Business celebrates 20 years

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GREENFIELD – When asked what’s kept his business successful during the past two decades, Steve Coram laughs.

“Maybe it’s the cold beer,” said Coram, owner of Chilly’s Liquor, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month.

The Greenfield business, 1301 W. Main St., hosted a celebration in commemoration of the store’s milestone May 21.

Coram now owns five liquor stores across central Indiana, but it all started with the Greenfield shop, he said.

Through the years, the business has become a family operation, which Coram attributes as a contributing factor to the store’s success.

Coram’s son, Matt, now manages the Greenfield store full time and said the Greenfield store has maintained a consistent clientele over the years and has many regulars.

His daughter, Abbey, also works out of the Greenfield store regularly, Coram said.

To commemorate the milestone, Coram organized a celebration event for customers who showed up to shop on May 21.

Store employees served hot dogs and soft drinks to customers during the event, which also included discounts on a variety of products inside the store.

Coram said he hopes the event acted as a thank you to his customers.

Ten percent of the day’s profits were donated to The Landing, a Greenfield-area nonprofit that serves at-risk youth.

Coram said he plans to work for another 10 or 12 years before retiring. Once that time comes, he plans to leave the stores to his kids to manage, he said.

When the business opened its doors decades ago, the scenery around the store was sparse. But in recent years Coram has seen more development sprout up around the area. Coram’s considering an expansion to the Greenfield store, but that could still be years away, he said.

“Greenfield has really grown up in a nice way,” Coram said. “I’d like to thank the people of Greenfield for supporting us. We owe them a lot.”