Colorado: By Nature Gallery moves to new space in Beaver Creek

From Vail Daily: By Nature Gallery moves to new space in Beaver Creek
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — Over 150 million years ago, dinosaurs like the Stegosaurus stenops, the state dinosaur of Colorado, roamed the state along with many other of their now-extinct relatives. While they're not roaming anymore, some are still lingering above the Beaver Creek ice rink in their new home at By Nature Gallery, having been moved into a new, and much roomier location. If you look up to the feature window in the new store, you will see fossils and dinosaurs looking down at you, including a 12-foot-tall giant sloth skeleton and a Tyrannosaurus bataar skull that came all the way from Mongolia.

But this isn't just about dinosaurs. By Nature Gallery features petrified wood slabs, fossil fish from the Green River Formation in Wyoming, butterflies and bugs, mineral specimens, and jewelry. There are museum-quality fossils for serious collectors as well as a wide selection of special offerings for serious nature lovers.

Having grown the business over the last eight years in Beaver Creek Village, By Nature Gallery eventually outgrew the original spot, and needed to spread out. The new store is located up the flight of stairs from the ice rink area of the village, and across from the Children's Ski School in Gerald R. Ford Hall.

By Nature Gallery is owned by Rick and Frances Rolater and their partners, Jim and Kim Godwin. Rick started the original Discovery Store in the early '90s, which was a retail store featuring everything from nature. These stores were eventually sold to the Discovery Channel and formed the basis for their entire retail operation. When Rick and Frances moved to the mountains and the Vail Valley in 2003, they opened a much smaller version specializing in things from nature that little and “big” kids really enjoyed. Since the beginning, they have continued to offer the very best fossils available, as well as other fun and inspiring things to incorporate into our lives.

Their tag line is “At Home With Nature” because, according to Rick Rolater, “We want people to know that they can actually own some of the pieces that fascinate them so much as children and adults. I've never met someone who isn't intrigued by our natural heritage. These things are reminders of the incredible history of our Earth, and our place in it, and we can live with and be inspired by them every day. Children are our most enthusiastic customers, and we have a special place set aside for them, where touching is not only allowed, but encouraged!"

Their store hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except for Sunday, when they close at 6 p.m. Go take a look, right up the stairs toward the mountain from the Beaver Creek ice rink.