Dallas

‘Colonial' Name Change About Pronunciation, Not Money

Fort Worth's long-standing PGA Tour event now called Dean & DeLuca Invitational

Fort Worth is still home to the longest-tenured PGA Tour event at a single course, but the name “Colonial” will be omitted from its title for the first time since the tournament was founded in 1946

The Dean & DeLuca Invitational begins play this week at the Colonial Country Club.

Dean & DeLuca, self-described “Purveyors of Fine Food”, is a luxury grocer with stores in New York, Kansas, North Carolina, California and Washington D.C., as well as seven countries across the globe. Becoming title sponsor of a PGA tour event is a first for the company that was founded in New York in 1977 and is now headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

“It is our first foray into this and we’re excited to be here at the Colonial Country Club,” Dean & DeLuca Managing Director Jay Coldren said. “We feel like the PGA Tour represents something that Dean & DeLuca represent, as well, which is our commitment to excellence.”

As for elimination of the word “Colonial” from the tournament’s title, Coldren told NBC DFW the decision had more to do with pronunciation than it did rebranding.

“It’s really not about money,” he said. “We’re really honored to be a part and be associated with the Colonial. It’s just a lot of syllables - ‘Dean & DeLuca Colonial Invitational.’ I think we all agreed that it just made sense to call it the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.”

The chain currently has no physical stores in Texas, but is looking at real estate in the Dallas-Fort Worth market and plans to open multiple stores in the area.

Because the Lone Star State might be unfamiliar with its products, Dean & DeLuca has opened a pop-up store at the Colonial this week.

“We thought, our first year, let’s give a little sample of what the larger stores might be like so that people know that it’s a combination of retail, it’s coffee, it’s breads, it’s pastries, it’s prepared foods and packaged foods and a little touch of the level of quality and sophistication that we bring,” Coldren said.

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