Longtime traders and Montezuma County residents Tuffy and Linda Randolph have opened up a new store, Cortez Cash & Trade in a new building off U.S. Highway 491.

The Randolphs, who owned a trading post on the Navajo reservation in Arizona for 22 years, said they’re excited to get back into the business. The family moved back to Mancos in 2002 and have been running a bail bonds business. They’ve spent the last few years in Cortez and are looking forward to seeing new faces as well as familiar ones they’ve met along the way.

“I guess I like dealing the people the most,” said Tuffy. “We’ve made a lot of friends that I hope will be coming back up to trade with us.”

The shop is still acquiring merchandise to sell or trade, and shoppers can look forward to a selection of guns, ammo, saddles, tack, hand tools, Navajo art, jewelry, auto trailers, ATVs, boats and more.

Shop is located in a new custom-built warehouse. The Randolphs wanted something large enough to meet their needs with easy highway access and it made better fiscal sense to build new.

“When we started looking we couldn’t find anything that would work for our space and storage needs, and it seemed like this was the right side of the highway,” said Tuffy.

The Cortez Cash Pawn & Trade is located at 24099 Road G.2 in Cortez.