Lee’s Discount Liquor founder Hae Un Lee dies at 79

Hae Un Lee, the founder of Lee’s Discount Liquor and a longtime philanthropist in Southern Nevada, has died at age 79.

His son, Kenny Lee, confirmed his death to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Saturday.

Stephanie Siverston, the company’s chief financial officer, said Lee died Friday of pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease in October.

“I can’t say enough great things about him,” Siverston said. “He’s like a father figure to so many people.”

Lee immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea and opened his first liquor store, Plaza Liquor, in 1981 on Spring Mountain Road. The company, which has 22 stores, is the largest liquor chain in Las Vegas, Siverston said, with other locations in Mesquite, Reno and West Wendover.

A statement from the company Saturday afternoon called Lee a prominent member of the community whose nonprofit gave millions of dollars to organizations in Southern Nevada.

On Aug. 13, the company celebrated the 40th anniversary of the opening of that first liquor store. The city of Las Vegas and Clark County also named Aug. 13 “Hae Un Lee Day” to celebrate the business owner, Siverston said.

Siverston said Lee’s family is devastated by his death, adding that the 79-year-old “put out a good fight” after he was diagnosed with cancer.

“I think we all know that he’s at peace, but we all thought he would beat it,” she said.

‘Tremendous loss’

Lee’s longtime friend Larry Ruvo said they met when Lee was just starting his business in Southern Nevada. Their friendship dated to when Lee opened his store on Spring Mountain.

“He actually slept at his first store, he would stay on the property,” Ruvo said. “He really believed he would have success in Las Vegas. He was so tenacious about growing his business, looking all over the valley for ways to expand. He was passionate about giving back to the community. He couldn’t be stopped. He was a classic immigrant success story.”

Lee donated generously over the years to the Keep Memory Alive organization, the philanthropic arm of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

“He was a consistent friend, and a loyal friend, for decades,” Ruvo said. “He was a fan of the Vegas Golden Knights later on. We went to games together. This is a big loss for our city.”

Lee donated to several charitable causes and created the nonprofit Lee’s Helping Hand Foundation in the early 2000s to support organizations such as Opportunity Village, New Vista Ranch and Spread the Word Nevada, according to a recent Facebook post from the company.

“Mr. Lee’s greatest inspiration is knowing that he can contribute a helping hand to the people in need in his local community,” the post read.

After Lee’s Discount Liquor cashier Matthew Christensen, 24, was gunned down in an armed robbery attempt in 2016, the company started a GoFundMe that raised nearly $50,000 for the man’s family, thanks partly to a $10,000 donation from the Lee family.

Gov. Steve Sisolak also expressed his condolences for Lee and his family on Saturday, writing on Twitter that was was “a great friend.”

“This is a tremendous loss for our community — but Mr. Lee’s legacy will live on,” he said. “We will keep his family close in our hearts.”

Pat Hickey, a former Nevada assemblyman, posted on Twitter that Lee “epitomized the American Dream and was a generous benefactor to many great Nevada causes.”

Small beginnings

Lee was a former bureaucrat in South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, but he wanted a new life for his family in the U.S. But when he first arrived, no one would hire him because of the language barrier, the Review-Journal reported in 2016.

After a brief attempt at opening a dry cleaning business in New York, Lee decided selling liquor would be easier for someone learning English.

“He would go there, just grab a bottle, put it down, and they’d tell him the total and he’d give them the money,” Kenny Lee told the Review-Journal in 2016. “As he was walking out the store he said, ‘You know what, this is the perfect business because I don’t actually have to talk to customers.’”

Lee’s first store was first renamed A Plaza Liquor, so that it would be the first result in a phone book. He then changed the name to “A Plaza Liquor Barn” until a California business with a similar name threatened to sue. Instead, Lee came up with the signature Lee’s Discount Liquor name.

“Here in the United States, people like discounts, Discount Tires, etc.,” Lee said in 2016.

Lee started working seven days a week, for 15 to 18 hours, and managed the store mainly by himself. His children, Annie, Tina and Kenny, handed out flyers.

The chain has expanded across the valley, with billboards and commercials displaying the company’s signature joking advertisements. Even the company’s Facebook page has a joke, with a picture at the top reading, “I’m on a liquor diet. I’ve lost 3 days already.”

Lee is featured in many of the advertisements smiling or pulling a silly face with his son, who became the company’s president in 1993.

Throughout the years, Lee said he wasn’t ready to retire. When his business celebrated its 30th anniversary and he was 69, Lee laughed at the idea.

“My feeling is ‘only 30 years?’ I pretty much still enjoy work,” he told the Review-Journal in 2011. “I love work. I’m still strong.”

Lee is survived by his wife, Sun Lee, his three children, and eight grandchildren.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal columnist John Katsilometes and staff writer Sabrina Schnur contributed to this report.