Guys can be hard to shop for. That’s because they tend to hate shopping themselves and don’t know how to make it easy for others – none of those long wish lists that kids love to present, none of those well-honed hints women can give. Still, you want to see that look on their faces when they open the box, don’t you?
New to the drinks-and- smokes category is Daveco Liquors in Thornton (16434 Washington St. 303-951-3820), which claims to be the world’s largest liquor store. We’re not sure how to check that out, but we can report that the selection of spirits is mighty. So is the giant walk-in humidor stocked with Cohibas, Partagas, Ashton and other fine cigars.
Of course, a guy’s gotta look good if he has a cocktail in his hand, and there are several new shops that can help.
Typical Colorado guys – the ones who cling eternally to their old flannel shirts – might like the high-end line of wool shirts, outerwear and bags from the famous Seattle- based catalogue house Filson, which recently set up an outpost in Cherry Creek North (200 Fillmore St., 303-316-4406). Picture the perfect Aspen gent on a duck hunt: He shops at Filson.
Similarly, California-based Territory Ahead opened its first Colorado store at the new 29th Street mall in Boulder (303-444-4338) with its line of warm-weather jackets, shirts and trousers.
Both stores will compete with The Fall Line, a local retailer in the fresh Belmar shopping center (386 S. Teller St., Lakewood; 303-937-6325), which is just coming into its own this season, selling labels like Arc’teryx, Horny Toad, Marker and Kuhl.
Guys who try to step it up will like the selection of trendy jeans and shirts at Cool Waves in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center (303-394-3000), including labels Monarchy, Ed Hardy and Savage. In the same nieghborhood, the Cherry Creek North boutique Brandis B (218 Steele St., 303-333-4733) added hot men’s lines like Chip & Pepper, Howe, Jet Lag and Penguin.
Somewhere in the middle are the new Levi’s stores (29th Street in Boulder, 303-440-7472; and the Cherry Creek mall, 303-316-8277). The stores have all the basics (501s for sure) and the excellent Red and Capital E lines.
For solid work clothes, the Filson store in Cherry Creek North (110 Clayton Lane, 720-941-8339) offers plenty of choices. Go here for the well-made and reasonably priced shirts, which come in a variety of fun colors.
Finally, we need to point out the new Art of Shaving store in the Cherry Creek mall (303-321-6200). Guys deserve a little spoiling, and this place has all the pre-, during- and after-shave products that take the sting out of the daily scrape.
– Ray Mark Rinaldi
