Business

At the end of January, Janie and Ryan Pratt purchased the business formerly known as Mary’s Main Street Spirits. Th ey have changed the name to Downtown Liquors on Main and are, Janie, said, “a mom and pop store, locally-owned and operated.”

Ryan, born and raised in Carbondale and a 1997 graduate of Roaring Fork High School, remembers working at the store when he was 15 years old.

As recently as 10 years ago, the store required someone to shovel coal into the furnace in the winter for warmth. Ryan’s father worked with the father of the store’s landlord, and Ryan would occasionally stoke the coal furnace.

From a young age, Ryan was interested in fi nding business opportunities. His “fi rst little business venture” occured in the sixth grade at Carbondale Middle School. He would go to a PACE discount warehouse store — as he called it, “the Sam's Club of its day” — and buy large bags of candy bars, licorice ropes or gum. He would then bring those sweet treats to school and sell them individually. It’s something “you could never get away with today,” he admits with a big laugh.

Janie was born and raised in Idaho. For two weeks each September, “I worked the potato harvest, like most kids in my area,” she said. “We never really got a spring break because we had a harvest break.”

Th ey both have daughters who graduated from Roaring Fork High School in 2022 — Janie’s daughter, Aliyah, and Ryan’s daughter, Gracie.

In 2013, the Pratts met through mutual friends in Boulder. While Ryan was in Carbondale and Janie in Estes Park, she said, “We talked for months and months.” Janie admitted “the long-distance thing wasn't going to work,” so, at the end of 2014, she and her daughters moved to the Roaring Fork Valley.

When the Pratts were looking to buy a business, Ryan said, they fi rst looked at liquor stores on online business listings, but, “the [fi nancials] didn't end up matching on the paperwork.”

Ryan remembered his coal shoveling days and “knowing the landlord here, I called him and asked, ‘So tell me about the liquor store business,’ to which he answered, ‘All I know is I ate a lot of dinners in that place,’” Ryan laughed.

What followed were backand-forth conversations with the landlord and the previous tenant. Aft er evaluating the fi nancials, they came to an agreement which ended with signing a lease and a new business venture for the Pratts.

Mary Jane, a tabby cat who is the store’s mascot, lives there full-time. Th e cat belongs to Janie’s 24-yearold daughter, Issa, an Idaho State University student helping out at the store this summer. Mary Jane greets customers and is already a bit of a local celebrity, having had her picture published in Th e Aspen Times a few weeks ago.

Th e liquor industry has changed considerably in the last 20-some years. New beverages like craft beers, hard seltzers and wine spritzers are increasingly popular, especially among younger patrons, and the Pratts have responded by expanding the number of selections at the store. Downtown Liquors also carries pre-mixed, canned cocktails, with off erings like gin and tonic, mai tais and piña coladas.

Th e Pratts also purchased recently Sopris Blueprinting, formerly located on Village Road. Th ey’ve incorporated the store’s inventory of a copy machine and a large format printer into the liquor store space.

Th e large format printer can make print copies of up to 42 inches wide. Ryan said they’ve only had the printer installed for a couple of weeks, but they get calls about printing daily. Ryan shared, “With all these building permits for new houses or anything, you'll always need a hard copy of your permit plans.”

And in April, the Pratts purchased Treadz/Goodz, the outdoor apparel and shoe store on Grand Avenue in Glenwood Springs, from long-time owners Erin and Jon Zalinski.

Back at Downtown Liquors, they’ve opened their doors on First Friday with live music in the store. Ryan said, “One guy stopped in and said, ‘Woah, live music in a liquor store? I’ve never seen that before!’”

Future plans include bringing in cigarettes and other tobacco products like cigars, as well as some “unique whiskies and Scotches” with the intent of off ering cigar and whiskey (or Scotch) pairing events, Janie shared.

Th ey off er non-alcoholic beverages, including Coca-Cola products and mixers and a new black coff ee drink with goji berry juice and cacao nibs from the woman-owned Colorado company, Wild Barn Coff ee.

Located at 389 Main Street, they have extended their hours. Now open Monday through Wednesday from noon to 10 p.m.; Th ursday from noon to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information, call 970-963-2767.

Downtown Liquors on Main owners Ryan and Janie Pratt pose with the store's mascot and sole resident, Mary Jane the cat. Photo by Jeanne Souldern

Now adults, carving out a niche in the world, Isaac Hendry (left) and Joel Nachtigal (right) decided to meet Carbondale's craving for locally-made ice cream. Photo by Raleigh Burleigh

Isaac Hendry (left) and Joel Nachtigal (right) have been funloving friends since childhood. Courtesy image

Childhood friends fi ll a sweet niche

By Raleigh Burleigh Sopris Sun Editor

Ice cream lovers rejoice! Carbondale once again has a dedicated ice cream bar and it’s open late on weekends. Sweet Cream Dreams is the creation of two relative newcomers to Carbondale, best friends turned business partners.

Growing up in Springfi eld, Missouri, Isaac Hendry and Joel Nachtigal enjoyed a childhood typical of the ‘90s: neighborhood basketball games, skateboarding, invented trampoline sports and, we presume, a hearty intake of ice cream. Even aft er Nachtigal moved to Colorado before high school, the two stayed in touch, a testament to their friendship.

Fast forward to 2021, Hendry’s career as a professional chef landed him at the Snowmass Club, a nearby, high-end vacation retreat. Although he enjoyed aspects of the work, like making ice cream, he wasn’t feeling fully fulfi lled.

With his fi rst child on the way, Hendry called up Nachtigal, who was managing a hostel he opened in Granby, and together they put together a business plan to meet a common craving. “Joel has always had this entrepreneurial spirit,” said Hendry. “And he gave me encouragement.”

“We used to joke about starting a business together,” added Nachtigal. And here his friend had found himself in a town without an ice cream joint. “I didn’t know those existed still,” he laughed.

Sweet Cream Dreams makes use of each friend’s skills: Hendry’s knack for concocting recipes and Nachtigal’s marketing smarts. Aft er a few pop-ups, the business began opening regularly on weekends in late May, serving artisanal, small-batch ice cream with a local ethic.

Ingredients like eggs and fruit are sourced from nearby farms and every week there are fresh fl avors for customers to try, with some recurring staples like Hendry’s brown butter honey, already a fan favorite. Th ere also promises to always be a vegan fl avor for the lactose-reluctant.

In keeping with the concept, customers are invited to write their “dream” fl avors on paper and drop them in a fi shbowl on the counter. Already, several of these requests have been brought to fruition, including vegan coconut-coff ee, raspberry sorbet and a gourmet “Superman” ice cream they called “Superwoman.” Inspired connoisseurs are also welcome to request fl avors via Sweet Dream Cream’s Instagram account: @sweetcreamdreamsicecream

All of the fl avor bases are cooked in Craft Coff eehouse’s kitchen, then chilled and spun. Th anks to the availability of Craft ’s kitchen and side bar, these friends were able to self-fund the business’ launch, which has made it “low-risk, stress-free and fun,” said Nachtigal.

Sweet Cream Dreams is now open Th ursday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m. at Craft Coff ehouse’s side bar with access through the courtyard. Keep an ear out for open mic nights on the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Th e ice cream is also available at Mana Foods, the Redstone General Store and Skip’s Farm to Market.

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Hopping along the Valley trail

By James Steindler Contributing Editor

There’s a new chaperone in town who’s willing to go the extra mile, or two, before arriving safely at a final destination. Martin Calkins started The Valley Hopper shuttle service, in part, to get to know neighbors and out-of-towners.

Calkins’ website, www.thevalleyhopper. com, offers a plethora of options for tourists and locals in need of transportation or sight seeing, which comes with a personal touch. From wine tours in Paonia and brewery hopping down the Roaring Fork Valley to smooth rides up the Crystal River, The Valley Hopper will show people around in style.

Calkins grew up in South Dakota and moved to the area in 2011 to work for Ascendigo Autism Services. “I ended up loving the Valley,” he said.

He’s been an educator for the past several years throughout the Valley, from Aspen to Glenwood High School and most recently at the Two Rivers Community School. He’s also dabbled in teaching outside the United States, namely in Thailand and the Dominican Republic.

While teaching at an international school in the Dominican Republic, Calkin’s northern friends would come to visit and they’d saddle up in his Jeep so he could show them around. There, “They have what they call ‘comodos’ — they’re like mom and pop stores where the locals hang out and have a beer or coffee,” Calkins explained.

He discovered a few favorite comodos: one in the mountains, another on the beach and in the barrio. The idea came to him to start a touring business there “and it just went viral,” he said. He called the tour service, operated out of his Jeep, The Comodo Hopper. “People were loving it,” Calkins added.

He’d come back to Carbondale during the summers to work for Ascendigo. Once the pandemic hit and things shut down, he and his wife decided to move to Colorado indefinitely. It struck him that people — like his parents — love seeing this area too.

So, he went to it: put the money down to purchase a 2018 Ford Transit, obtained a hefty insurance policy and the limo permit required to run such a business.

Business is good, so much so that Calkins hired another driver. It’s gone beyond the various routes offered on The Valley Hopper website. “I always say ‘I’m a man with a van,’” Calkins laughed, the possibilities are nearly endless.

Clients such as Aspen School of Music and Aspen Learning Center request the service regularly and he’s been hired for private parties, weddings and the like. Heck, he’ll even pick up fly fishermen.

Part of what he likes so much is meeting different people and learning about their various backgrounds and cultures. “My day is never the same and I really enjoy that,” Calkins said.

A friend gave him a tip that Amish visitors are often in need of transportation, and possibly tours as well, after deboarding the Amtrak in Glenwood Springs. So, Calkins put an ad in an Amish periodical and sure enough it paid off. “They’re just the most wonderful people,” Calkins said of his Amish passengers.

As is his nature, if he’s in Glenwood Springs already, he’ll stop at the train station and offer rides to nearby accommodations, free of charge. The good karma seems to always circle back.

When things slow down during the off-season, he’ll likely substitute teach. He also looks forward to traveling again. He inherited the travel bug from his parents and it never ceases to beckon.

Besides, he enjoys riding in the backseat of a tour van in new places he and his wife visit, and won’t mind giving up the steering wheel, at least for a short while.

Calkins enjoys the art of photography and, with the passengers’ permissions, will post photos of their trips and all the fun in-between on The Valley Hopper’s Facebook page and Instagram account (@ thevalleyhopper).

Martin Calkins, a man with a van, on Main Street in Carbondale. Photo by James Steindler

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