A new tasting bar is among the changes planned by the new owner of a liquor store in town.
Hoss Liquor owner Lonny Ryburn said the store will set up free tasting events after the bar is installed in the next couple of months. Ryburn bought the former Eudora Wine and Spirits location at 218 E. 20th St. earlier this year.
“What it is is it gives people an opportunity to come into the store and try products they may not necessarily buy,” Ryburn said.
A lot in the store is the same, but Ryburn said he made a few changes. He said he has added 225 new products in the last five months and has reorganized all the coolers. He also painted the back wall black and said he wants to paint the entire store black.
Ryburn said he looked at eight liquor stores before deciding to do business here. While he lives in De Soto, he said he loves Eudora.
“Eudora’s a really neat little town. I like small towns,” Ryburn said.
Hoss is Ryburn’s middle name, and it’s the middle name of his son and grandpa, too. Ryburn said he was also thinking of the character nicknamed Hoss in the “Bonanza” Western show when he chose the liquor store’s name.
Ryburn said his friends and family call him Hoss, and some of his customers have started doing that, too.
“Now I got a lot of customers that come and go, ‘Hey, Hoss, how are you doing, buddy?’ I’m like, “Doing good, man,” which is kind of neat,” Ryburn said.
He also said he lives on a ranch and has horses and alpacas.
Customer Drayke Baxter said he’s excited for the tasting bar.
“It seems pretty interesting,” Baxter said. “I haven’t seen a bar with a tasting section for it, so I think it’ll bring in a lot of customers too.”
The store has a variety of spirits, beer and wine. It has a nonalcoholic drink cooler and cigarettes. Ryburn said he’s also open to bringing in products that people request.
“I had a guy that said, ‘Hey, if you, if you bring this product in, it’ll save me a trip to Lawrence,’” Ryburn said. “So, you know, I talked to him, I said, ‘Okay,’ so I bought it and I called him yesterday.”
Customer Tracy Heath, who knows Ryburn from high school, said it was her first time in the store. She said she was surprised by its size.
“It’s huge,” Heath said. “I did not expect it to be this big.”
Ryburn’s background is in landscaping, but he said he bought the store because he wanted a career change.
“I kind of got older and that’s a hard industry, you know, a very physical industry,” Ryburn said. “And so I wanted to do something different.”
He also said he is an “easygoing guy” and a “cowboy at heart,” so he knew he would be successful as a liquor store owner. Ryburn said he loves bourbon, too, and has been to 14 bourbon distilleries.
He said the goal of his store is to create a friendly atmosphere where people can purchase a variety of spirits.
“I like that people are usually in a good mood when they come here, or they’re about to be in a good mood,” Ryburn said. “I like talking to people because everybody has kind of their own story.”
Reach reporter Bella Waters at [email protected].
