Friday, May 1, 2015
Thursday, November 10, 2011
InBusiness stories
The following are stories that comprised the September edition of the Missoulian's InBusiness monthly. The issue focused on businesses that had opened or remodeled in the Missoula service area during the previous 12 months. Photos I took accompanied the stories.
GLR
The new Garlington, Lohn and Robinson building is at the corner of Higgins and Ryman in downtown Missoula.
Garlington, Lohn and Robinson occupies three of six floors of downtown’s newest office building, said firm administrator Doug Maves.
The sixth floor houses no offices, but does have a break room, board room and deck - used by GLR and community groups for very special occasions.
Maves calculated that GLR “occupies 80 percent of the space” in the new structure, which opened in February.
The 50,000 square foot building was designed by Oz Architects to fit into the downtown landscape, but still look modern, Maves said. A blending of brick, glass and colors to match the existing palette of the landscape around it allow the building to simultaneously look both fresh and as if it has always been there.
Besides meeting Missoula’s downtown master plan in style, the building has also received a LEED gold rating, Maves said. LEED rankings measure energy efficiency, materials selection and waste recycling, among other qualifications.
Two spaces remain available for tenants, Maves added: the second floor - about 7,000 square feet - for professional offices, and an 1,800 square foot street level corner space that “would be perfect for a vibrant retail space.”
Maves said prospective tenants should call Garlington, Lohn and Robinson at 523-2500 for more information.
APRICOT LANE
Apricot Lane is in Southgate Mall. The store is open during regular mall hours, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Phone the store directly at 552-7438.
Apricot Lane is a “brand new store - we’ve been here since April,” said store manager Tawna Steele.
“We cater to three generations. Our demographic is ages 21 to 72,” Steele noted.
“We’re a boutique, and some of our designs have a vintage feel,” she said.
Steele acknowledged it’s hard to find products to please all three generations simultaneously, so the store instead carries a wide variety of styles.
Articles are “trendy - but not too trendy for Missoula. Missoula’s known as having a country feel - boots and jeans,” she said.
Apricot Lane clothes “fit in,” Steele said. “People can mix and match things to their own style.”
Steele said her store’s offerings allow for women to express their individuality.
“I bling my flannel out,” she said by way of example.
Although Apricot Lane is a franchise, “We have full say over what we carry in our store,” Steel noted.
Local vendors include Charbonneau Chocolates and Callia cards and jewelry from Stevensville. Missoula vendors include Jax Hats, made entirely of recycled materials - and the new Neesha line of skirts and dresses.
The company also supports nine different charities, Steele said.
PPM
Professional Property Management is at 1511 S. Russell. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone 721-8990 or visit professionalproperty.com for more information.
Professional Property Management, long a staple of the Missoula rental scene, has moved its offices from the city’s north end to the heart of town.
“People can get to us easier now,” Paul Burrow, PPM assistant manager, said of the new Russell Street location. In addition, “We can reach our managed properties faster,” he said.
The move also allowed PPM to enlarge its office space.
“We have three times the footage for the same price,” Burrows said - proving it’s not just residential renters who look for a good bargain in Missoula.
"There’s higher visibility” with the new location, too, he said - so much so that “We’ve picked up quite a bit of business,” Burrows said.
“Some of it is drive by - they see the sign and stop in.”
That includes both those looking to rent and owners seeking to have their properties managed, he said.
Burrows said the office has upgraded its furniture and finishes, and chosen an earth-tone palette for its walls. “It’s pretty nice,” he said of the new space, adjacent to Denny’s Copy Shop.
“It’s a lot easier to give directions to and a lot easier to bike to from the University,” he added.
DONNA SICURA
Donna Sicura, a plus-sized clothing store for women, is in Northgate Plaza. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Call the store at 541-6520.
Donna Sicura means confident woman in Italian, said store owner Deb Nicholson. It’s how she wants her customers to feel. “You can be bigger and still look fashionable,” she said.
The new boutique, in business less than a year, focuses on larger women who may have difficulty finding fashions at regular retailers. At Donna Sicura, “Jeans start at size 12 and go up to 7X,” Nicholson said.
Donna Sicura offers casual, business ware and dressy items – even lingerie. The independent shop offers seasonally appropriate items, with the exception of swimsuits, which are available year-round. Brands include Lee, Erin London and Ezze Wear – a Canadian line made from 100 percent preshrunk-cotton. “The size you buy is the size it stays,” Nicholson said of the clothing. Other offerings include jewelry, Hollywood Fashion accessories and Miche handbags.
Nicholson sees the store not only as a retail outlet, but as a service for plus-sized women. “Our goal is to help people,” she said. “Some women, who have had to order all their clothing online, break down and cry,” now that they can shop like everyone else, she said.
Plus size fashions are not just bigger versions of other clothes, but are specially designed for larger women’s unique shape, Nicholson explained. “That extra fit” is the difference “between feeling comfortable and feeling miserable,” she said. And, she noted, “We all feel better in clothes that fit.”
BLAQUE OWL
Blaque Owl Tattoo, at 307 N. Higgins, is open noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Phone: 543-0688.
At a lot of tattoo shops, the customer’s imagination is hemmed by established designs. Not so at Missoula’s latest skin-ink shop, Blaque Owl.
“Our shop is a custom shop,” said artist Ian Caroppoli. “People come in with an idea and we draw it.”
Open since April, the store boasts five fulltime artists plus one piercing artist. All were established in their own right before joining the Missoula venue, Caroppoli said.
“Melissa Thompson owned her own store in Minneapolis” before moving with her husband and daughter to Missoula, he said. Franky Fingers, the store’s piercing artist, “moved here from Seattle to work at Black Owl.” Store owner Mike Schaefer, Scott Fieldhouse and Mat Reeseman are the other artists.
Each has their own unique style, Caroppoli said. “We go beyond the traditional tattoo shop stuff.”
In addition to ink and steel, the store acts as a gallery on First Fridays.
“We want to be a fine art gallery as well,” Caroppoli said. Displays range from abstract to tattoo art, he noted.
The downtown location means a lot of foot traffic on First Fridays as well as other days, Caroppoli said. Walk-in customers are welcome.
Caroppoli noted that ink technology has advanced over the years, allowing for more colors and intricate designs than ever before. All tattoos are done at a set rate of $100 per hour, he added. “That’s standard around here.”
ACE
Ace Hardware, in Tremper’s Shopping Center at the corner of Brooks and Russell , is open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. between Memorial and Labor days and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. between Labor and Memorial days. Phone 728-3030.
Everyone loves Ace Hardware. Now, there’s more to love.
The store expanded from 19,000 to about 30,000 square feet this past year, said manager Steve Weiler. That has allowed for more items to meet customer requests. New, lower counters for better visibility, wider aisles and expanded departments “just add up to a good shopping experience,” Weiler added.
Notable department expansions include kitchen equipment, tools and sporting goods.
“When In Good Taste downtown went away, there was demand for higher end culinary brands, so now we carry some of those,” Weiler said. And with the closure of Brady’s Sportsman’s Surplus, whose space Ace grew in to, “customers were still looking for sporting goods,” Weiler said. Ace also now carries a complete line of Craftsman tools, along with stationary tools such as band saws, table saws and drill presses.
Other enlarged departments include pets, paints and finishes and fasteners, which “has enlarged as much as (it can),” Weiler said. “One of the joys of working here is helping a customer find something they’re sure can’t be found,” he said.
The store had a grand reopening in May and “since then, sales have been pleasing, especially in a tight economy,” Weiler noted. He urged those who have not checked out the new Ace to come on by.
AAA
AAA is located at 1200 S. Reserve. Business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone 829-5509.
Motorists looking for travel security have always relied on AAA. At the Missoula office, they’ll now find a more open layout designed for ease of use.
Office machinery was put out of sight. The floor plan was reconfigured. And “We built additional walls and tore out the bulky center counter to make (the office) more open and friendly for our members,” said Les Giamona.
Giamona, AAA regional manager, said the new design is “inviting, warm - just a comfortable feel,” that makes it easier for agents to help customers.
In addition, AAA added a self-service cabinet of maps and tour books to meet travelers’ planning needs.
New carpet, paint and energy-efficient solar shades round out the remodel. In addition, new signage and logos were place both outside and inside, Giamona said.
The redo allows “our agents to greet people as they come in the door, and help them at the service desks,” Giamona said.
It’s all part of AAA’s goal of customer service to make travelers more at ease.
AAA will host an open house to show off the new space from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8.
CULLIGAN
The Culligan water bottling plant is at 2020 Ernest, a block southwest of Southgate Mall. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday; water refill service is available on the west side of the building 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Phone 721-1991 for more information.
Culligan offers purified water in a variety of bottle sizes and services, said local franchise owner Waunda Brevard. Classic five gallon jugs are available for delivery or may now be found at area grocery stores, along with one gallon jugs, she said.
“Customers can go to the stores and get those at their convenience,” freeing them from regular service hours, she said. Locations include Thompson Falls, Seeley Lake, Moiese and Hamilton. Culligan’s service area runs “from Ronan to Salmon, Idaho, to DeBorgia to Drummond,” Bravard said. Customers enjoy water coolers and well treatment including UV treatment and removal of arsenic, nitrates and iron. “We also do water softening because there’s a lot of hard water in our area,” Bravard said.
In spring, the Missoula processing plant doubled its office space and expanded its warehouse room. Water is bottled daily.
“We offer tours anytime someone wants to see our process,” Brevard noted.
Culligan water is also available in convenient liter and half-liter sizes, by the case or individually. A self-service water jug refill station is located outside of the west end of the building, at rates about a quarter of what one would pay for retail.
YO WAFFLE
Yo Waffle is at 216 W. Main St. downtown. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday.
Missoulians hankering for a sweet treat downtown have a new place to go since Yo Waffle self-serve frozen yogurt and waffle shop opened at the end of July.
The locally owned independent store boasts 100 frozen yogurt flavors plus 60 toppings, owner Daryl Kaufman said. There are 10 yogurt flavors available at any one time, he said.
Belgian waffles, too, can be topped with any of the add-ons, from sprinkles to Heath bars to blueberries and whipped cream.
“It’s so much fun being able to create your own waffle” or yogurt sundae, he said. With the variety of toppings, “You get what you want,” he noted.
Because both the waffles and yogurt portion of the business are self-serve, you also get as much as you want, he added. “Some people want a little, some want a lot,” he said. Items are sold by weight so you only pay for what you take.
The business has already been well-received, Kaufman said. “Our busiest time of day is between 7 and 10 p.m.,” he said. “I’m anticipating that will go up once the University students are back.”
Business has been so good, in fact, that Kaufman is already thinking of branching out.
“My son lives in Arizona – we’re thinking of starting a second store in Flagstaff.”
EQUUS AND PAWS
Equus and Paws is located in 2825 E4 Stockyard Rd., in building E of the warehouse complex behind Johnny Carino’s. Current hours are Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday hours will be later this fall. Phone 552-2157.
“Missoula is such a pet town,” said business owner Elizabeth McNeilly. That’s the reason she closed up shop in Billings and moved here, she said.
McNeilly owns Equus and Paws, a new Missoula business that caters to horses, dogs and their owners.
Equus and Paws offers holistic pet care including massage, grooming, organic foods and pet toys made of recycled materials. Everything McNeilly sells is made in the United States.
McNeilly first started thinking about moving to Missoula after vending at Pet Fest in Caras Park a few years ago.
“I stayed afterward and got to see what Missoula is about,” she said.
What it’s about, she said, is pets.
Missoulians are also open to the kinds of products McNeilly likes to sell: locally made, natural-based or with no added preservatives or dyes.
McNeilly also offers off-site massage for horses and dogs.
She began the practice after her intentions of becoming a horse trainer were scuttled due to personal health problems.
“I learned equine massage and loved it,” she said. Canine massage followed.
It was a logical step to branch out into the animal products business.
“I even sell dog beer,” McNeilly said. The non-alcoholic broth-based brew can be ordered with personalized labels, she said.
"My dog is on there now,” she said. “I call it Lazy Dog Ale.”
FLORENCE COFFEE CO.
Florence Coffee Co. is on Brooks at the front of Tremper’s Shopping Center. Hours are 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends; 546-3538.
Nate Tamblyn had been eyeing the triangle of commercial land in front of Ace Hardware for a long time, he said.
“It’s a unique spot; it’s the old Highway 93 Stop and Go,” he said.
Now, it’s Tamblyn’s ninth Florence Coffee Co. drive-through.
“I designed it for three drive lanes; I built for the future,” Tamblyn said of the shop that opened in November.
So far, he noted, “People like it.”
Tamblyn credits his products for his business success.
“Our coffee tastes great and it’s consistent. We have a wide-range of fruit smoothies - huckleberry is our signature,” he said. Iced and blended drinks are big summer sellers, Tamblyn added.
Tamblyn said the new location is luring walk-over customers from the nearby shopping center, and he couldn’t be happier. “Exposure on Brooks is huge,” he said.
Tamblyn has been in the coffee hut business nine years, beginning with a location in Florence.
“I built a good, solid base in Florence and worked my way back to Missoula,” he said.
Tamblyn’s proud to be able to make his new location, which he called “a Missoula icon,” look sharp again.
GARDEN CITY PAINT AND GLASS
Garden City Paint and Glass is across from McDonald’s Restaurant at 3217 Brooks. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Phone 549-0608.
Garden City Paint and Glass has spent 29 years helping others remodel and update their commercial and residential spaces. The business recently did some upgrading of its own.
“We expanded and remodeled inside and out,” noted owner Roger Grenfell.
Garden City divided its internal space into separate display areas, he said.
“The idea is to have specialists in both departments,” he said. “In the glass side, we have showroom for Kolbe and Kolbe wood-framed windows and doors; Jeldwen vinyl windows and heavy glass shower doors.” In addition, Grenfell said, the store has mirrors of all types, just “anything to do with glass.”
Commercial door repair is also part of Garden City’s business. When it comes to paint and glass, “We focus on remodeling products for the home,” Grenfell said.
The paint side of the business features Pittsburgh Paints and Sikkens wood finishes and stains.
“People who have log homes really like Sikkens,” Grenfell said.
Grenfell noted that his business has always been described as being across the street from McDonald’s. With the new remodel, which included a timber frame and log front and -once completed this winter - a rock-faced foundation, Grenfell said, “People will notice this corner now. With our new store front, we’ll make the McDonald’s across from us.”
A NEW WELL
A New Well is at 1831 S. 3 W., next to Marchie’s Nursery. Hours are Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday 8-11 a.m. Phone 829-8746 for information.
Whole body wellness is at the heart of A New Well. “We encourage people to provide the nutrition their bodies need to sustain health and wellness,” owner Chris Landkammer said.
The business, formerly Healthy Inspirations, “upgraded” to the company’s more holistic program, which combines strength and cardio training with “nutritional counseling based on regular grocery store food,” she said. “We were the only Healthy Inspirations center in the nation that was asked to upgrade,” to the new program, she added.
The “full-service weight loss and wellness center” for women offers circuit training machines and a spa area offering vacuum massage.
The program’s emphasis on nutrition is meant to change people’s lifestyles, not act as a “quick fix,” she noted. “Once our ladies reach their goal weight, we keep them on the program for another year,” Landkammer said.
Landkammer quoted the U.S. Surgeon General as saying “95 percent of people who lose weight using regular grocery store food and incorporate exercise into that keep the weight off.”
The program carries the credibility of local doctors, Landkammer said. “We have 28 physicians in town that prescribe our program.”
Reflecting the business’s whole-system approach, A New Well’s building was designed and built using green technology.
MISSOULA FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC
Missoula Family Chiropractic is across the parking lot from Albertson’s in Tremper’s Shopping Center. Its hours are 7:30-10:30 a.m. and 3-6:15 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 3-6:15 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and weekends by appointment only.
Missoula Family Chiropractic is “a Maximized Living Health Center franchise,” said office manager and chiropractic assistant Ashley Robinson. It offers a “health care delivery system based on five essentials,” she said.
The program emphasizes healthy lifestyle choices, nerve health, quality nutrition, maximizing oxygen intake and lean muscle mass and minimizing toxin exposure.
“All of our patients apply those five steps. Each is a vital key to health,” Robinson said. “We want to remove the interference that keeps your body from functioning as God intended it,” she said.
To that end, Missoula Family Chiropractic offers “spinal correction, not just pain relief.” Still, Robinson said, “someone could get their spine corrected but still eat junk food,” so MFC promotes proper diet as well. In addition, it hosts workshops, webinars and a monthly advanced topic talk for patients. The company also offers nutritional supplements.
“People are changing not just their physiology, but their lifestyle and their nutritional intake,” Robinson said. With the changes, “They do a 180. They transform their lives and discover the health they are entitled to.”
NORTHERN ROCKIES FINANCIAL GROUP
Northern Rockies Financial Group, agents for Guardian and Park Avenue securities, can be found at 1014 South Ave., 728-6699. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Jill Taber, the recruiting director for Northern Rockies Financial Group, gushed about the company’s remodeled facilities.
“Downstairs has gotten a facelift - new carpet, new wood trim and a larger bull pen area for new associates,” she said. Cream, tan, dark chocolate and sage colors make a sophisticated and relaxing work palate. In addition, “we did some structural changes to the layout upstairs,” she said. “Previously, we had three cross halls - that’s all been redesigned.”
The changes allowed for “a larger reception area with a big screen TV so people can relax before meeting with their advisors,” Taber said. More windows add natural light and airiness.
“We’ve made the whole floor plan more open,” she said.
Taber credited building owner Andy Link with the commitment to invest in the future of the building.
External changes, which should be completed soon, she said, include removing outdated awnings and adding steel beams for a more modern look.
“It’s going to update the look a great deal,” she said.
BUTTERCUP MARKET
Buttercup Market is one block west of the University of Montana at 1221 Helen Ave. Hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Phone 541-1221 for additional information.
“Business has been great,” Buttercup Market owner Molly Galusha said of her new University neighborhood market and eatery, which opened six months ago
Buttercup highlights local and regional food, both fresh and prepared, Galusha said.
Local meats, grains, beers and wine as well as produce are offered in the cozy, warm wooden space. Galusha envisions the market serving not just University clients, but the neighborhood as well.
In addition, she said, “so many more University staff are biking and car pooling to campus. We’re a nice alternative for those who want to get off campus for lunch.”
Response has been favorable.
“We are planning a modest expansion already, for deli and take out foods,” she said.
With the expansion, Buttercup is aiming at more than just the lunch crowd.
“People will be able to come and pick up dinner to heat up at home,” she said.
A new twist will have Buttercup offering deli foods “uncontainered,” Galusha added. “People will bring their own containers and we’ll just weigh up” their purchases, she said. The model is “a wonderful store in London,” she said.
The business model aims to cut down on waste plastic and encourage recycling and reuse.
“It’s all small steps we take to help the environment,” Galusha said.
FIRST SECURITY BANK
First Security Bank is near Southgate Mall at 2601 Garfield St. Lobby hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; drive through hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
First Security’s location near Southgate Mall is a real estate loan center as well as full service bank, according to marketing coordinator Eric Midtlyng.
And, Midtlyng said, “we completely revamped the entire thing.”
He’s talking of the building, which had a 1960s look, dating to the building’s origins, he said.
“It’s an old building and we’re updating it to modern times,” Midtlyng said.
A new A-frame roof gives the building a modern appearance, while a new color line freshens up interior space.
“We increased office space for real estate lenders,” Midtlyng said, “and added a new HVAC system.”
All counters are now Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, he added.
In the basement, Glacier Bancorp, Inc., of Kalispell has its holding company and IT departments. Although most customers won’t see these areas, they, too, were remodeled, Midtlyng said.
Bank employees are happy with the upgrades, he said.
All in all, Midtlyng noted of the changes, “It turned out really nice. Its looks good.”
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Eye of the Beholder custom art framing is located at 2720 Palmer St., and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Monday hours are by appointment only. Call 543-2787.
By moving her 16-year-old framing business a mere three blocks east, Eye of the Beholder owner Callie York doubled her available work space, she said.
“We have lots of room to move around in. We love our new space,” she said of the move, completed in March.
Eye of the Beholder is a full-service custom art framing shop that offers custom mat cutting, mat carving and mat engraving as well as framing pictures of all shapes and sizes, York said.
“We do framing for businesses and galleries,” she said, along with framing art for individuals.
York said it doesn’t matter if your art is of museum quality or keepsake variety.
“We do inexpensive posters to conservation quality,” she said.
Creating custom shadow boxes is another service Eye of the Beholder offers, she said.
In addition, mirror framing, shrink wrapping and canvas stretching services are all provided.
Eye of the Beholder also does dry mounting, York said, wherein a wrinkled paper article is flattened and pressed before framing to restore it to a closer-to-original state.
York welcomes visitors to the new space, to come see for yourself the variety of framing available.
SMOOCH
Smooch cosmetic boutique is at 125 Main St., downtown. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone 541-1600.
“I’ve always loved cosmetics,” Smooch owner Ellie Schroeder said.
That love led Schroeder to purchase the former Skin Essentials business after managing it for more than a year, she said.
“I bought that business and moved it and changed its name - it’s basically a new business,” she said of Smooch. In addition, “I brought in additional product lines,” she said.
Ever since her days as a University of Montana student, “I’ve always wanted to have a little boutique in downtown Missoula,” Schroeder said.
After living in California for about five years, she returned to Missoula with her husband.
Schroeder is picky about the products she offers.
“Bare Essentials is 100 percent pure mineral cosmetics,” she said of the line that “has a huge following.” She also offers “The Balm, which is free of any parabens or fillers.”
Schroeder also sells cosmetic bags and lotions and offers advice on color palettes and makeovers. She carries Lola and DuWop cosmetics as well.
Business has been very good since opening in March, she said.
Before opening Smooch, some of the products lines she offers could only be purchased online, she said. “It’s nice that it’s available at a site and not just online,” she said.
BLACKFOOT RIVER OUTFITTERS
Blackfoot River Outfitters is in Grant Creek Town Center on North Reserve Street. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Phone 542-7411.
“We’ve had a fly shop in Phillipsburg for six years. And we’ve been outfitting in Missoula for more than 18 years,” said Blackfoot River Outfitters owner Terri Raugland.
Raugland, along with her husband John Herzer, have now added a Missoula fly shop location to their list of businesses.
“We do guided trips and offer advice for people who have their own boats,” Raugland said of some of the services offered at the new North Reserve Street location.
In addition, the shop sells fly fishing equipment, gear and clothing.
“We found what we thought was prime real estate,” she said of their location in Grant Creek Town Center.
“There’s steady traffic, ample parking for people towing boats and 13 hotels within the first mile of Reserve Street from the I-90 exit,” Raugland said.
With most of Missoula‘s other fly shops concentrated downtown, she said, “It’s nice to be able to offer services on this side of town.”
Raugland said she and Herzer decided to open their own shop in Missoula after the fly shop they’d been outfitting for closed.
Blackfoot also posts a video fishing report on their Facebook site, which boasts 6,100 fans, and publishes a written fishing report in the Missoulian each Thursday, she said.
After almost 20 years in the business, she said, she and her husband still love it.
THE GIRLS WAY
The Girls Way is located at 1515 Wyoming, just off Russell. Current hours are 3-9 p.m. weekdays and 1-5 p.m. Saturdays. Hours will change in the fall. Call 830-3018 for more information.
The Girls Way opened March 1 as a non-profit committed to promoting healthy development in girls ages 9-18, said co-founder S.J. Beck.
Beck, along with Stephanie Boone and Holly Rogers, started The Girls Way as a means to provide girls from all backgrounds with “a safe, fun, unique space” to learn dance, shadow boxing, fire spinning, hula hooping, Pilates and other activities, Beck said.
A $35 per month fee gets girls into any and as many of the classes as they’d like. For those who can’t swing the fee, scholarships and a sliding scale are available.
The trio of founders met with other women’s groups before opening their doors, Beck said. But, she added, “We’re not a feminist organization. It takes everybody to make a world.”
Still, offering girls a place to learn and be together can help empower them to be self-sufficient women, she said.
In addition to weekday offerings, Beck said The Girls Way hosts Friday Fun Nights featuring a movie or craft, and also offers outdoor activities such as biking, running and hiking.
Sewing classes and special workshops with topics like sustainability will be offered come fall, she said.
The list of offerings is growing, Beck said, and she encouraged girls and their families to call or stop by to learn more.
REVIVE
Revive salon is in Suite 5A of the professional plaza at 715 Kensington Ave. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. For Saturday appointments, wedding parties or manicure or pedicure parties, call 360-2833.
Revive is a concept as well as a business, salon owner Keerie Gleason said of her 10-month-old salon.
Her philosophy toward clients is to help them “renew their spirit and refresh their look,” an approach she took when opening her business in the Kensington Avenue professional plaza.
“I got a building permit and did a full remodel,” Gleason said of her space, which faces a smaller office complex across the street.
“I took out a wall and added new flooring,” including wood laminate to the existing tile, she said.
“I wanted the salon to feel intimate, like you’re walking into a person’s living room,” she said. To that end, she chose warm earth tones - rusts and ochres - and added leather seating to create a “warm and cozy” setting.
“It’s peaceful,” Gleason said of the space where she offers full salon services as well as hair care products like Abba organics and Schwarzkopf hair colors from Germany. Gleason also sells products for thinning hair, and does manicures and pedicures, she said.
Her goal is sophistication and relaxation, for both the customer and the salon.
CARAS PARK
Caras Park performance stage is in Caras Park on the Clark Fork River at the head of the Higgins Avenue bridge in downtown Missoula. It is managed by the Missoula Downtown Association, 543-4238.
After 14 years of being well used and well loved by Missoulians, Caras Park’s shaded stage was replaced with a permanent structure this past year.
“It was just a tent with an aluminum stage set up for every event,” Missoula Downtown Association head Linda McCarthy said.
Now, the stage is an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant concrete pad with a steel frame and canvas awning.
“That canvas cover will be taken off at the end of the season,” McCarthy said, allowing it to have a longer usable life.
The stage, at 1,250 square feet, is “five times larger than the previous” one, McCarthy said, and has both 110 and 220 volt electrical outlets. Designed for performance in the round, she said, with the new stage, “any viewpoint can be center stage.”
The fact it does not need to be reconstructed throughout the event season “saves our staff a lot of time and money,” she added.
In addition, the old aluminum stage is now available for use under the larger Caras Park Pavilion. It’s already served at least one wedding and will be used for many other events as the season progresses, McCarthy said.
The new stage completes phase one of a three-phase remodel for the park, McCarthy noted.
Phase two will involve work on the Pavilion walls and phase three will see a new canopy there.
McCarthy said about 80 events were slated for Caras Park for the 2011 season, most of them festivals.
FLATHEAD LAKE BREWERY
Flathead Lake Brewery is above the old Zimorino’s at 424 N. Higgins. Hours are 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. The kitchen closes each night at 10 p.m.
“People love hoppy beer in this town,” said Flathead Lake Brewery sales and marketing director Sandy Clare. The brewery is happy to accommodate, offering two IPAs plus award-winning stout and porter.
The latter beers beat others from across the globe at the prestigious World Beer Cup contest in 2006, Clare said.
“We were the youngest brewery to win any award - and we got two.”
Flathead Lake beers are also featured in menu items.
Clare said the amber-artichoke dip is amazing, and she’s been told the restaurant’s burgers are the best in town.
“They’re made with Montana grass-finished beef from Mannix Ranch in Helmville,” she said. “We also have great salads and vegetarian entrees.”
In addition to great food, Clare said the pub space is “really cool. It’s got lots of beautiful exposed brick. It‘s sophisticated.”
Despite the decidedly urban look, Clare said, “The number one thing we hear from people is that it’s comfortable.”
The pub has been “absolutely well-received” since opening in December, she added, crediting the brewery’s “awesome wait staff” for helping build that success.
MONTANA HOMEFITTERS
Montana Homefitters sells locally and regionally made furnishings along with commercially produced stock at the corner of Brooks and South Reserve Street. The store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Call 541-8200 for more information.
When Montana Homefitters moved into the old Big Lots building at the corner of South Reserve and Brooks Street, “there was a drop ceiling and a whole lot of dust and dirt,” Brett Baisden said.
Baisden, Homefitters’ general manager, said the locally owned business cleaned, painted and installed carpeting, plus hung five 60 foot beams from the ceiling to attach light fixtures to.
The hanging lights are the store’s signature style, Baisden said, mirrored from its former location on Blue Mountain Road.
“We just moved a few miles down the street, but we’re in town now,” Baisden said. The change means “a lot more traffic through the door.” Baisden is pleased by that, noting the location’s visibility allows the store “to serve a larger group of people.”
With the move, Baisden said Homefitters product line has expanded to include “a broader scale of pricing. We have some really nice artisan furniture that is locally made in Missoula and the Rocky Mountains,” plus, “We’ve got more mainstream furnishings to fit every home.
“We also continuously change the kind of furniture we carry,” Baisden said, so there’s always something new to check out.
ROMY
Romy is in Southgate Mall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Romy women’s fashion store is new to Southgate Mall. Originating in Redmond, Wash., “we’re branching out” to surrounding states, Olivia Murphy said. Stores opened in Missoula and Billings in February, Murphy said.
“We offer more conservative fashions for teens to college-aged women to moms to women in their 60s,” she said.
Romy product lines are all private label, Murphy said. Styles include “a lot of dresses, sheers and florals - all at low prices.”
Murphy said that most women find suitable options at the store. And “Once people find us, they fall in love.”
The Romy brand blends well with the prevailing Montana look, Murphy said, describing that as “very fashion forward - with cowboy boots.”
Murphy said Romy prides itself on offering “110 percent customer service with a great merchandise mix.”
In addition to Montana, Romy has stores in Washington, Oregon and Arizona.
“Your money will go a lot further at Romy,” than at traditional boutiques, Murphy said.
SOUTHGATE MALL FOUNTAIN
The fountain in Southgate Mall is viewable during regular mall hours, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Southgate Mall fountain has been collecting pennies and quarters for 13 years, said the mall’s general manager, Tim Winger.
In the last few years, though, Winger said, the water-burbling icon “started looking shabby.”
So the mall updated the fountain, resurfacing it with tiles and texture to replace the old cement and ceramic finish.
The new look, Winger said, “is more in style with the rest of the mall.” Plus, he noted, the fountain’s “pumps have been readjusted so the sound is a bit more muted.”
Before, he said, nearby store owners had to fight the noise to hear their customers.
Shop owners have been pleased with the changes, he said. And it seems mall-goers are, as well.
“There’s a lot of quarters in there - it looks like we’re collecting more” money than before the upgrades, Winger said.
And that’s a good thing.
The mall donates all the coins from the fountain to three or four local nonprofits each year.
“Over the years, we’ve probably donated about $50,000” to various groups, Winger said,
Mall goers, besides nonprofits, will benefit from the remodel, Winger said.
“We wanted to make it a nice amenity so people would take some time and sit there a while.”
ON STORE
The ON Store is in Southgate Mall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Reach it at 541-6648.
ON made an immediate splash in Missoula. It opened in mid-November, and “more than 63,000 people came in during the holiday season,” said store manager Michael Donahoo. As of mid-August, that count was up to 138,000.
Donahoo said the store uses a “very accurate electronic people tracker” to count visitors. “And we’ve already had a nice upswing in traffic for back-to-school,” he said.
Donahoo is pleased.
“We’ve become a destination for Apple products,” he said. The Missoula store is the “only full-line Apple dealer in the state,” he added.
While other stores carry some Apple products, On carries every single thing the tech company makes.
“What sets us apart is that everything in the store is 100 functional and connected,” Donahoo said.
That means consumers can learn how a product works before taking it home.
The approach has been “very, very well-received,” he said.
And it has garnered the store recognition form afar as well.
“We just won a national award from Dealerscope Magazine for retail excellence and innovation,” Donahoo said.
Donahoo credited staff dedication to teaching consumers how to use their products as integral to winning the award.
“One of our favorite things is to introduce people to technology,” he said.
TOMPKINS and PETERS CPAs
Tompkins and Peters Certified Public Accountants has moved to 1715 S. Reserve St. Business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Inquire at 363-0097.
Tompkin and Peters CPAs’ recent move has been beneficial to the company, noted office administrator Elaine Serwaki.
The company left its old digs “on the fourth floor of the Mountain West Building” near Southgate Mall in favor of a “location (that) is a lot more visibly friendly,” she said.
The new offices, in a professional plaza on South Reserve Street, allow for passersby to take note of the company, she said.
“We have had several walk-ins,” since moving to Reserve Street, “and we are accepting new clients,” Serwaki said.
The relocation also let the business expand physically.
“We have at least doubled our space. We have three offices, a lobby and a conference room,” Serwaki said.
To accommodate a growing clientele, Tompkins and Peters has five licensed certified public accountants and “several (of the office’s) professional staff are in the process of becoming CPAs as well,” Serwaki said.
MISSOULA NISSAN
Missoula Nissan can be found at 2715 Brooks Ave. Phone 549-5178. Showroom hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; shop hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays only.
Missoula Nissan is happy to stay put, the dealership’s Cary Larson said.
“We lacked space until we were able to buy the adjacent property. The reality is that the amount of land in Missoula Valley zoned for car lots is limited,” Larson said. By adding on, “we almost doubled our square footage,” he noted.
The expansion should keep Missoula Nissan on Brooks for years to come.
“This location has held an auto dealership for 40 years. We’ve been here as owners since 1991,” Larson said. “We like where we’re at. It’s a very viable location.”
Larson said Nissan tore down the neighboring Sound West building and remodeled its own. “We finished landscaping in early June,” Larson said.
Improvements have also been made for customers of the dealership’s service shop.
There are new waiting areas, a wash bay to clean serviced vehicles, and a greatly expanded parts department which should mean less waiting to have vehicles repaired, Larson said..
“We had a lot of support form the Missoula Redevelopment Agency and Missoula Office of Planning and Grants,” Larson said of the expansion. “It was a good project. We had been planning it for a long time.”
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF LAW
The University of Montana School of Law is on the corner of Maurice Avenue and Sixth Street on the University of Montana campus. Reach the department at 406.243.4311 or visit umt.edu/law.
The University of Montana Law School recently finished the last detail of a rebuild which began in January, 2008.
The $14.8 million remodel and expansion added 46,000 square feet to the School of Law.
“The big thing,” said administrator Carla Caballero Jackson, “was to accommodate upgrades in technology and handicapped accessibility.”
An old elevator that allowed those with mobility issues to access various floors “was awkward to use,“ she said. It was replaced during the rebuild, she said.
While the building was open for student use and dedicated in September, 2009, the last of the furnishings were just brought in this summer.
New couches, tables and chairs have been added to a lower level student lounge, Jackson said.
The upgrades make the student work space both more elegant and usable, she said. In addition, student cubicles, which act as small offices for senior law students, were refurnished as well.
These received a makeover which included new, rolling office chairs to make them feel more like a professional work environment, Jackson said. She is sure students will be pleased with the changes.
AT&T
AT&T has two locations in Missoula, at 3100 Paxson St. a block from Southgate Mall and at 3075 N. Reserve St. in the Grant Creek Town Center. Both stores offer a full range of AT&T mobile products including smart phones and tablet computers. Either branch can be reached by calling 240-0024.
AT&T, one of the nation’s largest cell phone carriers, now has two stores in Missoula.
“They were both Legacy Alltel locations,” said Alexander Carey, head of AT&T corporate communications for Minnesota and the Northern Plains states. “We acquired them when we took over Alltel,” Carey said, explaining how AT&T entered the Montana market.
Although not specifically targeted by AT&T, Carey said “the (Missoula) market offers us a number of advantages.”
He cited the presence of the University of Montana as providing a large customer base for the company.
“Students buy tablets and smart phones and use those to download information for their studies,” he said. AT&T’s ability to offer service “that allows a consumer to be on the internet and the phone at the same time … caters to both students and small businesses,” Carey said.
AT&T also offers 3G service and specializes in data TV, Carey said.
So far, Missoula area sales reflect “there was a demand for the fastest mobile broadband data speeds” available, Carey said.
TAMARACK BREWING CO.
Tamarack Brewing Co. is at 231 W. Front St. Hours are 11 a.m. through 1 a.m. daily. Phone 830-3113 for orders or reservations.
Food and beer go hand in hand at Tamarack Brewing Co.
The Lakeside-based restaurant uses its own beers in its pub food, said owner Andra Townsley. On the beverage side, 10 self-made ales or a full bar can quench one’s thirst.
Townsley, along with her husband Josh, brewer Craig Koontz and kitchen manager Chris McLaughlin, opened Tamarack in April.
The foursome also own and operate Tamarack Brewery in Lakeside, but looked to Missoula to expand their food offerings.
In a two-level building adjacent to Caras Park, Tamarack has “a sports bar downstairs and a quieter dining room with a small bar at the front upstairs,” Townsley said.
As a parent, she said, she wanted “to create a place where families could go.” The upper level answers that need, while the lower gets the late-night college crowd.
Townsley has been pleased with the way Missoulians have welcomed the new pub.
“There’s few places that have people as aware of craft beer as Missoula,” she said.
Of the pub’s 10 ales, the triple-hopped Hat Trick Hop is Missoula’s favorite, Townsley said. Also popular is the lighter Bear-bottomed Blonde and Yard Sale Amber – named for face-planting on ski slopes, not the quintessential Missoula pastime, Townsley said.
Come football season, Tamarack will also serve breakfast from 9:30 a.m. on weekends.
PRUDENTIAL MONTNANA
Prudential Montana’s newest office is at 314 N. Higgins Ave. Hours are 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Phone 329-2007.
When most people step into a real estate office, they sit formally at a desk with an agent to discuss possible housing matches, said Kathy Stenger, Prudential Western Region manager and operations manager for Prudential’s new downtown office.
The Higgins Ave. office is designed more like a living space, said broker/owner Dan Ermatinger.
“There are coffee tables, bistro tables with tablet (computer)s, stuffed chairs” and other smaller work areas, Stenger said.
“This new space is all about our future,” Eramtinger added. “The office has no walls.” Instead, agents utilize “new software that consumers can put on their smart phones,” and share work stations. Any Prudential agent may use the space, Ermatinger said.
The office, which opened about three months ago, will also serve as an art gallery on First Fridays and as a venue for a public lecture series, Ermatinger said.
It also has three large video screens facing the street which play an inventory of available properties, information for buyers and sellers, and about Missoula cultural events, Stenger said. That screen helps potential residents know what it’s like to live here, she said.
“We wanted to bring our company more forward by bringing this location downtown,” Ermatinger said.
GLR
The new Garlington, Lohn and Robinson building is at the corner of Higgins and Ryman in downtown Missoula.
Garlington, Lohn and Robinson occupies three of six floors of downtown’s newest office building, said firm administrator Doug Maves.
The sixth floor houses no offices, but does have a break room, board room and deck - used by GLR and community groups for very special occasions.
Maves calculated that GLR “occupies 80 percent of the space” in the new structure, which opened in February.
The 50,000 square foot building was designed by Oz Architects to fit into the downtown landscape, but still look modern, Maves said. A blending of brick, glass and colors to match the existing palette of the landscape around it allow the building to simultaneously look both fresh and as if it has always been there.
Besides meeting Missoula’s downtown master plan in style, the building has also received a LEED gold rating, Maves said. LEED rankings measure energy efficiency, materials selection and waste recycling, among other qualifications.
Two spaces remain available for tenants, Maves added: the second floor - about 7,000 square feet - for professional offices, and an 1,800 square foot street level corner space that “would be perfect for a vibrant retail space.”
Maves said prospective tenants should call Garlington, Lohn and Robinson at 523-2500 for more information.
APRICOT LANE
Apricot Lane is in Southgate Mall. The store is open during regular mall hours, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Phone the store directly at 552-7438.
Apricot Lane is a “brand new store - we’ve been here since April,” said store manager Tawna Steele.
“We cater to three generations. Our demographic is ages 21 to 72,” Steele noted.
“We’re a boutique, and some of our designs have a vintage feel,” she said.
Steele acknowledged it’s hard to find products to please all three generations simultaneously, so the store instead carries a wide variety of styles.
Articles are “trendy - but not too trendy for Missoula. Missoula’s known as having a country feel - boots and jeans,” she said.
Apricot Lane clothes “fit in,” Steele said. “People can mix and match things to their own style.”
Steele said her store’s offerings allow for women to express their individuality.
“I bling my flannel out,” she said by way of example.
Although Apricot Lane is a franchise, “We have full say over what we carry in our store,” Steel noted.
Local vendors include Charbonneau Chocolates and Callia cards and jewelry from Stevensville. Missoula vendors include Jax Hats, made entirely of recycled materials - and the new Neesha line of skirts and dresses.
The company also supports nine different charities, Steele said.
PPM
Professional Property Management is at 1511 S. Russell. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone 721-8990 or visit professionalproperty.com for more information.
Professional Property Management, long a staple of the Missoula rental scene, has moved its offices from the city’s north end to the heart of town.
“People can get to us easier now,” Paul Burrow, PPM assistant manager, said of the new Russell Street location. In addition, “We can reach our managed properties faster,” he said.
The move also allowed PPM to enlarge its office space.
“We have three times the footage for the same price,” Burrows said - proving it’s not just residential renters who look for a good bargain in Missoula.
"There’s higher visibility” with the new location, too, he said - so much so that “We’ve picked up quite a bit of business,” Burrows said.
“Some of it is drive by - they see the sign and stop in.”
That includes both those looking to rent and owners seeking to have their properties managed, he said.
Burrows said the office has upgraded its furniture and finishes, and chosen an earth-tone palette for its walls. “It’s pretty nice,” he said of the new space, adjacent to Denny’s Copy Shop.
“It’s a lot easier to give directions to and a lot easier to bike to from the University,” he added.
DONNA SICURA
Donna Sicura, a plus-sized clothing store for women, is in Northgate Plaza. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Call the store at 541-6520.
Donna Sicura means confident woman in Italian, said store owner Deb Nicholson. It’s how she wants her customers to feel. “You can be bigger and still look fashionable,” she said.
The new boutique, in business less than a year, focuses on larger women who may have difficulty finding fashions at regular retailers. At Donna Sicura, “Jeans start at size 12 and go up to 7X,” Nicholson said.
Donna Sicura offers casual, business ware and dressy items – even lingerie. The independent shop offers seasonally appropriate items, with the exception of swimsuits, which are available year-round. Brands include Lee, Erin London and Ezze Wear – a Canadian line made from 100 percent preshrunk-cotton. “The size you buy is the size it stays,” Nicholson said of the clothing. Other offerings include jewelry, Hollywood Fashion accessories and Miche handbags.
Nicholson sees the store not only as a retail outlet, but as a service for plus-sized women. “Our goal is to help people,” she said. “Some women, who have had to order all their clothing online, break down and cry,” now that they can shop like everyone else, she said.
Plus size fashions are not just bigger versions of other clothes, but are specially designed for larger women’s unique shape, Nicholson explained. “That extra fit” is the difference “between feeling comfortable and feeling miserable,” she said. And, she noted, “We all feel better in clothes that fit.”
BLAQUE OWL
Blaque Owl Tattoo, at 307 N. Higgins, is open noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Phone: 543-0688.
At a lot of tattoo shops, the customer’s imagination is hemmed by established designs. Not so at Missoula’s latest skin-ink shop, Blaque Owl.
“Our shop is a custom shop,” said artist Ian Caroppoli. “People come in with an idea and we draw it.”
Open since April, the store boasts five fulltime artists plus one piercing artist. All were established in their own right before joining the Missoula venue, Caroppoli said.
“Melissa Thompson owned her own store in Minneapolis” before moving with her husband and daughter to Missoula, he said. Franky Fingers, the store’s piercing artist, “moved here from Seattle to work at Black Owl.” Store owner Mike Schaefer, Scott Fieldhouse and Mat Reeseman are the other artists.
Each has their own unique style, Caroppoli said. “We go beyond the traditional tattoo shop stuff.”
In addition to ink and steel, the store acts as a gallery on First Fridays.
“We want to be a fine art gallery as well,” Caroppoli said. Displays range from abstract to tattoo art, he noted.
The downtown location means a lot of foot traffic on First Fridays as well as other days, Caroppoli said. Walk-in customers are welcome.
Caroppoli noted that ink technology has advanced over the years, allowing for more colors and intricate designs than ever before. All tattoos are done at a set rate of $100 per hour, he added. “That’s standard around here.”
ACE
Ace Hardware, in Tremper’s Shopping Center at the corner of Brooks and Russell , is open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. between Memorial and Labor days and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. between Labor and Memorial days. Phone 728-3030.
Everyone loves Ace Hardware. Now, there’s more to love.
The store expanded from 19,000 to about 30,000 square feet this past year, said manager Steve Weiler. That has allowed for more items to meet customer requests. New, lower counters for better visibility, wider aisles and expanded departments “just add up to a good shopping experience,” Weiler added.
Notable department expansions include kitchen equipment, tools and sporting goods.
“When In Good Taste downtown went away, there was demand for higher end culinary brands, so now we carry some of those,” Weiler said. And with the closure of Brady’s Sportsman’s Surplus, whose space Ace grew in to, “customers were still looking for sporting goods,” Weiler said. Ace also now carries a complete line of Craftsman tools, along with stationary tools such as band saws, table saws and drill presses.
Other enlarged departments include pets, paints and finishes and fasteners, which “has enlarged as much as (it can),” Weiler said. “One of the joys of working here is helping a customer find something they’re sure can’t be found,” he said.
The store had a grand reopening in May and “since then, sales have been pleasing, especially in a tight economy,” Weiler noted. He urged those who have not checked out the new Ace to come on by.
AAA
AAA is located at 1200 S. Reserve. Business hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone 829-5509.
Motorists looking for travel security have always relied on AAA. At the Missoula office, they’ll now find a more open layout designed for ease of use.
Office machinery was put out of sight. The floor plan was reconfigured. And “We built additional walls and tore out the bulky center counter to make (the office) more open and friendly for our members,” said Les Giamona.
Giamona, AAA regional manager, said the new design is “inviting, warm - just a comfortable feel,” that makes it easier for agents to help customers.
In addition, AAA added a self-service cabinet of maps and tour books to meet travelers’ planning needs.
New carpet, paint and energy-efficient solar shades round out the remodel. In addition, new signage and logos were place both outside and inside, Giamona said.
The redo allows “our agents to greet people as they come in the door, and help them at the service desks,” Giamona said.
It’s all part of AAA’s goal of customer service to make travelers more at ease.
AAA will host an open house to show off the new space from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 8.
CULLIGAN
The Culligan water bottling plant is at 2020 Ernest, a block southwest of Southgate Mall. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday; water refill service is available on the west side of the building 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Phone 721-1991 for more information.
Culligan offers purified water in a variety of bottle sizes and services, said local franchise owner Waunda Brevard. Classic five gallon jugs are available for delivery or may now be found at area grocery stores, along with one gallon jugs, she said.
“Customers can go to the stores and get those at their convenience,” freeing them from regular service hours, she said. Locations include Thompson Falls, Seeley Lake, Moiese and Hamilton. Culligan’s service area runs “from Ronan to Salmon, Idaho, to DeBorgia to Drummond,” Bravard said. Customers enjoy water coolers and well treatment including UV treatment and removal of arsenic, nitrates and iron. “We also do water softening because there’s a lot of hard water in our area,” Bravard said.
In spring, the Missoula processing plant doubled its office space and expanded its warehouse room. Water is bottled daily.
“We offer tours anytime someone wants to see our process,” Brevard noted.
Culligan water is also available in convenient liter and half-liter sizes, by the case or individually. A self-service water jug refill station is located outside of the west end of the building, at rates about a quarter of what one would pay for retail.
YO WAFFLE
Yo Waffle is at 216 W. Main St. downtown. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday.
Missoulians hankering for a sweet treat downtown have a new place to go since Yo Waffle self-serve frozen yogurt and waffle shop opened at the end of July.
The locally owned independent store boasts 100 frozen yogurt flavors plus 60 toppings, owner Daryl Kaufman said. There are 10 yogurt flavors available at any one time, he said.
Belgian waffles, too, can be topped with any of the add-ons, from sprinkles to Heath bars to blueberries and whipped cream.
“It’s so much fun being able to create your own waffle” or yogurt sundae, he said. With the variety of toppings, “You get what you want,” he noted.
Because both the waffles and yogurt portion of the business are self-serve, you also get as much as you want, he added. “Some people want a little, some want a lot,” he said. Items are sold by weight so you only pay for what you take.
The business has already been well-received, Kaufman said. “Our busiest time of day is between 7 and 10 p.m.,” he said. “I’m anticipating that will go up once the University students are back.”
Business has been so good, in fact, that Kaufman is already thinking of branching out.
“My son lives in Arizona – we’re thinking of starting a second store in Flagstaff.”
EQUUS AND PAWS
Equus and Paws is located in 2825 E4 Stockyard Rd., in building E of the warehouse complex behind Johnny Carino’s. Current hours are Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday hours will be later this fall. Phone 552-2157.
“Missoula is such a pet town,” said business owner Elizabeth McNeilly. That’s the reason she closed up shop in Billings and moved here, she said.
McNeilly owns Equus and Paws, a new Missoula business that caters to horses, dogs and their owners.
Equus and Paws offers holistic pet care including massage, grooming, organic foods and pet toys made of recycled materials. Everything McNeilly sells is made in the United States.
McNeilly first started thinking about moving to Missoula after vending at Pet Fest in Caras Park a few years ago.
“I stayed afterward and got to see what Missoula is about,” she said.
What it’s about, she said, is pets.
Missoulians are also open to the kinds of products McNeilly likes to sell: locally made, natural-based or with no added preservatives or dyes.
McNeilly also offers off-site massage for horses and dogs.
She began the practice after her intentions of becoming a horse trainer were scuttled due to personal health problems.
“I learned equine massage and loved it,” she said. Canine massage followed.
It was a logical step to branch out into the animal products business.
“I even sell dog beer,” McNeilly said. The non-alcoholic broth-based brew can be ordered with personalized labels, she said.
"My dog is on there now,” she said. “I call it Lazy Dog Ale.”
FLORENCE COFFEE CO.
Florence Coffee Co. is on Brooks at the front of Tremper’s Shopping Center. Hours are 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends; 546-3538.
Nate Tamblyn had been eyeing the triangle of commercial land in front of Ace Hardware for a long time, he said.
“It’s a unique spot; it’s the old Highway 93 Stop and Go,” he said.
Now, it’s Tamblyn’s ninth Florence Coffee Co. drive-through.
“I designed it for three drive lanes; I built for the future,” Tamblyn said of the shop that opened in November.
So far, he noted, “People like it.”
Tamblyn credits his products for his business success.
“Our coffee tastes great and it’s consistent. We have a wide-range of fruit smoothies - huckleberry is our signature,” he said. Iced and blended drinks are big summer sellers, Tamblyn added.
Tamblyn said the new location is luring walk-over customers from the nearby shopping center, and he couldn’t be happier. “Exposure on Brooks is huge,” he said.
Tamblyn has been in the coffee hut business nine years, beginning with a location in Florence.
“I built a good, solid base in Florence and worked my way back to Missoula,” he said.
Tamblyn’s proud to be able to make his new location, which he called “a Missoula icon,” look sharp again.
GARDEN CITY PAINT AND GLASS
Garden City Paint and Glass is across from McDonald’s Restaurant at 3217 Brooks. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Phone 549-0608.
Garden City Paint and Glass has spent 29 years helping others remodel and update their commercial and residential spaces. The business recently did some upgrading of its own.
“We expanded and remodeled inside and out,” noted owner Roger Grenfell.
Garden City divided its internal space into separate display areas, he said.
“The idea is to have specialists in both departments,” he said. “In the glass side, we have showroom for Kolbe and Kolbe wood-framed windows and doors; Jeldwen vinyl windows and heavy glass shower doors.” In addition, Grenfell said, the store has mirrors of all types, just “anything to do with glass.”
Commercial door repair is also part of Garden City’s business. When it comes to paint and glass, “We focus on remodeling products for the home,” Grenfell said.
The paint side of the business features Pittsburgh Paints and Sikkens wood finishes and stains.
“People who have log homes really like Sikkens,” Grenfell said.
Grenfell noted that his business has always been described as being across the street from McDonald’s. With the new remodel, which included a timber frame and log front and -once completed this winter - a rock-faced foundation, Grenfell said, “People will notice this corner now. With our new store front, we’ll make the McDonald’s across from us.”
A NEW WELL
A New Well is at 1831 S. 3 W., next to Marchie’s Nursery. Hours are Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday 8-11 a.m. Phone 829-8746 for information.
Whole body wellness is at the heart of A New Well. “We encourage people to provide the nutrition their bodies need to sustain health and wellness,” owner Chris Landkammer said.
The business, formerly Healthy Inspirations, “upgraded” to the company’s more holistic program, which combines strength and cardio training with “nutritional counseling based on regular grocery store food,” she said. “We were the only Healthy Inspirations center in the nation that was asked to upgrade,” to the new program, she added.
The “full-service weight loss and wellness center” for women offers circuit training machines and a spa area offering vacuum massage.
The program’s emphasis on nutrition is meant to change people’s lifestyles, not act as a “quick fix,” she noted. “Once our ladies reach their goal weight, we keep them on the program for another year,” Landkammer said.
Landkammer quoted the U.S. Surgeon General as saying “95 percent of people who lose weight using regular grocery store food and incorporate exercise into that keep the weight off.”
The program carries the credibility of local doctors, Landkammer said. “We have 28 physicians in town that prescribe our program.”
Reflecting the business’s whole-system approach, A New Well’s building was designed and built using green technology.
MISSOULA FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC
Missoula Family Chiropractic is across the parking lot from Albertson’s in Tremper’s Shopping Center. Its hours are 7:30-10:30 a.m. and 3-6:15 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 3-6:15 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and weekends by appointment only.
Missoula Family Chiropractic is “a Maximized Living Health Center franchise,” said office manager and chiropractic assistant Ashley Robinson. It offers a “health care delivery system based on five essentials,” she said.
The program emphasizes healthy lifestyle choices, nerve health, quality nutrition, maximizing oxygen intake and lean muscle mass and minimizing toxin exposure.
“All of our patients apply those five steps. Each is a vital key to health,” Robinson said. “We want to remove the interference that keeps your body from functioning as God intended it,” she said.
To that end, Missoula Family Chiropractic offers “spinal correction, not just pain relief.” Still, Robinson said, “someone could get their spine corrected but still eat junk food,” so MFC promotes proper diet as well. In addition, it hosts workshops, webinars and a monthly advanced topic talk for patients. The company also offers nutritional supplements.
“People are changing not just their physiology, but their lifestyle and their nutritional intake,” Robinson said. With the changes, “They do a 180. They transform their lives and discover the health they are entitled to.”
NORTHERN ROCKIES FINANCIAL GROUP
Northern Rockies Financial Group, agents for Guardian and Park Avenue securities, can be found at 1014 South Ave., 728-6699. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Jill Taber, the recruiting director for Northern Rockies Financial Group, gushed about the company’s remodeled facilities.
“Downstairs has gotten a facelift - new carpet, new wood trim and a larger bull pen area for new associates,” she said. Cream, tan, dark chocolate and sage colors make a sophisticated and relaxing work palate. In addition, “we did some structural changes to the layout upstairs,” she said. “Previously, we had three cross halls - that’s all been redesigned.”
The changes allowed for “a larger reception area with a big screen TV so people can relax before meeting with their advisors,” Taber said. More windows add natural light and airiness.
“We’ve made the whole floor plan more open,” she said.
Taber credited building owner Andy Link with the commitment to invest in the future of the building.
External changes, which should be completed soon, she said, include removing outdated awnings and adding steel beams for a more modern look.
“It’s going to update the look a great deal,” she said.
BUTTERCUP MARKET
Buttercup Market is one block west of the University of Montana at 1221 Helen Ave. Hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Phone 541-1221 for additional information.
“Business has been great,” Buttercup Market owner Molly Galusha said of her new University neighborhood market and eatery, which opened six months ago
Buttercup highlights local and regional food, both fresh and prepared, Galusha said.
Local meats, grains, beers and wine as well as produce are offered in the cozy, warm wooden space. Galusha envisions the market serving not just University clients, but the neighborhood as well.
In addition, she said, “so many more University staff are biking and car pooling to campus. We’re a nice alternative for those who want to get off campus for lunch.”
Response has been favorable.
“We are planning a modest expansion already, for deli and take out foods,” she said.
With the expansion, Buttercup is aiming at more than just the lunch crowd.
“People will be able to come and pick up dinner to heat up at home,” she said.
A new twist will have Buttercup offering deli foods “uncontainered,” Galusha added. “People will bring their own containers and we’ll just weigh up” their purchases, she said. The model is “a wonderful store in London,” she said.
The business model aims to cut down on waste plastic and encourage recycling and reuse.
“It’s all small steps we take to help the environment,” Galusha said.
FIRST SECURITY BANK
First Security Bank is near Southgate Mall at 2601 Garfield St. Lobby hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; drive through hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
First Security’s location near Southgate Mall is a real estate loan center as well as full service bank, according to marketing coordinator Eric Midtlyng.
And, Midtlyng said, “we completely revamped the entire thing.”
He’s talking of the building, which had a 1960s look, dating to the building’s origins, he said.
“It’s an old building and we’re updating it to modern times,” Midtlyng said.
A new A-frame roof gives the building a modern appearance, while a new color line freshens up interior space.
“We increased office space for real estate lenders,” Midtlyng said, “and added a new HVAC system.”
All counters are now Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, he added.
In the basement, Glacier Bancorp, Inc., of Kalispell has its holding company and IT departments. Although most customers won’t see these areas, they, too, were remodeled, Midtlyng said.
Bank employees are happy with the upgrades, he said.
All in all, Midtlyng noted of the changes, “It turned out really nice. Its looks good.”
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Eye of the Beholder custom art framing is located at 2720 Palmer St., and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Monday hours are by appointment only. Call 543-2787.
By moving her 16-year-old framing business a mere three blocks east, Eye of the Beholder owner Callie York doubled her available work space, she said.
“We have lots of room to move around in. We love our new space,” she said of the move, completed in March.
Eye of the Beholder is a full-service custom art framing shop that offers custom mat cutting, mat carving and mat engraving as well as framing pictures of all shapes and sizes, York said.
“We do framing for businesses and galleries,” she said, along with framing art for individuals.
York said it doesn’t matter if your art is of museum quality or keepsake variety.
“We do inexpensive posters to conservation quality,” she said.
Creating custom shadow boxes is another service Eye of the Beholder offers, she said.
In addition, mirror framing, shrink wrapping and canvas stretching services are all provided.
Eye of the Beholder also does dry mounting, York said, wherein a wrinkled paper article is flattened and pressed before framing to restore it to a closer-to-original state.
York welcomes visitors to the new space, to come see for yourself the variety of framing available.
SMOOCH
Smooch cosmetic boutique is at 125 Main St., downtown. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone 541-1600.
“I’ve always loved cosmetics,” Smooch owner Ellie Schroeder said.
That love led Schroeder to purchase the former Skin Essentials business after managing it for more than a year, she said.
“I bought that business and moved it and changed its name - it’s basically a new business,” she said of Smooch. In addition, “I brought in additional product lines,” she said.
Ever since her days as a University of Montana student, “I’ve always wanted to have a little boutique in downtown Missoula,” Schroeder said.
After living in California for about five years, she returned to Missoula with her husband.
Schroeder is picky about the products she offers.
“Bare Essentials is 100 percent pure mineral cosmetics,” she said of the line that “has a huge following.” She also offers “The Balm, which is free of any parabens or fillers.”
Schroeder also sells cosmetic bags and lotions and offers advice on color palettes and makeovers. She carries Lola and DuWop cosmetics as well.
Business has been very good since opening in March, she said.
Before opening Smooch, some of the products lines she offers could only be purchased online, she said. “It’s nice that it’s available at a site and not just online,” she said.
BLACKFOOT RIVER OUTFITTERS
Blackfoot River Outfitters is in Grant Creek Town Center on North Reserve Street. Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Phone 542-7411.
“We’ve had a fly shop in Phillipsburg for six years. And we’ve been outfitting in Missoula for more than 18 years,” said Blackfoot River Outfitters owner Terri Raugland.
Raugland, along with her husband John Herzer, have now added a Missoula fly shop location to their list of businesses.
“We do guided trips and offer advice for people who have their own boats,” Raugland said of some of the services offered at the new North Reserve Street location.
In addition, the shop sells fly fishing equipment, gear and clothing.
“We found what we thought was prime real estate,” she said of their location in Grant Creek Town Center.
“There’s steady traffic, ample parking for people towing boats and 13 hotels within the first mile of Reserve Street from the I-90 exit,” Raugland said.
With most of Missoula‘s other fly shops concentrated downtown, she said, “It’s nice to be able to offer services on this side of town.”
Raugland said she and Herzer decided to open their own shop in Missoula after the fly shop they’d been outfitting for closed.
Blackfoot also posts a video fishing report on their Facebook site, which boasts 6,100 fans, and publishes a written fishing report in the Missoulian each Thursday, she said.
After almost 20 years in the business, she said, she and her husband still love it.
THE GIRLS WAY
The Girls Way is located at 1515 Wyoming, just off Russell. Current hours are 3-9 p.m. weekdays and 1-5 p.m. Saturdays. Hours will change in the fall. Call 830-3018 for more information.
The Girls Way opened March 1 as a non-profit committed to promoting healthy development in girls ages 9-18, said co-founder S.J. Beck.
Beck, along with Stephanie Boone and Holly Rogers, started The Girls Way as a means to provide girls from all backgrounds with “a safe, fun, unique space” to learn dance, shadow boxing, fire spinning, hula hooping, Pilates and other activities, Beck said.
A $35 per month fee gets girls into any and as many of the classes as they’d like. For those who can’t swing the fee, scholarships and a sliding scale are available.
The trio of founders met with other women’s groups before opening their doors, Beck said. But, she added, “We’re not a feminist organization. It takes everybody to make a world.”
Still, offering girls a place to learn and be together can help empower them to be self-sufficient women, she said.
In addition to weekday offerings, Beck said The Girls Way hosts Friday Fun Nights featuring a movie or craft, and also offers outdoor activities such as biking, running and hiking.
Sewing classes and special workshops with topics like sustainability will be offered come fall, she said.
The list of offerings is growing, Beck said, and she encouraged girls and their families to call or stop by to learn more.
REVIVE
Revive salon is in Suite 5A of the professional plaza at 715 Kensington Ave. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. For Saturday appointments, wedding parties or manicure or pedicure parties, call 360-2833.
Revive is a concept as well as a business, salon owner Keerie Gleason said of her 10-month-old salon.
Her philosophy toward clients is to help them “renew their spirit and refresh their look,” an approach she took when opening her business in the Kensington Avenue professional plaza.
“I got a building permit and did a full remodel,” Gleason said of her space, which faces a smaller office complex across the street.
“I took out a wall and added new flooring,” including wood laminate to the existing tile, she said.
“I wanted the salon to feel intimate, like you’re walking into a person’s living room,” she said. To that end, she chose warm earth tones - rusts and ochres - and added leather seating to create a “warm and cozy” setting.
“It’s peaceful,” Gleason said of the space where she offers full salon services as well as hair care products like Abba organics and Schwarzkopf hair colors from Germany. Gleason also sells products for thinning hair, and does manicures and pedicures, she said.
Her goal is sophistication and relaxation, for both the customer and the salon.
CARAS PARK
Caras Park performance stage is in Caras Park on the Clark Fork River at the head of the Higgins Avenue bridge in downtown Missoula. It is managed by the Missoula Downtown Association, 543-4238.
After 14 years of being well used and well loved by Missoulians, Caras Park’s shaded stage was replaced with a permanent structure this past year.
“It was just a tent with an aluminum stage set up for every event,” Missoula Downtown Association head Linda McCarthy said.
Now, the stage is an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant concrete pad with a steel frame and canvas awning.
“That canvas cover will be taken off at the end of the season,” McCarthy said, allowing it to have a longer usable life.
The stage, at 1,250 square feet, is “five times larger than the previous” one, McCarthy said, and has both 110 and 220 volt electrical outlets. Designed for performance in the round, she said, with the new stage, “any viewpoint can be center stage.”
The fact it does not need to be reconstructed throughout the event season “saves our staff a lot of time and money,” she added.
In addition, the old aluminum stage is now available for use under the larger Caras Park Pavilion. It’s already served at least one wedding and will be used for many other events as the season progresses, McCarthy said.
The new stage completes phase one of a three-phase remodel for the park, McCarthy noted.
Phase two will involve work on the Pavilion walls and phase three will see a new canopy there.
McCarthy said about 80 events were slated for Caras Park for the 2011 season, most of them festivals.
FLATHEAD LAKE BREWERY
Flathead Lake Brewery is above the old Zimorino’s at 424 N. Higgins. Hours are 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday. The kitchen closes each night at 10 p.m.
“People love hoppy beer in this town,” said Flathead Lake Brewery sales and marketing director Sandy Clare. The brewery is happy to accommodate, offering two IPAs plus award-winning stout and porter.
The latter beers beat others from across the globe at the prestigious World Beer Cup contest in 2006, Clare said.
“We were the youngest brewery to win any award - and we got two.”
Flathead Lake beers are also featured in menu items.
Clare said the amber-artichoke dip is amazing, and she’s been told the restaurant’s burgers are the best in town.
“They’re made with Montana grass-finished beef from Mannix Ranch in Helmville,” she said. “We also have great salads and vegetarian entrees.”
In addition to great food, Clare said the pub space is “really cool. It’s got lots of beautiful exposed brick. It‘s sophisticated.”
Despite the decidedly urban look, Clare said, “The number one thing we hear from people is that it’s comfortable.”
The pub has been “absolutely well-received” since opening in December, she added, crediting the brewery’s “awesome wait staff” for helping build that success.
MONTANA HOMEFITTERS
Montana Homefitters sells locally and regionally made furnishings along with commercially produced stock at the corner of Brooks and South Reserve Street. The store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Call 541-8200 for more information.
When Montana Homefitters moved into the old Big Lots building at the corner of South Reserve and Brooks Street, “there was a drop ceiling and a whole lot of dust and dirt,” Brett Baisden said.
Baisden, Homefitters’ general manager, said the locally owned business cleaned, painted and installed carpeting, plus hung five 60 foot beams from the ceiling to attach light fixtures to.
The hanging lights are the store’s signature style, Baisden said, mirrored from its former location on Blue Mountain Road.
“We just moved a few miles down the street, but we’re in town now,” Baisden said. The change means “a lot more traffic through the door.” Baisden is pleased by that, noting the location’s visibility allows the store “to serve a larger group of people.”
With the move, Baisden said Homefitters product line has expanded to include “a broader scale of pricing. We have some really nice artisan furniture that is locally made in Missoula and the Rocky Mountains,” plus, “We’ve got more mainstream furnishings to fit every home.
“We also continuously change the kind of furniture we carry,” Baisden said, so there’s always something new to check out.
ROMY
Romy is in Southgate Mall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Romy women’s fashion store is new to Southgate Mall. Originating in Redmond, Wash., “we’re branching out” to surrounding states, Olivia Murphy said. Stores opened in Missoula and Billings in February, Murphy said.
“We offer more conservative fashions for teens to college-aged women to moms to women in their 60s,” she said.
Romy product lines are all private label, Murphy said. Styles include “a lot of dresses, sheers and florals - all at low prices.”
Murphy said that most women find suitable options at the store. And “Once people find us, they fall in love.”
The Romy brand blends well with the prevailing Montana look, Murphy said, describing that as “very fashion forward - with cowboy boots.”
Murphy said Romy prides itself on offering “110 percent customer service with a great merchandise mix.”
In addition to Montana, Romy has stores in Washington, Oregon and Arizona.
“Your money will go a lot further at Romy,” than at traditional boutiques, Murphy said.
SOUTHGATE MALL FOUNTAIN
The fountain in Southgate Mall is viewable during regular mall hours, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Southgate Mall fountain has been collecting pennies and quarters for 13 years, said the mall’s general manager, Tim Winger.
In the last few years, though, Winger said, the water-burbling icon “started looking shabby.”
So the mall updated the fountain, resurfacing it with tiles and texture to replace the old cement and ceramic finish.
The new look, Winger said, “is more in style with the rest of the mall.” Plus, he noted, the fountain’s “pumps have been readjusted so the sound is a bit more muted.”
Before, he said, nearby store owners had to fight the noise to hear their customers.
Shop owners have been pleased with the changes, he said. And it seems mall-goers are, as well.
“There’s a lot of quarters in there - it looks like we’re collecting more” money than before the upgrades, Winger said.
And that’s a good thing.
The mall donates all the coins from the fountain to three or four local nonprofits each year.
“Over the years, we’ve probably donated about $50,000” to various groups, Winger said,
Mall goers, besides nonprofits, will benefit from the remodel, Winger said.
“We wanted to make it a nice amenity so people would take some time and sit there a while.”
ON STORE
The ON Store is in Southgate Mall. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Reach it at 541-6648.
ON made an immediate splash in Missoula. It opened in mid-November, and “more than 63,000 people came in during the holiday season,” said store manager Michael Donahoo. As of mid-August, that count was up to 138,000.
Donahoo said the store uses a “very accurate electronic people tracker” to count visitors. “And we’ve already had a nice upswing in traffic for back-to-school,” he said.
Donahoo is pleased.
“We’ve become a destination for Apple products,” he said. The Missoula store is the “only full-line Apple dealer in the state,” he added.
While other stores carry some Apple products, On carries every single thing the tech company makes.
“What sets us apart is that everything in the store is 100 functional and connected,” Donahoo said.
That means consumers can learn how a product works before taking it home.
The approach has been “very, very well-received,” he said.
And it has garnered the store recognition form afar as well.
“We just won a national award from Dealerscope Magazine for retail excellence and innovation,” Donahoo said.
Donahoo credited staff dedication to teaching consumers how to use their products as integral to winning the award.
“One of our favorite things is to introduce people to technology,” he said.
TOMPKINS and PETERS CPAs
Tompkins and Peters Certified Public Accountants has moved to 1715 S. Reserve St. Business hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Inquire at 363-0097.
Tompkin and Peters CPAs’ recent move has been beneficial to the company, noted office administrator Elaine Serwaki.
The company left its old digs “on the fourth floor of the Mountain West Building” near Southgate Mall in favor of a “location (that) is a lot more visibly friendly,” she said.
The new offices, in a professional plaza on South Reserve Street, allow for passersby to take note of the company, she said.
“We have had several walk-ins,” since moving to Reserve Street, “and we are accepting new clients,” Serwaki said.
The relocation also let the business expand physically.
“We have at least doubled our space. We have three offices, a lobby and a conference room,” Serwaki said.
To accommodate a growing clientele, Tompkins and Peters has five licensed certified public accountants and “several (of the office’s) professional staff are in the process of becoming CPAs as well,” Serwaki said.
MISSOULA NISSAN
Missoula Nissan can be found at 2715 Brooks Ave. Phone 549-5178. Showroom hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; shop hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays only.
Missoula Nissan is happy to stay put, the dealership’s Cary Larson said.
“We lacked space until we were able to buy the adjacent property. The reality is that the amount of land in Missoula Valley zoned for car lots is limited,” Larson said. By adding on, “we almost doubled our square footage,” he noted.
The expansion should keep Missoula Nissan on Brooks for years to come.
“This location has held an auto dealership for 40 years. We’ve been here as owners since 1991,” Larson said. “We like where we’re at. It’s a very viable location.”
Larson said Nissan tore down the neighboring Sound West building and remodeled its own. “We finished landscaping in early June,” Larson said.
Improvements have also been made for customers of the dealership’s service shop.
There are new waiting areas, a wash bay to clean serviced vehicles, and a greatly expanded parts department which should mean less waiting to have vehicles repaired, Larson said..
“We had a lot of support form the Missoula Redevelopment Agency and Missoula Office of Planning and Grants,” Larson said of the expansion. “It was a good project. We had been planning it for a long time.”
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF LAW
The University of Montana School of Law is on the corner of Maurice Avenue and Sixth Street on the University of Montana campus. Reach the department at 406.243.4311 or visit umt.edu/law.
The University of Montana Law School recently finished the last detail of a rebuild which began in January, 2008.
The $14.8 million remodel and expansion added 46,000 square feet to the School of Law.
“The big thing,” said administrator Carla Caballero Jackson, “was to accommodate upgrades in technology and handicapped accessibility.”
An old elevator that allowed those with mobility issues to access various floors “was awkward to use,“ she said. It was replaced during the rebuild, she said.
While the building was open for student use and dedicated in September, 2009, the last of the furnishings were just brought in this summer.
New couches, tables and chairs have been added to a lower level student lounge, Jackson said.
The upgrades make the student work space both more elegant and usable, she said. In addition, student cubicles, which act as small offices for senior law students, were refurnished as well.
These received a makeover which included new, rolling office chairs to make them feel more like a professional work environment, Jackson said. She is sure students will be pleased with the changes.
AT&T
AT&T has two locations in Missoula, at 3100 Paxson St. a block from Southgate Mall and at 3075 N. Reserve St. in the Grant Creek Town Center. Both stores offer a full range of AT&T mobile products including smart phones and tablet computers. Either branch can be reached by calling 240-0024.
AT&T, one of the nation’s largest cell phone carriers, now has two stores in Missoula.
“They were both Legacy Alltel locations,” said Alexander Carey, head of AT&T corporate communications for Minnesota and the Northern Plains states. “We acquired them when we took over Alltel,” Carey said, explaining how AT&T entered the Montana market.
Although not specifically targeted by AT&T, Carey said “the (Missoula) market offers us a number of advantages.”
He cited the presence of the University of Montana as providing a large customer base for the company.
“Students buy tablets and smart phones and use those to download information for their studies,” he said. AT&T’s ability to offer service “that allows a consumer to be on the internet and the phone at the same time … caters to both students and small businesses,” Carey said.
AT&T also offers 3G service and specializes in data TV, Carey said.
So far, Missoula area sales reflect “there was a demand for the fastest mobile broadband data speeds” available, Carey said.
TAMARACK BREWING CO.
Tamarack Brewing Co. is at 231 W. Front St. Hours are 11 a.m. through 1 a.m. daily. Phone 830-3113 for orders or reservations.
Food and beer go hand in hand at Tamarack Brewing Co.
The Lakeside-based restaurant uses its own beers in its pub food, said owner Andra Townsley. On the beverage side, 10 self-made ales or a full bar can quench one’s thirst.
Townsley, along with her husband Josh, brewer Craig Koontz and kitchen manager Chris McLaughlin, opened Tamarack in April.
The foursome also own and operate Tamarack Brewery in Lakeside, but looked to Missoula to expand their food offerings.
In a two-level building adjacent to Caras Park, Tamarack has “a sports bar downstairs and a quieter dining room with a small bar at the front upstairs,” Townsley said.
As a parent, she said, she wanted “to create a place where families could go.” The upper level answers that need, while the lower gets the late-night college crowd.
Townsley has been pleased with the way Missoulians have welcomed the new pub.
“There’s few places that have people as aware of craft beer as Missoula,” she said.
Of the pub’s 10 ales, the triple-hopped Hat Trick Hop is Missoula’s favorite, Townsley said. Also popular is the lighter Bear-bottomed Blonde and Yard Sale Amber – named for face-planting on ski slopes, not the quintessential Missoula pastime, Townsley said.
Come football season, Tamarack will also serve breakfast from 9:30 a.m. on weekends.
PRUDENTIAL MONTNANA
Prudential Montana’s newest office is at 314 N. Higgins Ave. Hours are 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Phone 329-2007.
When most people step into a real estate office, they sit formally at a desk with an agent to discuss possible housing matches, said Kathy Stenger, Prudential Western Region manager and operations manager for Prudential’s new downtown office.
The Higgins Ave. office is designed more like a living space, said broker/owner Dan Ermatinger.
“There are coffee tables, bistro tables with tablet (computer)s, stuffed chairs” and other smaller work areas, Stenger said.
“This new space is all about our future,” Eramtinger added. “The office has no walls.” Instead, agents utilize “new software that consumers can put on their smart phones,” and share work stations. Any Prudential agent may use the space, Ermatinger said.
The office, which opened about three months ago, will also serve as an art gallery on First Fridays and as a venue for a public lecture series, Ermatinger said.
It also has three large video screens facing the street which play an inventory of available properties, information for buyers and sellers, and about Missoula cultural events, Stenger said. That screen helps potential residents know what it’s like to live here, she said.
“We wanted to bring our company more forward by bringing this location downtown,” Ermatinger said.
Seniors say they're ready
Montana seniors feel fairly well prepared for the future, a new AARP study revealed. The survey of 407 Montanans over the age of 50 found that while 23 percent are concerned with having enough money for daily expenses, the majority feel they are adequately prepared to maintain their current quality of life.
AARP surveyed about 400 citizens in each of the 50 states, along with 1,000 individuals across the nation, for the new study. Sampling error margins ranged from 3 to 5 percent.
Topics spanned health care, financial well-being and future plans. Questions unique to each state were also asked.
Throughout the nation, responses were similar. Top desires included traveling and spending time on hobbies; concerns centered on health care and the economy.
In Montana, 92 percent of seniors cited staying mentally sharp as a goal. Spending time with family was a priority for 87 percent of Montanans, while 62 percent were interested in learning new things.
Montana seniors are well-insured: 98 percent said they have some sort of coverage, including Medicare or another government-provided health plan; and 76 percent reported they have most or everything in place to continue that coverage.
At the national level, 75 percent said they have what they need to retain insurance coverage.
Similar to the national average of 43 percent, 48 percent of Montana seniors said health care issues were, nonetheless, their greatest concern. When asked how prepared they were to deal with those issues, 87 percent said they had everything or most everything required to meet their health care needs. In addition, 80 percent felt secure in their ability to afford prescription medications.
Missoula county resident Eileen Kennedy once felt the same. But, she said, “illness took all my preparation away” beginning in the late 1980s.
Still, she said, “I‘ve been fortunate. I did have a good job” with insurance benefits, but medical expenses deeply cut into her retirement funds.
“My budget doesn’t allow for a lot of travel,” Kennedy said of the hobby engaged in by 38 percent of seniors nationally. Instead, the 78-year-old enjoys spending time watching her grandkids’ ball games and having little adventures in the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys.
“I write, I read, I paint,” she said of her affordable hobbies, “and I stay involved with friends.”
Montana seniors also believe in government stability, the survey found: 85 percent said Social Security will be available when they need it; an equal number said the same about Medicare.
In Idaho, 49 percent of seniors viewed health care as their greatest concern. Vacation and travel were of primary importance to 44 percent. And more than 9 in 10 desired to maintain mental clarity as they aged. The number considering the economy their top worry -- 35 percent -- was similar to Montana’s.
In Wyoming, 81 percent of seniors said they were financially secure with everything or most everything in place to remain healthy and address health care expenses through retirement. Only 16 percent said paying for necessities was a major concern; 36 percent called it a minor issue and 48 percent said it was no problem at all.
Nationally, about 30 percent of seniors cited financial worries as a major concern.
In Montana, 30 percent of seniors said they were extremely or very worried about identity theft, although 67 percent take measures against consumer fraud.
Of those, 78 percent regularly review their credit card and financial statements; 64 percent limit the number of identification cards they carry; 37 percent review annual credit reports; and 78 percent destroy credit card receipts, applications and unwanted cards.
Missoulian Harry Siebert is one such senior.
“Anything that’s got our address on it gets shredded,” he said. “I feel a little bit of precaution now will save a lot of potential headache later on.”
Complete surveys from all 50 states can be found by going to the AARP website, aarp.org/personal-growth/transitions/info-02-2011/voices-america-dreams-challenges.html.
[Published in the Missoulian, April 2011]
AARP surveyed about 400 citizens in each of the 50 states, along with 1,000 individuals across the nation, for the new study. Sampling error margins ranged from 3 to 5 percent.
Topics spanned health care, financial well-being and future plans. Questions unique to each state were also asked.
Throughout the nation, responses were similar. Top desires included traveling and spending time on hobbies; concerns centered on health care and the economy.
In Montana, 92 percent of seniors cited staying mentally sharp as a goal. Spending time with family was a priority for 87 percent of Montanans, while 62 percent were interested in learning new things.
Montana seniors are well-insured: 98 percent said they have some sort of coverage, including Medicare or another government-provided health plan; and 76 percent reported they have most or everything in place to continue that coverage.
At the national level, 75 percent said they have what they need to retain insurance coverage.
Similar to the national average of 43 percent, 48 percent of Montana seniors said health care issues were, nonetheless, their greatest concern. When asked how prepared they were to deal with those issues, 87 percent said they had everything or most everything required to meet their health care needs. In addition, 80 percent felt secure in their ability to afford prescription medications.
Missoula county resident Eileen Kennedy once felt the same. But, she said, “illness took all my preparation away” beginning in the late 1980s.
Still, she said, “I‘ve been fortunate. I did have a good job” with insurance benefits, but medical expenses deeply cut into her retirement funds.
“My budget doesn’t allow for a lot of travel,” Kennedy said of the hobby engaged in by 38 percent of seniors nationally. Instead, the 78-year-old enjoys spending time watching her grandkids’ ball games and having little adventures in the Missoula and Bitterroot valleys.
“I write, I read, I paint,” she said of her affordable hobbies, “and I stay involved with friends.”
Montana seniors also believe in government stability, the survey found: 85 percent said Social Security will be available when they need it; an equal number said the same about Medicare.
In Idaho, 49 percent of seniors viewed health care as their greatest concern. Vacation and travel were of primary importance to 44 percent. And more than 9 in 10 desired to maintain mental clarity as they aged. The number considering the economy their top worry -- 35 percent -- was similar to Montana’s.
In Wyoming, 81 percent of seniors said they were financially secure with everything or most everything in place to remain healthy and address health care expenses through retirement. Only 16 percent said paying for necessities was a major concern; 36 percent called it a minor issue and 48 percent said it was no problem at all.
Nationally, about 30 percent of seniors cited financial worries as a major concern.
In Montana, 30 percent of seniors said they were extremely or very worried about identity theft, although 67 percent take measures against consumer fraud.
Of those, 78 percent regularly review their credit card and financial statements; 64 percent limit the number of identification cards they carry; 37 percent review annual credit reports; and 78 percent destroy credit card receipts, applications and unwanted cards.
Missoulian Harry Siebert is one such senior.
“Anything that’s got our address on it gets shredded,” he said. “I feel a little bit of precaution now will save a lot of potential headache later on.”
Complete surveys from all 50 states can be found by going to the AARP website, aarp.org/personal-growth/transitions/info-02-2011/voices-america-dreams-challenges.html.
[Published in the Missoulian, April 2011]
Friday, February 11, 2011
Love spurs lock loss
By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK
anne@iolaregister.com
Five-year-old Aysha Houk got her hair cut because she loves her former preschool teacher, Teresa Cook.
Cook, who runs Munchkin-Land Preschool, has cancer.
Aysha learned how Locks of Love takes long hair to make wigs for cancer sufferers, and volunteered her pony tail.
The cut was given by stylist Lindsey Vaderford of Wild Hare Salon, 108 E. Madison Ave., on Thursday afternoon.
Mom Kristie Houk was more reluctant than her daughter about the loss, but noted, “her hair grows so quickly.”
Cook was on hand to thank Aysha, who is now in kindergarten.
“I can’t believe she did that,” Cook said of Aysha’s gift.
Cook joked that maybe she’ll get a wig made of Aysha’s hair. She lost her own to chemo treatments for three brain tumors. Her now-monthly chemotherapy is working, she said, and she has only one tumor remaining.
“I’m doing good,” she said, grinning beneath a carnation-pink ball cap.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Students lived history for a day
By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK
anne@iolaregister.com
Spinning a button on a string sounds easy — until you try it, observed Lincoln Elementary School fifth grader Josh Fulton. Fulton, along with the rest of his class, spent a half hour with first grade teacher Christy Thompson, who never left character as a prairie school marm tutoring her one-room students in ciphers, show-and-tell and recess.
Show and tell items included a mud dauber’s nest, bird’s nest and old-time lantern.
Jonathan Lynn played along when his turn came by telling the class he carried the lantern to school “because a storm was coming,” and the sky was darkening.
Thompson continued the ruse, noting in a southeast drawl, “Since it’s raining today, we’ll be having recess indoors and making whirligigs.”
To make the toy, students threaded an oversized button onto a loop of string. Then, twisting and pulling with the string wrapped around their fingers, they tried to keep the button a-spin.
Not a simple task, noted Mikey Hendry and Drake Sell, who marveled when their new toys worked.
The lesson was a part of the school’s Living History Day, in celebration of Kansas’ 150 years of statehood.
Other activities included learning about Amelia Earhart, cartoonist Mort Walker and playing pioneer games in the gym.
Students also heard about Kansas City native Charlie Parker and the advent of that quintessential American music, jazz. In a doubled-up kindergarten crowd, only a few hands went up when music teacher Joseph Hand asked who had heard of the form.
No worry. Iola High’s Jazz band was on hand to play Parker tunes for the young students, beginning with “Now’s the Time.”
While Hand introduced students to the story of jazz, jazz band leader Larry Lillard explained musical parts — solo and ensemble — and told students, “It’s OK to applaud after the solo. It shows appreciation for the musician’s skills.”
IN OTHER classes, eager ears heard tales of dust storms and tornadoes.
Weather facts fascinated second and third graders in Mary Anne Lower and Brian Johnson’s class on disasters and catastrophes.
Of course, the focus was on those with a Kansas connection.
Students learned that in the early 1930s, only 17 inches of rain fell upon western Kansas. Years of farming had removed prairie grasses that held down top soil. Winds blew excessively. The result: a wild wall of dust that carried all the way to the Atlantic coast.
Footage of the phenomenon was shown, and Lower passed around a bag containing 4 pounds of sand, so students could get a feel for how much dust fell, per person, in one day upon the city of Chicago.
“It got into everything,” Lower told the students — clothes, lungs, eyes.
“Even ears?” asked Clairissa Nivens in wonder. “Even ears,” was the response.
The storm carried so far that ships off the Atlantic coast received a quarter-inch coating of dust on deck.
“Dust storms are something that are still happening,” especially in China, added Johnson.
He then taught the kids how to prepare when tornado weather loomed, bringing history to present by showing footage of a funnel cloud that spun through Minnesota in August, and sharing safety tips for those facing such storms.
LIVING HISTORY Day concluded with a concert by the IHS jazz band for the entire student body. They played Charlie Parker tunes, of course.
Local cattle ranchers contend with cold
Wednesday’s clear skies gave a reprieve to beleaguered farmers struggling to care for cattle in open fields throughout Allen County.
Eddyra Nelson, who with her husband Delbert runs about 100 head north of Iola, at Geneva and LaHarpe, said “We’re lucky — we don’t have any calving yet.”
With the heavy, drifting snow, “Just getting them fed is hard,” she said. “We take them big bales of hay with the 4-wheel drive and tractor,” she added. Chopping ice goes without saying.
Eddyra said her son Robert had to come fetch her Wednesday in his 4WD to feed the farm cats because her minivan wouldn’t make it through the snow. Robert cut holes in ponds and gave the cattle extra feed.
“They didn’t make it out to the ones in LaHarpe,” she said, “But we had warning about the storm, so they gave them extra the day before,” she noted.
Steve Strickler, of Strickler’s Dairy in Iola, said he is concerned about calves out in open fields north of the farm office.
“The one’s I’m concerned about are the open air pens,” Strickler said during the midst of Tuesday’s blizzard. “We just ride around on the four-wheelers and make sure they have fresh food.”
He said many cattle will stay behind the farm’s 6-foot-high windbreaks, made of baled recycled tires.
As for Strickler, “I’m trying to stay in the office and do computer work today,” he chuckled.
Ruth Mueller, who with husband Larry has cattle on Mississippi Road, said they are doing all right. “We don’t have any calving,” she said. What calves they do have were born last spring, and “they’re big and healthy,” she noted.
Craig Mentzer also was grateful. “We won’t be calving until Feb. 20 or so,” he said.
He’s taking precautions against the cold, though.
“Most of my ponds have automatic watering systems,” he said, that circulate water through nearby tanks. That allows Mentzer to fence off the ponds proper, in order to keep cows off the ice.
“They’re not supposed to freeze,” he said of the circulation tanks, “but they’re freezing now.”
“We’ll have to chop ice, but it’s not as bad as chopping on a pond,” he added.
The fields he has where ponds have not been fenced, he said, “worry me. We have a few where they do get on the ice and it’s not a good situation.” Those cattle require frequent checking on, Mentzer said.
“I’ve lost a few over the years” to ice break, he added.
Mentzer also scraped feeding spots and bladed behind windbreaks, he said, to ensure the cattle could get to food and shelter.
“If we keep them out of the wind, that’s 90 percent of it. We put down old, poor quality hay” for bedding at the windbreaks, he said. “They’ll probably eat half of it.”
The Mentzers have more than 200 cattle “about 2 miles east of Neosho Falls” in Allen County.
To get to them all, “we had to take the tractor and blade a path before the feed truck could go through,” Wednesday afternoon.
The bitter cold is supposed to let up this weekend, with more snow predicted for Monday.
Pets need special care in cold
By ANNE KAZMIERCZAK
anne@iolaregister.com
Protecting pets is critical in cold winter weather said Cathy Montfort and veterinarian Lee Ann Flowers, both of Red Barn Veterinary Service on 1300 Street north of Iola.
“Truly, in this kind of weather, there is no way to maintain a pet safely outside,” Montfort stressed.
The best thing one can do, she said, is “Take them in.”
Even yard dogs need shelter, Flowers noted.
“I have five outdoor dogs,” she said. At night, they go into “an enclosed (and heated) building.”
A dog house alone cannot adequately block wind chill, Flowers said.
“Even a dog with a heavy coat is not acclimated to the severe temperatures we are going to have,” Montfort said.
Though covered in fur, dogs can get frostbite, Flowers explained.
“It’s hard to tell.” The most visible sign is that the inside of the ears become reddened. Tails and ears are most often affected. If frostbitten, “the skin will slough off,” Flowers said.
The best prevention is protection from wind and cold.
Even if a dog is not house trained, Montfort said, “you need to get it into a heated environment” at night. “Put down newspapers,” if need be, but don’t leave the animal kenneled outdoors.
ANOTHER worry for winter pets is dehydration.
Dogs “will not drink cold or frozen water,” Montfort said. “The water temperature has to be at least 50 degrees in this weather.”
Without water, “A dehydrated animal cannot maintain its body temperature,” she said.
In addition, “it’s really hard for an animal to eat enough calories in this weather.”
“My dogs’ appetite doubles in the winter,” Flowers observed.
For proper care of outdoor dogs, “You need to have them on a good quality food” and increase feed quantity, she said. “I just leave food out all the time in winter,” she added.
Indoor pets, on the other hand, do not need an increased calorie load and can be fed on their regular schedule.
The lack of extra fat or a thickened coat makes indoor pets more susceptible to being chilled, however, Flowers said.
“Small dogs and dogs with not a lot of hair should not be left outside at all,” Flowers said.
“Stand at the door and watch and let them back in right away,” Montfort suggested when a pet goes outside to do its business.
If walked in cold weather, wipe off a dog’s feet once back home to remove salts that can cause intestinal upset.
“There’s a lot of hidden dangers we don’t think about in weather like this,” Montfort said.
“Salt itself is especially drying and will crack (a dog’s) feet,” she said. Plus, Flowers added, “antifreeze is lethal.”
Pets can get it on their feet, then once inside lick it off, ingesting the poison.
“I recommend keeping baby wipes by the door and wiping off their feet as soon as they come in” Flowers said.
Even tiny dogs that rarely go outdoors need special care in winter, Flowers said.
“Little dogs — like Chihuahuas — need a sweater,” she said. “It’s drafty down there on the floor.”
Dogs, if chilled, will shiver.
“If a dog is shivering, he is cold. If he is shivering, put a coat on him,” she added.
Consider it this way, Montfort said, a day outside for a pet dog “would be like you standing outside in your heavy coat all day.”
If it’s too cold for you — it’s too cold for them.
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