The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Owners, employees and residents rejoice
A fire tore through Treasury Liquors and The Store in Mt. Crested Butte this past June, leaving residents on the hill without their go-to spot for everything from aspirin to alcohol. After a trying six-and-a-half months, Justin and Tracy Hastings reopened their establishment at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, December 15.
“We had a ton of support from our staff and community,” said co-owner Tracy Hastings. We’ve been sleeping here for the last two weeks; the kids [Loki and Liberty] have been sleeping in the liquor store. We had to be here 24 hours a day to get this back open. We’re very excited.”
Not only is The Store open, but there are some new items on the menu as well. There is a new lottery machine and stock of magazines, and they’ve added coffee, fountain soda and hot chocolate to the beverage lineup. They’ll be serving hot soups daily and they’ve expanded the deli menu.
Employees like Eric “EY” Yackel are stoked to be back at work, and proud of the owners for making it through a tough time. “Tracy and Justin are like Edwin Moses: they had a bunch of hurdles in front of them and they cleared them all in-step and with grace,” Yackel said. “They had to deal with a lot, and they’ve done it with remarkable thoughtfulness, and kept a good attitude throughout.”
Hastings said she realized how far the impacts of The Store’s closure reached. “The trickle-down effect was very obvious to us following the fire. We have three full-time, year-round employees plus part-time employees. Our vendors lost a lot with us being down, and sales tax was down for Mt. Crested Butte.
“We bought the store five years ago, and it was our dream to provide goods and services for locals and visitors as well,” Hastings added. “We just want to live here and raise our children here. Believe it or not, raising kids in Crested Butte without an income is really hard.”
Things should get easier now that The Store is back in business. They are open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., 364 days a year.
