AUER'S SPECIALTY STORE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN CHERRY CREEK.

• Author: COLIAS, MIKE
• Position: Brief Article

AT a Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce event in 1990, Dick Auer listened intently as a guest speaker raved about plans for a $200 million shopping mall in cherry Creek North that would host the region's finest collection of retailers.

After the speech, Auer -- owner of Auer's women's specialty store at 210 Saint Paul St. -- clapped as loudly as anyone. Then he stood up to address the audience as a representative of cherry Creek North's local merchants.

He acknowledged that the mall would likely live up to its advance billing. But for some women, Auer said, a large-store environment-just wouldn't do. Some women still would crave the intimacy and personal service of a small specialty store.

"For you, there's always going to be an Auer's," he told the audience.

Unlike the previous speaker, Auer received a standing ovation.

Ten years later--and 20 years after Auer's 1980 opening -- the upscale specialty store is thriving, almost literally in the shadow of Cherry Creek shopping center and its well-known, big department stores. Auer's has managed to fend off the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus by carving out a niche as Denver's retailer of choice for women's fashion designers from New York and Europe.

"If an up-and-coming designer in New York wants to get into the Denver market, they don't call Saks or Neimans," Auer said. "They call us."

Auer has spent four decades perusing the work of fashion designers around the world. Along the way, his store has garnered a reputation that allow it to land exclusive lines, and now as much as 40 percent of the store's merchandise can't be found anywhere else. The buying philosophy is simple: "We buy what we like and we buy what looks good - regardless of price," Auer said.

Like many independent retailers in Cherry Creek, Auer's was hit hard by the...