In this week’s roundup: 6th Street Liquor owners passed the deadline for a six-month liquor license suspension pending sale, Happy Pappy’s has rebranded to Durango Pizza and the Durango Olive Oil Co. has closed its brick-and-mortar storefront.
Happy Pappy’s Pizza n Wings, which was owned by Mark Anderson until 2023 – when the business was passed on to longtime Durango local Ken Trujillo and his nephew, Marco Lucero – quietly rebranded to Durango Pizza in June.
Anderson – also known as “Happy Pappy” – handed the business off to Trujillo and Lucero amid efforts to take the brand national several years ago.
Anderson told The Durango Herald in 2023 that he intended to license the Durango location to a different owner who would keep the same name and branding – which Trujillo and Lucero did – up until this month.
“It became increasingly important to us to authentically reflect who we are: multigeneration Durango residents,” Lucero told The Durango Herald in an email Wednesday. “We also want to pay respect to Durango, to our history and to our families.”
The new logo – a bear with a cheesy slice of pizza – was inspired by Lucero’s daughter, Alanna, who underwent a heart transplant six years ago at 5 years old, and whose nickname is “Alanna Bear.”
The bear is named “Tony” after Trujillo’s father, and is meant to be a “quiet tribute to the generations of family and community roots behind Durango Pizza,” the Our Story page on the shop’s website reads.
The menu will remain largely the same, with the addition of sandwiches and new pizzas, Lucero said.
“We are gratified that the response has been overwhelmingly positive with a significant increase in sales,” he said.
“Same local ownership. Same commitment to quality. Fresh new name and brand,” read an Instagram post published in early June by the Seasons of Durango restaurant, which is operated by the same owners.
Durango Olive Oil Co. plans to close its brick-and-mortar shop Tuesday.
“It is with a heavy heart and hard decisions, we will be closing our physical store by the end of the month,” read a June 12 Facebook post on the business’ page. “We will still have our products available online only. … We are sorry, but thank you all for all the support past and present.”
A combination of falling sales, rising costs and taxes, lease and landlord problems, a lack of support from the city, and personal burnout led to the closure of the physical store, owner Michiko Burns told the Herald. Burns runs the shop with her husband, Stephen Burns.
“It’s a little bit of a lot of things that have (gone into) this decision, as hard as it is,” she said. “It’s more feasible to try to save this business without having to pay for the space. … Right now we are trying to save this business, and by going online is the only way we can grow.”
The business – which became known for its high-end olive oil, vinegar, gourmet foods, salts, spices, teas and dry foods – will continue to sell products online, Burns said, and locals can pick up products from the Flying Fish Co. Specialty Fresh Fish Market at County Road 250 and Florida Road every Friday beginning July 10.
The shop, which was previously located at 640 Main Ave., moved into the Main Mall a year ago. Burns said the new location proved detrimental for business.
“This mall doesn’t generate enough clientele, and because there’s no activity, it’s like a mausoleum in here,” she said.
Burns said she’s feeling heartache over the closure, and will miss seeing her customers in person.
“It’s killing me to have to close down,” she said. “It really is, because I enjoy this. I enjoy talking to people, I enjoy discussing cooking methods and different options for any meal.”
Despite the sadness she has felt at the thought of closing down, she is also relieved to no longer have to deal with the complications of running a physical store, she said.
“We haven’t had a vacation since 2019, because we have been overseeing this,” Burns said. “I’m just done. I’m tired of fighting the bureaucracy, tired of waking up in the middle of the night, knowing how much I owe to this person, how much I owe to that person, and how much is actually coming in.”
The building that once housed 6th Street Liquor remained on the market as of Wednesday.
The business passed the deadline for a six month liquor license suspension pending sale last month, marking the official end of a tumultuous run for the shop’s former owners, Jared and Amy Thomson.
The Thomsons faced legal trouble twice throughout their less-than-one-year run at the shop’s helm.
Durango City Council, acting as the city’s Local Liquor Licensing Authority, suspended the shop’s liquor license for 15 days in June 2025 after Jared Thomson was found to have sold alcohol while intoxicated and left the store, located at 273 East College Drive, unlocked and unattended for at least 15 minutes.
The shop’s liquor license was suspended once more in November, this time for six months pending sale, after police found a co-owner and employee unconscious on the floor of the store.
The license would be revoked if a sale did not occur within six months, City Council ruled. That deadline passed in May, and the property remained for sale on the Wells Group Real Estate website as of Wednesday. The 873-square-foot property is going for $969,999.
“The liquor store business is not included and is no longer in operation, opening the door to a wide range of redevelopment possibilities,” the listing reads.
Efforts to reach Jared and Amy Thomson were unsuccessful.
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