BAR: VINUE FOOD AND WINE BAR
Vinue Food and Wine Bar at East Third Avenue and Detroit Street sits right above Machete, a taco/tequila bar. Two more different establishments I can’t imagine. Vinue seats just 55 people. The patrons are shaded by sheer curtains, coddled with white leather chairs, low tables, mellow music, cocktails, small plates and 68 wines and champagnes poured into your glass from an array of industrial-strength argon dispensers. Machete, on the other hand, keeps the furniture old-style, a bar that encourages tequila shots and margaritas, and tacos for the tummy.
GRILLED: LAWRENCE & CATHY COVELL
Lawrence and Cathy Covell, owners of the tony fashion boutique Lawrence Covell in Cherry Creek North, met at the Sink bar near CU-Boulder in 1967. That almost says it all. Cathy, born in New York City and now 64, was a freshman when Lawrence, from L.A. and now 67, was a post-graduate hanging around the campus awaiting news of the draft. When that worry was gone, they opened a head shop on the Hill called Phantasmagoria. Ah, the ’60s. They sold paraphernalia and clothes, eventually morphing into the threads shop that became their signature. They married in 1969. After a name change and a move to Denver, Lawrence Covell took off and celebrates its 45th anniversary next year. The store is the only place to go in Denver for designs by Jason Wu, Dries Van Noten and John Malkovich. The Covells live in Castle Pines and spend time in their Lower Manhattan apartment. He’s drinking red, she’s drinking white.
BH: When and why did you move the store from Boulder to Denver?
Lawrence: We moved in ’79.
Cathy: We asked ourselves, “What were we doing in Boulder with what we wanted to sell?”
BH: You were here before the department stores like Neiman’s and Nordstrom. You’ve outlasted dozens of boutiques.
Lawrence: We work hard, and we take care of our customers, and we have good instincts. I think our instincts are a little ahead of the curve. We also know where we are, so we don’t get too crazy.
Cathy: And I think it’s about humility.
BH: What about style versus fashion?
Cathy: I think fashion is fleeting, ephemeral, very much of the moment.
Lawrence: Style is a personal thing. It’s not something everybody has. We believe in the understated. We don’t do the latest and the greatest. If something becomes too commercial, we immediately drop it. To us it becomes very vulgar.
BH: Does the recession affect you?
Cathy: Oh, yes, especially men.
Lawrence: There is a correlation between the stock market and luxury.
Cathy: No one is immune.
Lawrence: But it’s not their grocery money they’re spending here. It’s psychological for most people.
BH: Is it always hard to sell clothes to men?
Lawrence: Not to every man. People we deal with like nice things.
Cathy: We have customers who have loved nice clothing from the time they were kids, even before they could afford it.
Lawrence: Like a nice glass of wine.
BH: How is Denver dressing these days?
Lawrence: Some people dress well, some people don’t. It’s the same with the whole country. And fashion changes, and I don’t think that’s bad.
BH: Are you married to being in Cherry Creek?
Lawrence: I think it’s the best neighborhood for us.
Cathy: I don’t know where else we would go, I really don’t.
BH: You two come from opposite coasts. What made you stay here?
Lawrence: I like it here.
Cathy: It wasn’t really a question. We started a business. We got married.
BH: Are you two very compatible?
Lawrence: We live together and we work together.
BH: So you’ve been with each other 2 4/7 for 44 years?
Lawrence: Well, we don’t see each other every minute of the day.
Cathy: I am more the front of the store and Lawry is in the back.
Lawrence: That’s not necessarily true. She’s in women’s and I’m in men’s.
Cathy: He’s not a natural salesman.
Lawrence: I’m not bad. She’s never given me any credit, but I started the store, and I was a salesman for a long time and we’re still in business. And we started the business with $800.
Cathy: That’s all that was left of your trust fund.
BH: Do you think you are more personable, Cathy?
Lawrence: Actually, I am more social.
Cathy: That’s true.
BH: What’s your idea of perfect happiness?
Lawrence: It doesn’t exist.
BH: What’s your greatest fear?
Cathy: Failure.
BH: What trait don’t you like in yourselves?
Lawrence: I’m too shy.
Cathy: I’m impatient.
BH: Do you like your customers?
Cathy: I love them. Some customers are third-generation.
BH: Don’t you get some really tough ones?
Lawrence: We’ve had to weed a few out over the years.
Cathy: Sometimes you just cannot make people happy.
Lawrence: We are for many, but not for everyone.
BH: What’s your greatest extravagance?
Lawrence and Cathy: Travel.
BH: What’s your current state of mind?
Cathy: I am very, very happy.
Lawrence: I am at peace.
BH: When would you lie?
Lawrence: I don’t like to lie.
BH: If someone asked you if her butt looked big in these jeans, would you lie?
Cathy: I’d say, “Let’s try another pair.”
Lawrence: You have to be honest with people about how they look because you want them to come back.
BH: What don’t you like about your appearance?
Cathy: I would like to be taller.
BH: Who is the greatest love of your life?
Cathy: My grandchildren.
Lawrence: My wife is my greatest love. Without her, there would be no grandchildren.
BH: When and where were you happiest?
Lawrence: Every day I am glad to be alive.
BH: What talent would you like to have?
Lawrence: I would like to be a great artist.
Cathy: I would like to be a writer.
BH: What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Cathy: Our son, Joe.
BH: If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would that be?
Lawrence: I think we do come back. I believe in reincarnation.
Cathy: You said you wanted to be a bird.
Lawrence: I wouldn’t mind being an eagle.
BH: What do you consider the lowest depths of misery?
Lawrence: Not being loved.
BH: What’s your most marked characteristic?
Cathy: He’s stubborn. I’m a workaholic.
BH: What about reading?
Lawrence: I have always liked Hemingway.
Cathy: I read The New Yorker. Always have. Right now I’m reading “Too Big to Fail.”
BH: What wouldn’t you eat?
Lawrence: I detest goat cheese.
Cathy: I love goat cheese. I don’t eat anchovies.
BH: What is it you most dislike?
Lawrence: War. It’s big waste of money and life.
BH: What is your greatest regret?
Lawrence: I don’t like to think about regrets.
Cathy: Edith Piaf — “Non. Je regrette rien.”
BH: Where do you like to dine out?
Lawrence: Potager, Fuel, Olivea.
BH: What do you have on your iPhones?
Lawrence: I have thousands of songs on this.
Cathy: I have a million pictures of my grandchildren.
BH: How would you like to die?
Lawrence: In my sleep.
BH: Together?
Lawrence: No, not together.
Cathy: That would be the best, actually.
BH: Motto?
Cathy: So far, so good.
Lawrence: I like to paraphrase the Stones. You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.
Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Bill Husted: 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com
