and wasn't a member of the family that had owned Van's for more than 50 years. "It was a nightmare at first," he says. Somehow, he was able to overcome the odds and over the past quarter-century Van's has grown
Van's Liquors in
East Dubuque, IL is known in three states for
great service,
wide selection and a unique shopping experience.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RBR STUDIOS, INC. and prospered under his ownership.
"It was quite a transition from wholesale to retail for me," Jansen says. Van's was the largest retail account for his wholesale business, Jansen Beverage, and as a result he was friends with the owner, who was the seventh member of the Vanderah family to own the store. When that friend wanted to get out of the retail business and Jansen received an offer for his distributorship, he saw an opportunity.
Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • July/August 2012 • 33
