Liquor shop works to keep mom and pop stores alive in the face of a movement that aims to change liquor laws.
Name: Ron Vaughn
Business: Argonaut Liquor
Location: Denver
In 1992, Ron Vaughn came to Colorado to help with his wife’s family business: Argonaut Liquor. Decades later, he still loves every chance he gets to interact with his regulars.
What’s the history of Argonaut Liquor?
Argonaut has been on Colfax Avenue since 1934. It was a mom and pop counter shop then, and was purchased in 1967 by the Robinson family. Hank Robinson still comes to work five days a week and interacts with the customers.
In 2008, we built a 40,000-square-foot building next to the old store and moved into the new store. It’s kind of a different concept from the old-school liquor guys, but it has improved the business.
We’re only seven blocks from the Capitol, and there are plusses and minuses to being so close. But we’re very involved in the business community here, as well as the Lions Club and charities.
Argonaut has been a long Denver fixture. It’s one of its most famous stores and has kept its name since the beginning.
What is Colorado’s business climate like?
Hot, hot, hot. The state is a great place to live; there are a lot of outdoor activities and the weather is really nice. Marijuana has been legalized, and I think that is part of the growing business climate and has helped to increase tourism.
A lot of young people are willing to spend money on craft beers, distilled spirits and wine. People are really on a buy-local binge here—they like to know where it came from. They’re about the story and want to support local businesses, and we have all three different types of liquor production here in Colorado.
What are some of your biggest challenges, and how are you dealing with them?
Our biggest challenge coming up right now is the drive to change Colorado’s liquor laws that currently only allow one liquor license per name. A lot of what we do now is mobilization to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The problem is that the industry was built on certain laws, and if you change those it will destroy a certain segment of mom and pop shops. As many as half the liquor stores could close here in Colorado if grocery stores were allowed to carry liquor.
Is convenience enough of a reason to destroy a segment of business? They don’t create any more jobs, they don’t bring anything new to it, and the profits go out of state. The local guys are involved in their communities, and that’s an important piece of the fabric of Colorado.
What is most rewarding about running a small business?
Interaction with customers. We’ve been here so long that we have customers who have been shopping at the Argonaut for 40 to 50 years. And then watching their kids, a whole new generation of Coloradans, come and develop their tastes and likes. Interacting with them all is the most rewarding part of running the business.
Why did you join NFIB?
I think they’re a great voice politically in Washington. Laws that are passed nationally affect us, and they listen well to their members and go do battle for us.
