Winter 2009

Seasonal Stores, Year-Round Sales

Winter Wonderland at Amen Wardy Home

Melissa M. Kellogg
Photography by Melissa M. Kellogg

Aspen tells the tale of two distinct eras: old Aspen, founded by prospectors and miners seeking fortune in 1880 and new Aspen, the winter playground of the rich and famous. Visitors (and residents alike) take in the many historic buildings built of stone and the quaint Victorian-era homes.

Like the city that is its home, the store Amen Wardy Home, is also a tale of two eras. The store is located in the heart of Aspen’s shopping district at the corner of Galena and Hyman, in a century-old building that is a reminder of the old Aspen. Inside, this 8,000 square-foot store offers a more contemporary look: a collection of modern, stylish yet affordable home furnishings, gourmet treats and gifts.

Wardy opened his store sixteen years ago after working for many years in women’s couture in Southern California. He fondly recollects the road trip that had him settle in Aspen. “We stopped in Aspen to visit a friend and never left,” he says. Since opening his store, his focus has been on building a single location in Aspen with his personal touch and a helpful, knowledgeable staff. Speaking of staff, he currently employs about 20 people. That includes the staff that oversee the store’s web division.

Although his success has no doubt come from hard work, Wardy makes it look easy. He does all the buying for the store and his philosophy when choosing merchandise is simple: Anything he likes, he buys. The store is particularly known for its vast selection of tabletop items.

As for dealing with the ups and downs of having a large retail store in a seasonal town—Aspen is busiest during the winter ski season—Wardy has found various ways to manage. For the store, April and May are the slow months, he says, as well as October and November. The store’s hours are scaled back during the off-seasons. It’s open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday during this time. Wardy says he and his staff use the off-season time to clean the store, paint and fix things. He also schedules no incoming shipments during the off-season and for his busiest time, winter, his shipments do not begin until December 1. Impressively he is able to keep his entire staff working year-round. “We have a good crew and I don’t want them to go find other jobs, so I have to keep them year round,” Wardy says.

Over the past few years, Wardy has been able to dull the impact of the slower off season through online sales. His daughter, Soffia, is in charge of the store’s website and it has become a very successful part of the business. The website draws customers from everywhere. Even better, many of Amen Wardy’s customers who love to patronize the brick-and-mortar store when they visit Aspen, shop the online store year round, Wardy says. These customers in turn have referred many of their friends to the website.

As for the future, Wardy says he plans to keep it simple. He plans to concentrate on his Aspen location, where he can personally meet and assist his customers and keep on growing the Internet side of the business so his regular customers can continue to shop with him year round.

Amen Wardy; Owner
Aspen, CO
AmenWardyAspen.com

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