Hollister
– Lynn Lake has greeted locals with a smile at her Hawkins
Street liquor store for 20 years, but customers will notice a
couple of new faces manning the pink and green shop from now
on.
Hollister – Lynn Lake has greeted locals with a smile at her Hawkins Street liquor store for 20 years, but customers will notice a couple of new faces manning the pink and green shop from now on.
Early this month, Lynn’s Liquors was sold to Jonathan and John Hernandez Jr., two longtime locals who are keen to maintain the friendly atmosphere that made the store a Hollister institution.
“It just seemed like the best time and an easy transition,” Lake said. “I know these two and they were so interested in buying the place that it seemed like a good idea.”
Lake bought the store 20 years ago, after a stint working for another liquor store owner and deciding she liked it. Since then she has run Lynn’s Liquors with her mother, Donna Lake, and become a steadfast figure in downtown Hollister. Lake prides herself on knowing “just about all” of her customers by name and said they’ve been a source of joy for her over the past two decades.
“It gets to where they don’t really feel like customers; they’re more like old friends,” she said.
Though other downtown businesses have come and gone over the past several years and many storefronts remain vacant, Lake has managed to keep her doors open through rough patches in the local economy. She attributes her success to simply being nice.
“All you have to do is be friendly to people,” she said. “If you’re nice to them, they’ll always come back.”
Lake said she is comfortable leaving the store in the hands of the Hernandezes. For the brothers, who already run an ag labor business together, taking the reins of Lynn’s Liquors is an ideal opportunity.
“I think we always wanted to have a sports bar or liquor store, something alcohol-related,” Jonathan said with a chuckle.
The brothers said they have no big changes in store for the shop, choosing instead to follow Lake’s example. They don’t even plan on hiring outside help or changing the name of the store.
“It’s still her store. She made it what it is and we don’t want to mess with that,” John Jr. said.
So far even longtime customers have been receptive to the change in ownership, the Hernandezes said, and Lake still comes in occasionally when the brothers need an extra hand or a few hours off. The two are even seeing new customers come in to see what the new owners are all about.
“We’re getting more Latino customers, as word gets around that two Latinos bought the place,” Jonathan said. “They’re more likely to come to your store if they know you speak Spanish and can have a conversation with them. It really means a lot.”
The new owners hope to expand their store’s reach into the Latino market, Jonathan said.
“There are a lot of big weddings and birthday parties around here, and a lot of people don’t know you can buy in bulk or rent the barrels,” he said. “So we want to get the word out about that.”
For her part, Lake said she is unsure of what her plans will be in the future, but she does plan on staying in Hollister.
“Of course I’m staying,” she said. “This is home.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
