By Tony Bennett
There’s a famous essay by the Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam called “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital” that posited that the country was in danger of fracturing due to decreasing involvement in social activities.
This was 30 years ago, and since then, it would be hard to argue that Putnam’s predictions didn’t at least partially come true. Today, political polarization is at an all-time high, and people spend more time sitting at home watching Netflix or looking at social media on their phones than they used to spend in bowling leagues or doing community activities.
Even the way people drink has changed. It used to be that Legion halls and VFWs were filled with people, and local watering holes were filled with colorful characters. Now, people seem to do more of their social drinking without the “social” part, and they have their wine or whiskey at home after a long day at work.
But there are places where older traditions are still alive, where the modern world has made its way in but hasn’t displaced the former ways fully. Places like Belknap Liquor & Lounge. In a time when bars have replaced stimulating conversations with 17 big-screen TVs showing every ESPN channel at once in some kind of sensory-overload fusillade, the Belknap is committed to presenting a homier, warmer, more relaxed vibe, one in which people can communicate and enjoy being social at their chosen pace. It’s the kind of place where agreements and disagreements can be had, but it all ends with a slap on the shoulder and clinking glasses.
Belknap Liquor & Lounge has gone through a lot of changes through the years, but its friendly, family-business feel has stayed. Current co-owner Alan Jaques has picked up the thread from his father, Jerry, who originally established the operation.
“My dad started the Belknap Bar and Cafe back in the ‘60s,” he said.
After being displaced by the building of the Blatnik Bridge, the elder Jaques and his wife Rose purchased the Belknap Plaza, which then included what was called Dominic’s Liquor and Lounge. A change in name followed, and many decades passed. Eventually, the whole operation was passed down to the next generation of Jaques-es. Not that they hadn’t done the work to deserve it.
“I was 15 years old and sweeping parking lots,” Jaques said of his early days at the Belknap. “My friends were going to Wisconsin Point to party at night, but my dad had other ideas for me.” Later on, Jaques went to UW-Superior and got a degree in business administration while working at the Belknap. He said he wasn’t sure that he’d come back and run the family shop, but he knew that he had a chance. “In college, I was doing 40 hours a week,” he said. “Between that and full-time courses in college, I was busy.”
Eventually, his father and mother sold the business to Jaques and his brother, Tim, now no longer involved, in the late ‘90s. “My brother Tim was important in many of the upgrades and changes to the liquor store and tavern throughout the years. We had to evolve as our consumers did and he was important seeing those changes were made,” Jaques said.
Jaques has been keeping the operation running ever since. His method is to know his clientele and give them what they want. “I’m a small-town, hometown store that tries to meet the consumer’s demands for maybe five miles around me in any direction,” Jaques said. “Everybody has such small amounts of time, nowadays. If I can save someone three or four minutes from the time they come in to the time they’re leaving that parking lot, I think I’ve done a big service.”
Jaques has loyal customers that are regulars in both the bar and liquor-store sides of things. “I’ll easily see 150 people a day,” he said. “A lot of those people, they like to talk, and you meet them at different stages of their lives. You meet their children. It’s neat. And then, y’know, you see those children come back when they’re 30 or 40 years old and they’ll recognize me and say they remember coming in with their father.”
“It’s just a nice, comfortable lounge,” Jaques said of that side of his business. He’s made changes with time – he’s got more screens in there than his father might’ve – but he’s not going with the obvious choices.
“I put up harbor cams in the summertime,” he said of what goes up on his TVs. “People love seeing that stuff. This time of year, I’ve got the bald eagles nesting in California. The tavern-goers love it. If it keeps them here and coming back in, we’re doing a service.”
Jaques said the liquor store side of the operation does more business than the lounge side. “Back in the day, you know, all the taverns were full all of the time, but that’s not the way it is, anymore,” he explained. “And it’s not just in Superior. But the liquor store keeps chugging along. The consumers are now buying their stuff more and bringing it home – when COVID came by, they remodeled their basements or garages and put little bars in them.”
Today, Jaques and his wife Debbie own the business, but Jaques is starting to see how he’s now in the role his father once played, and his son Andy is the young upstart who might eventually run the ship. “I’ve got my son here, who I always say is my protege,” Jaques jokes. “I enjoy working with him. We spend hours right next to each other. Not too many parents get to do that. I’m enjoying that.”
A big part of the attraction of the Belknap Lounge are the regular Friday-night performances from local musicians that Jaques books many months in advance to ensure their fans are kept happy. Todd Eckart is one of those people.
“I have been performing at the Belknap Lounge for the past 10 years, and the owners Al and Deb are fantastic and so easygoing and they know exactly how to run an establishment,” Eckart said. “I’m talking about the lounge and also the liquor store, which I have found to be extremely useful, especially at finding really hard items that no one else would have.”
“Al gets a hold of all of his musicians way ahead of time, so he can book a year out,” Eckart said. “He has had some rather fantastic performances over there, including the great duo John and Andy, Corwin and Scott, the Mackie brothers, Similar Dogs and many others.”
“The staff is wonderful,” Eckart enthused, “especially Jason the bartender, who knows how to make everything just perfect. They’ve got great selections on some local beer and other special tap beers. You can order pizza there, which is quite good, but it’s mostly a lounge built in the 1960s, and it has that warm, familiar feel, like you’re back in that decade. I love playing there, and the sound is fabulous. They’ve even got some good lighting in there, and they advertise really well, especially all their new specials and drinks, and they put that up on a huge chalkboard.”
“I always look forward to going back,” Eckart said. “A lot of new faces have showed up over the years, and the regulars know what a good lounge feels like.”
At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about: giving people a place to relax in that is warm and inviting and worth returning to. For many decades, Belknap Liquor & Lounge has done just that. P.S.
