By Paul F. Vang
"I've got a job for you."
That short phone message marked the beginning of what would be a long career over a nearly 40-year span as manager and, later, owner of the Montana liquor store in Miles City.
Georgia Mentikov explained how it all began that winter of 1969.
"I had been secretary of the Custer County Democratic Central Committee, and had been active in trying to defeat a sales tax proposal. I must have done too good a job," she recalls.
"I'd just come into Miles City from the ranch and got this call from the chairman of the local Democratic party, telling me that newly elected Governor Forrest Anderson had appointed me manager of the state liquor store in Miles City."
"On the day I was to start I walked up to the store about 8:45 in the morning. The then manager of the store was outside sweeping snow off the sidewalk. He looked at me and said, "You'll have to wait until 9 a.m. to buy your bottle.'
"I rarely drink, so I simply said, "I'm not here to buy a bottle, I came here to replace you.'"
That brief winter morning conversation highlights just one of the many changes in the operation of Montana' liquor stores over the years that Mentikov has seen.
At that time, state liquor store manager jobs were part of the political spoils system and managers came and went as new governors took office in Helena.
The incumbent manager, who would have gotten his job the same way, worked another two weeks to break in his replacement. Mentikov recalls, "The biggest piece of advice he gave me was that if the display cases near the front of the store got dirty, I should exchange them with ones in back." She went on to explain that the display cases were lined with corduroy, so they occasionally had to be sent to the cleaners.
To better understand the many changes in liquor store operations over the years, we might take a little trip back in time to the late 1960s and the procedures followed when people wished to purchase a bottle of wine or liquor to take home.
First of all, all the merchandise was behind the counter. There was no such thing as self-service. The customer would fill out an order slip for what they wanted, and then a sales clerk would fill the order. The order slips were kept on hand for a period of time to provide a paper trail for occasional audits of sales and inventory.
"If there were ever any shortages," Mentikov recalled, "we were personally responsible for making up for it out of our own pocket."
All sales were on a cash and carry basis. It was state policy that checks were not accepted at liquor stores.
"I came from a ranch background. Ranchers usually don't carry a lot of cash around. We write checks for most things. I told the people in Helena that I wanted to accept checks for purchases. They finally said, "Okay, but you're personally responsible for any bad checks.'" Mentikov comments that, in the nearly 40 years since then, bad checks have been rare.
Similarly, bar purchases at state liquor stores were on a cash basis.
"I was walking down the street to the bank to deposit some receipts and the owner of the Montana Bar caught me on the sidewalk and asked if I'd stop in on my way back. I stopped and he handed me a brown paper bag with $4,000 in cash for his next order. I was happy when the state let us accept checks from bars for their purchases."
Mentikov' appointment as a liquor store manager came at a good time in her life. She and her husband had children in high school at the time, so it was a lot easier for the family to live in Miles City than commute in from the ranch at Powderville, some 65 miles southeast of Miles City.
By 1980, the kids were out of school, so Georgia opted to quit her job at the liquor store to return to ranch life. In 1986, the store manager who replaced her asked her to come back to work as they were running short-handed. Incidentally, liquor store employees were, by then, part of the state' merit system, rather than the spoils system.
Also by then, the liquor stores were self-service, and stores all over Montana accepted customer checks.
In the mid-1990s, the state liquor stores were being privatized, and the stores were put out on bids.
"As the store' senior employee, I had the opportunity to match the low bid, and became the store owner," Mentikov says.
Low bid? Mentikov explains that the bidding was based on the discounted mark-up from the warehouse price to the price bar owners had to pay. "I actually lost money on full case sales to the bars."
While she might have been losing money on case sales, as the new owner of a now privatized state liquor store, she knew she had to make the store profitable. Among changes she made were to greatly expand the offerings of table wines available.
"I also let people know I'd be willing to take special orders for different merchandise. I did a lot of P.R.," she says.
Another move she made was to expand store hours. The store had always been closed on Mondays. "I quickly opened up for Monday business. I had to pay for the store, so I needed an extra day' sales."
In addition to the many changes in store operation from a state-owned store to private enterprise, Mentikov has also seen many changes in customer tastes over the years.
"Our younger customers demand a big variety of vodkas and gins," she notes. "It also seems like they want more high-end products, such as Courvosier, for example. It seems like higher prices are no object to our younger customers."
She has also observed that in Montana' quintessential cowtown, there have been changes in preferences among what she calls "the cowboy trade."
"In the ranching community, it used to be that the favorite brands of spirits were Black Velvet and Crown Royal. Now it' Pendleton and Snake River Stampede. I think a lot of it is word of mouth. They'll visit and someone will say, "Why don't you try some of my Pendleton.'"
She has also noticed changes in the spirits that bars order, too.
"They've gone to a lot more exotic drinks. Anything that' advertised on TV--you'd better have it on hand."
In 2007, after decades in the liquor store, Mentikov decided it was time to think of retiring and doing something different. Her husband had gotten out of the ranching business in 1999 after fracturing his back in a horse accident. Their children were all grown and scattered around the country, including one son who is currently building golf courses in Pakistan. Besides, at age 77, she figured it was time to retire.
She says she and her husband plan to do some traveling, as well spend more time at home. She also enjoys gardening and painting.
She didn't have to look far for someone to take over the business. Her daughter, Mary DeAnda, a military retiree and civilian employee for the Department of Defense in Europe, and her husband, Armonda DeAnda, a computer consultant, thought that this was an opportunity to come back to her home town.
"I came back from Germany in July and started working in the store to learn the ropes of the business. Then we worked out the sales agreement and I took over the business in December," DeAnda says.
She reports that the change in ownership has been a seamless transition. "It was awfully easy taking it over because it' such a successful business."
She says her husband will stay in Germany until he' able to retire. While there, however, he' investigating things such as German crystal to add some additional variety to the store' merchandise line.
After years of constant moves and travel with the military, DeAnda is enjoying her return to Miles City. "We needed to establish some roots," she says.
Still, while she' taken over the ownership of the store, DeAnda said that if things get busy, she frequently calls on her mother for some relief. "She lives just six blocks away, and she' such a sweetheart; if I call her up for help, she comes right over."
And Mentikov is happy to make sure her daughter makes a success of the store.
"I thought it would be nice to keep it in the family, because it is a good business," she says.
Besides, she frankly admits that, even at age 77, "I feel guilty about not working. I feel I should be up and doing something--and I don't mean housework."
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, March, 2008, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.