I’ve found that liquor stores in Colorado tend to be, on average, larger than in the rest of the country. And that’s most likely because of their laws. In an effort to keep chains out of the state, any business is only allowed to own one liquor license. So that means instead of successful companies opening new locations (which is prohibited), they instead make their one location larger. So there’s Applejack’s in Denver or Liquor Mart in Boulder and probably countless others I’m unaware of. Then there’s Daveco Liquors in Thornton, Colorado (a few miles north of Denver along I-25). The Guinness Book of World Records has certified that it’s the “largest liquor store in the world.” The 102,000 square foot store has 7,500 bottles in the wine cellar, 9,000 types of wine, 2,400 brands of liquor and 800 different beers (though that last one actually seems small to me).

From an article in today’s Denver Post:

“I kept saying this is the world’s largest liquor store, and people kept saying ‘You can never prove that,’ ” said [owner Henry] Sawaged. “But now people know I am a man of my word.”

Congratulations to Daveco.