Sep 9, 2007

Glenwood Mall merchants optimisticBy John GardnerPostIndependent.com

Retail has changed a lot since Terry Kates opened his West Wind Gift Shop in Glenwood Springs 30 years ago.

His humble beginnings started in 1977 downtown, where he spent nearly 10 years at 816 Grand Ave., the current home of Through the Looking Glass bookstore.

Then the energy bust happened in the early 1980s. It was then that he knew he had to do something different.

“I’m like a chameleon,” Kates said. “I do my homework. If I didn’t then I wouldn’t make it either. You’ve always got to keep changing to make it in retail.”

That seems to be a recurring theme for Kates, doing different things. That’s why in 1987 he packed up shop and moved from Grand Avenue to the Glenwood Springs Mall in West Glenwood. It’s the best thing he’s done for his business, he said, and it’s a move he’s never regretted.

In November he’ll celebrate 20 years at the mall. That’s no small change.

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