Talk about a buzz kill.
The Super Target at 4301 E. Virginia Ave. was ordered to quit selling liquor Sunday through this Saturday because of repeated violations of the Colorado Liquor Code.
At issue is a series of violations dating back a year ago for conducting liquor tastings against a code that requires a Target employee who has gone through training to conduct the tastings.
The Glendale Super Target, the only one in the chain that sells liquor in Colorado, also failed to get a required permit from the city of Glendale to hold the tastings on at least 11 occasions, according to state documents.
Glendale is considering whether to sanction its own penalties against Target, which will be discussed during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, said Chuck Line, deputy city manager.
“When the state started allowing retail establishments to have tastings (on premise), cities had to opt in,” Line said. “We create the forms and fees necessary for this program.”
Glendale charges $100 a year for the permit, which takes roughly five minutes to complete, said Line, who added that the violation was discovered by a state Department of Revenue employee during a routine investigation.
“Even if our cops walked past one of (the tastings), they may not have asked the right questions because we’ve only issued one other tasting permit,” Line said. “The state is very savvy to this, so they do a lot of tasting investigations.”
Until Sunday, when the violation ends, the liquor department inside the store remains roped off.
“We apologize for our oversight and inconvenience to our guests, and we’re putting the process in place to see that it doesn’t happen again,” said Jenn Glass, Target spokeswoman at the Minneapolis headquarters.
Rockmount rocker.
LoDo-based Rockmount Ranch Wear got an unexpected shout-out from Miley Cyrus when her wildly popular show “Hannah Montana” premiered season four Tuesday night.
During the show, she gives a Rockmount shirt to her real-life dad Billy Ray Cyrus, who ends up wearing the glad rag. The design is shirt No. 6706, a black shirt with hand-embroidered red Hawaiian flowers.
The national TV exposure doesn’t necessarily lead to higher shirt sales, but it helps spread buzz about the brand, Rockmount owner Steve Weil said.
“It reinforces our brand and reinforces our design direction,” Weil said about the TV exposure. “It means a costume designer picked it up and bought it because (he or she) liked it.”
This wasn’t that shirt style’s first TV time. William Shatner donned it during an episode of “Boston Legal.” “The beauty of it is it’s so identifiable as our shirt,” Weil said.
Van Leeuwen lauded.
The Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation has named Jamie Van Leeuwen its 2010 Leadership Alumnus of the year.
Van Leeuwen, policy director for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper‘s gubernatorial campaign, is a 2003 graduate of Leadership Denver, the Foundation’s flagship program.
EAVESDROPPING
A woman to a man, talking about Lady Gaga‘s Wednesday Pepsi Center performance:
“She has a double CD out.”
“If it was a single CD, would it be Lady Ga?”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
