Midvale Liquor Agency

Address: 7671 South Main Street

Telephone: 801-255-2311

Website:

District: Midvale

 

“There’s been a store like this on Main Street Midvale since 1933, since the end of Prohibition.” Rob Flygare says it simply, standing behind the counter of the Midvale Liquor Agency, helping customers one after another while trying to answer questions between sales. The interruptions never seem to bother him. In fact, they tell part of the story. After more than twenty-five years of running the shop, this steady rhythm of conversation, regulars, deliveries, and familiar faces has become deeply woven into his life. “It’s my business, it’s my baby,” he says. “I try to stay on top of it all.”

Rob was born and raised in Salt Lake City. Growing up, life revolved around many of the same things that defined teenage years for countless Utah kids - football in junior high and high school, friends, and figuring things out as he went along. He attended what was then Utah Valley Community College, now UVU, studying history and political science. Paying his own way through school meant college stretched across decades rather than years. “When I could pay, I would take classes,” he explained. Eventually, in 2011, he paused with only nine credits remaining toward his bachelor’s degree. "Maybe I will finish it one day."

For much of the 1990s, Rob managed Jerry’s Sports in Orem. When the sporting goods store closed in 1998, his former boss transitioned into the liquor business and brought Rob with him. It turned out to be a perfect fit almost immediately. “When I started working here in ’98, I really liked it then,” he says. “So, when I had the opportunity to take it over, I went for it.”

Unlike Utah’s larger state-run liquor stores, Midvale Liquor Agency operates under a package agency contract with the state. Rob is not a state employee. Instead, his company contracts with Utah to sell liquor independently. The distinction matters because it gives him something the larger stores often cannot offer in the same way - personal control over what fills the shelves. “Everything in here is something I’ve picked and chosen to keep,” he says. “If I bring in a stinker that doesn’t sell very well, I pretty much need to sell through it and then I just don't order it again.”

That hands-on approach has shaped the store over the years. Rob knows his customers well and stocks accordingly. Sitting in the heart of Midvale’s Main Street corridor, surrounded by a large Latino community, tequila remains one of his strongest sellers. Budget-friendly wines move steadily, local beers remain popular, and bourbon and whiskey continue to draw loyal customers. He laughs while talking about one particularly unexpected success story - BuzzBallz, the colorful ready-to-drink cocktails that have developed a near cult following among some customers. “The state stores usually only offer a few flavors,” he says. “I bring in special-order ones because my customers request them, and they sell like crazy.”

The store itself carries history far older than many people realize. While the location has moved around Main Street over the decades, a liquor agency has existed in Midvale since the repeal of Prohibition. Rob’s current building dates back to the 1880s. He moved into the space on May 5th, 2006 - exactly twenty years ago. “Since you’re from the East Coast, that probably doesn’t sound very old,” he joked during the conversation. “But for the West, that’s really old.”

Over the years, Midvale Liquor Agency has quietly become part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Rob has weathered changing state liquor laws, shifts in beer sales, economic downturns, and the frenzy of Covid, when liquor sales across Utah exploded almost overnight. “That was pretty wild,” he says with a laugh.

Despite the long hours, Rob has never seriously considered leaving. He is there constantly, often six days a week, stepping away only occasionally for short weekend trips with his wife while one of his children fills in at the shop. Family, more than anything else, is what matters most to him. “I have three kids and three grandkids,” he says. “I like doing family stuff.”

That perspective seems to shape the way he views work itself. Running Midvale Liquor Agency has never been about prestige or defining himself through a career title. Instead, it gave him stability, independence, and a life that allowed room for the people he cares about most. “You know, I was not going to base my life on my job,” Rob says near the end of the conversation. “Running a store like this has been perfect. It’s allowed me to do what I wanted to do with my life.”