A New Family-Friendly Atmosphere at Le Marché

When the pandemic shut down Jordana Woodland’s shop nearly a year-and-a-half ago, she took advantage of her downtime during quarantine to evolve a new concept for Le Marché, a coffee shop and clothing store in Whitefish.

Woodland never reopened at the store’s former location on Second Street and instead opened the revamped store on Central Avenue more than a year later, adding twice the square footage.

Le Marché, which means “the market” in French, opened in early May, but this time Woodland wanted a greater emphasis on the coffee aspect while also bringing in gelato, sorbet, pastries and also adding a kids area.

“Everyone loved the coffee and the concept we were trying to create,” Woodland said. “So our idea of having a woman be able to shop for herself with her kids and have coffee and sit down with friends, that was the concept.”

With a background in the fashion industry, Woodland previously sold merchandise from her loungewear and lingerie line, Naked Princess. But as she developed the store’s new concept, she launched LBLC, a new casual clothing line, in September, which she sells in the store and wholesale to 85 stores including Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s.

But Woodland expanded the coffee shop, called Boudoir Bar, and shrank the clothing inventory. She sells gifts like candles and beauty products in the new store, and her vision is more focused on a family-friendly atmosphere.

“When we found this location, we were thinking, ‘What can we do to make it family-friendly?’” Woodland said. “I was trying to fill a void in what I thought the community needed.”

Le Marché uses Stumptown Coffee, and Woodland brings a European-style menu to Boudoir, including Vietnamese coffee, a sweet espresso drink with condensed milk that takes five minutes to make. The store also specializes in gelato with eight flavors changing daily and pastries not commonly offered by other local bakeries, including biscotti, empanadas and pop tarts, some of which are gluten- and sugar-free.

“We try as much as we can to not only support local but also not have competing business and have pastries that no one else has,” Woodland said.

Le Marché will also have live music with plans to host two to four events per month, and Woodland recently held a women’s business networking event.

Woodland also chose to have late hours at the store, not closing until 8 p.m. during the week and at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

“People want to go to a place late at night that’s not a loud bar,” Woodland said. “It’s so nice to see that families have somewhere to go. They come here right after dinner to get gelato. It’s a safe place.”

Woodland plans to expand the food menu in the future and has also considered opening a second location in the Flathead Valley.

“From concept to conception, we really wanted to do something different,” Woodland said. “We spent a lot of time bringing something to the town that no one else had.”

Le Marché will host its grand opening on June 26, featuring live music, face painting and kids activities.

For more information, visit www.lemarchebynp.com.