In landlocked Montana, where menus are better known for their turf than their surf, it’s a bit of a fish-out-of-water anomaly when visitors to the Flathead Valley encounter local restaurants serving striped sea bass, jumbo snow crab, New Zealand king salmon, scallops, and sashimi-grade sushi.
Even more counterintuitive is when the seafood stands out for its quality and freshness, particularly for discerning diners hailing from coastal communities whose palates can detect a melt-in-your-mouth scallop from past-its-prime shellfish, organic salmon from farm-raised fish, or a fresh filet from the chum of the day.
And yet, for the past four decades, fresh seafood has become a staple in the Flathead Valley, due in large part to the market dominance of one importer. Since 1986, Flathead Fish and Seafood Co. has been strategically sourcing product from top-tier seafood merchants ranging from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, finagling fishmongers to freight in the freshest seafood available to the region while serving far-flung visitors and local landlubbers alike.
Now under new ownership, and with a refurbished retail space open seven days a week, the future at Flathead Fish and Seafood Co. is as fresh as ever.
Even with the sea change in proprietorship, however, the deliberate shifts in Flathead Fish and Seafood Co.’s business model are subtle enough that most customers won’t recognize the difference. And that’s by design.
“We’ve had a lot of longtime customers plead with us not to change anything,” Shilo Cook said on a weekday morning in late May, pin-boning a wild-caught salmon with surgical forceps while describing the unlikely turn that led him and his wife, Ragan, to acquire the new business. “In many ways, our customers have been our apprentices. When our customers give us feedback, we listen.”
If that sounds like the sort of business maxim that a professional innovator might deliver at a five-keys-to-success symposium, it’s because Flathead Fish and Seafood Co. isn’t Shilo Cook’s first foray into business management or retail growth. Having spent the better part of two decades in the cellular industry, developing sales strategies for 60 retail stores across the U.S., Cook has a wealth of experience driving growth and profitability.
Originally from Fort Benton, professional success followed Cook to Billings. Although he’d always imagined owning his own business, “it became really easy to put off the dream and just say, ‘I’ll get to that part of my plan one of these days.'”
But as is often the case with best-laid plans, the universe had other intentions. In August 2020, Cook was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, undergoing nearly a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatments to decrease the cancer markers before his doctors recommended vascular reconstruction surgery, which required removing two-thirds of his pancreas, his spleen and stomach.
“The silver lining is, that’s how I met Ragan,” Cook said.
Raised on a farm in Geraldine about a half-hour south of Fort Benton, Ragan Cook remembered Shilo from their childhood years. When she saw a social media post about his harrowing cancer journey, she reached out.
“I remember getting her message and being like, ‘this is that hot girl from Geraldine,'” Shilo said.
Before long, Ragan was accompanying Shilo to consultations at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. When it came time for the 15-hour surgery, which also necessitated a one-month stay at Mayo, she was by his side.
“We went through a lot during that first year of our relationship,” Ragan said.
Little did Ragan know at the time, but that was just the beginning. After hanging their shingle as a real estate team in Billings, the dream of owning his own business continued to tug at Shilo.
“After the cancer, I realized no one’s future is promised.”
So, he sold his home in Billings and used the proceeds as a downpayment on his dream.
Last year, the couple relocated to the Flathead Valley. In November, they became the new owners of Flathead Fish and Seafood Co., accepting the keys from their predecessor, Tom Meade, and inheriting his lone employee, Max Pugh, who’s so well-versed in the seafood importing business that he knows customers’ orders better than they do. Not only does he make multiple daily runs to the airport to intercept king salmon from Seattle or shellfish from Boston, but he delivers the product to Flathead Valley restaurants faster than coastal ports can serve their markets by ground.
“Max is essential,” Shilo said. “He knows this business like the back of his hand and we couldn’t do it without him.”
The Cooks also recruited an employee from Columbia Falls to help grow the retail side of the business. The employee, who Shilo hired as a district manager at Cellular Plus in Billings during his years in the cellular industry, didn’t hesitate before agreeing to joining his new venture. Although the lion’s share of the business is wholesale, the Cooks are determined to ramp up its retail revenue.
“I know that the key to being successful is recognizing that you’re only as good as your team. And I’ve got an amazing team,” Shilo said.
The company offers products ranging from salmon, halibut and crab to more obscure items on the menu, such as deep water monkfish, Norwegian lutefisk and sushi items, which they sell to local restaurants like Wasabi Sushi Bar, Indah Sushi and Blue Samurai Sushi Bar and Grill. The Cooks source king salmon from New Zealand for sushi because they are ocean farmed, parasite-free and can be consumed raw.
While Flathead Fish has a brick-and-mortar location on Montana Highway 40 between Whitefish and Columbia Falls, it hasn’t always stood out for its retail potential. Until now.
Customers who enter the storefront will encounter reader boards informing them about the featured fare and the specific tasting notes of each fish. There are novelty t-shirts for sale — “Size Does Matter” and “I Got Crabs” — alongside farm fresh eggs, compound butter, cuts of Wagyu beef from Belgrade-based Range Land and Cattle Co., wine and, most importantly, their soon-to-be-world-famous salmon dip.
“We get people in here every day who tell us they’ve lived here for 20 years and didn’t know this place existed,” Ragan said. “We want to change that.”
Indeed, the Cooks said meeting the customers who have been frequenting Flathead Fish and Seafood Co. for years has been a surprising highlight of their new business venture.
“Most customers who enter a cellular store are upset and frustrated,” Shilo said. “But our customers are happy. The biggest surprise to us so far is just how excited our customers are.”
“We have been learning on the fly, but thanks to our customers and our employees, we are learning quickly,” Ragan said.
Flathead Fish and Seafood Co. is located at 3820 MT-40, Columbia Falls, 59912. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. For more information, visit the store online at fleadheadfishandseafood.com or call (406) 892-3474 (FISH).