Mayor John Hickenlooper’s newest TV spot in his bid for the governor’s office shows him draped in Western wear from Wrangler, a Greensboro, N.C.-based clothing company.
That was enough to send Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown over the cliff.
“That’s a slap in the face to Denver’s own Rockmount Ranch Wear,” said Brown, who’s known for his Western wardrobe. “I know John knows (Rockmount owners and founders) the Weils, and I’m surprised that he forgot about his friends. He forgot his simple ABCs: Always Buy Colorado.”
The offending red shirt is indeed a Wrangler, Hickenlooper campaign spokesman George Merritt confirmed.
“John is not only the proud owner of several Rockmount shirts, he named a street after (Rockmount founder) Jack A. Weil,” Merritt said. “No offense should be taken.”
Steve Weil, the third-generation owner of the LoDo company that invented the Western snap- front shirt, wasn’t upset over the slight.
“He doesn’t tell me what to wear; I don’t tell him what to wear,” Weil said. “However, the last time I noticed, Wrangler is not exactly a Colorado institution. He never forgot his roots before.”
Merritt said Hickenlooper was concerned that his Rockmount shirts would be too “decorative” for the TV shoot. However, Weil countered that his company has made solid-red shirts since 1946.
Perhaps hizzoner was paying homage to the Original Wrangler store that opened recently in Lone Tree? No word from the mayor’s camp.
Light the night.
The Elitch Gardens Observation Tower is sporting a new glow, thanks to Atlanta-based Entertainment Design Group, the outfit that installed LED lighting within the 300-foot-tall tower.
Each of the six sides of the tower lights up the night with variable colors and lighting effects.
“When I was leaving one night, I was 2 or 3 miles away and could visibly see the red, white and blue on the tower,” EDG lighting designer Steven Guy said. “For Halloween, the tower will be oranges and greens; around Christmastime, there will be more festive colors.”
The new lighting fixtures will save Elitch’s owner, PARC Management, an estimated 66 percent in electricity usage fees over traditional incandescent lighting.
Walls come tumbling down.
The empty Argonaut Wine & Liquor store building at East Colfax Avenue and Washington will come tumbling down this week to make way for added parking for the newer liquor emporium next door.
Work will start in the first quarter of next year — weather willing — on a 38-space parking lot to support the newer store, which opened in 2006.
Plans for the lot include building a small structure on the Colfax corner that will most likely house a retail tenant.
The Argonaut opened at Colfax and Pearl, then moved to Colfax and Washington in the 1950s. The Robinson family bought the business in 1965.
EAVESDROPPING
A woman rattling off the name of her law firm:
“We call it Five Egos for short.”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on “Caplis & Silverman” between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
