It can be challenging to start a business in any economic climate, but setting up shop during a recession is especially daunting. But for the owners of Kalispell’s Think Local shop, it may have actually been perfect timing.
Think Local, located on Main Street, hosts the work of multiple artisans and craftspeople from the Flathead Valley. It became a permanent fixture on the street last May.
Cathi Spence, a co-owner of the shop along with Janelle Buchanan, said the recession drove consumers to think about where they buy and who their money is really going to.
“Maybe some businesses you don’t start during the recession, but I think it was kind of a slap upside the head for some people to think, ‘We’ve been buying this junk from China and not supporting our own people,’” Spence said in an interview last week.
With more people focused on buying goods from local merchants, Spence said the shop saw increased interest and repeat customers.
The Think Local store began as a quickly realized dream in 2010, after Spence had just finished up with the art and craft show she had hosted in her house for the past 12 years.
One of the artisans had low sales that year, Spence said, because their crafts are higher-end than one might usually find at a home show. While talking to that artisan, Spence said she wished she had a storefront so people could expect a wide-range of products and prices.
Spence said she’d do it the following year, because at that point, it was two weeks until Christmas. Her artisan friend, however, encouraged her to do it that year, even with the quickly approaching holiday deadline.
Spence and her business partner Buchanan landed in the corner store on Main Street and First Avenue East, which now hosts The Bookshelf. When they opened their doors, there were about 12 artists represented and it was 12 days until Christmas.
“It was pretty seat-of-our-pants and crazy,” Spence said.
The next year, they decided to do it again. They had more experience and decided on a different storefront, the location where the store is today. That year they increased the artists represented to 25 or 30, Spence said.
The holiday season was a hit, she said, and the store has continued to grow. There are now about 50 artists and craftspeople showcasing their work there; each person signs on for six months at a time, Spence said, and while people do leave from time to time, the majority of their original artists have stayed on board.
Think Local has also played a part in attracting tourists downtown, Spence said.
“There are so many people who come in with their out-of-town guests so they can take something home with them, something from Montana,” she said.
Spence believes the rest of the customer base comes from Flathead residents who have started paying more attention to the power of their purchases, and who would prefer their money to stay in the local economy or who have made a commitment to buying only handmade products.
“I think there’s been a huge push for people to buy locally,” Spence said. “I think that it could be a really good thing to refocus people and bring them back to the basics like when you did shop with your neighbor.”
Even the coffee served in the coffee bar in the back of the store is local, Spence said, with Fieldheads locally roasted coffee, Kalispell Kreamery dairy products and chocolate from 5 Sparrows.
The Think Local store is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.
Spence said the economic climate eight or 10 years ago likely wouldn’t have supported a business such as hers, but right now the community seems committed to supporting its own.
“I think it’s been huge for us,” she said.
Think Local is located at 140 Main Street in Kalispell. For more information, visit www.thinklocalartblast.com.