A Cow Town Goes Designer

Inside the Upscaling of Missoula’s Higgins Ave.

Editor's Note: This is the final story in a series looking into how changing demographics are creating a new age in Missoula's boutique scene. Click here to read the entire series of snapshots of local businesses that are part of, or starting the trend.

By Brianne Burrowes, 1-27-06

	Photos by New West Photo Editor Chris Lombardi. Above: Coco. Middle: Nolita. Below: Skin Chic.

In the past five years, Missoula has had an influx of new high-end boutiques along Higgins Avenue. Stores like Skin Chic and Nolita have proven themselves as viable businesses. In fact, they are so successful, both have branched out and opened sister stores in other Western states. Now, newer retail businesses like Betty's Divine and Coco are trying to do the same.

But is Missoula upscaling quickly enough support all of these designer-savvy stores or will over-saturation of a niche market set in?

"I think only time will tell," said Linda McCarthy, director of the Missoula Downtown Association. "A lot of these businesses are relatively new. It'll be interesting to see how many of the stores are still here in five years."

McCarthy said while the average Missoulian may struggle financially sometimes, there are people moving to Montana and Missoula in the twilight of their careers. These people are already financially sound and are second homeowners in the area. Also, a city like Missoula can support such a high-priced industry with locals because of the strong medical community, which tends to offer solid, steady incomes, she said.

The price tags at Coco, Missoula's newest boutique, might give some new customers serious sticker shock (read $200 for a skirt), but owner Alice Marquardt said, "There's a lot of people relocating here who are comfortable in this price range." Marquardt finds the brands she carries are well-known to many of her customers and thus, so are the prices. "We were happy we didn't have to justify the quality and the price to people," she said.

Aimee McQuilkin, owner of Betty's Divine, said the majority of her business comes from locals, especially moms and their daughters who like to shop together.

"People have their ideas of Missoula, but when you look at the numbers there is a lot more money than people recognize," McQuilkin said.

John West, co-owner of Rainbow's End agreed. West has two stores. One is in Missoula, which was the first to open, and the other is in Flagstaff, Ariz. Both cater toward the same types of audiences since both are college towns and are roughly the same size and climate. But while Flagstaff business is more driven by tourism, he said, his Missoula store is supported more by local shoppers.

The Missoula Downtown Association tries to attract locals by pushing gift certificate sales for the area. In 2005, shoppers bought nearly $100,000 in certificates, McCarthy said. The great thing about these certificates is that because of the many participating businesses, they can be used on anything from shopping to hiring a lawyer.

"Downtown is the attraction of the community," McCarthy said. A lot of downtown Missoula's success is not only because of the stores, but also because of the booming nightlife, community attractions such as Out to Lunch, the farmers' market and the river trail system.

All the retail storeowners who have chosen to open their business along Higgins have made a commitment to enhance downtown Missoula, McCarthy said. Stores like Nolita, Bella Donna and Skin Chic add to the diversity of the area.

"It's enriching our downtown," McCarthy said. "It's attractive in the overall picture. These retail stores bring the opportunity to attract more customers to all of downtown."

Many owners of new businesses are choosing to open their retail stores along the Higgins strip because of the small-business-friendly atmosphere, McCarthy said. There are three main places in Missoula for people to open a new retail store, she said. They are downtown, along North Reserve or at Southgate Mall. But Southgate Mall has mainly stores with strong name recognition such as Gap or Coldwater Creek, and those stores attract people who would rather spend $15 on a skirt, compared to $245, she said. North Reserve isn't ideal for these types of businesses either because it's an area where customers are accustomed to big chains such as Old Navy or T.J. Maxx. This leaves downtown as the ideal fit for a small business, she said.

"Downtown businesses attract a certain kind of business professional," McCarthy said. Because owners of these stores are not restricted by rules set by the mall for example, which has certain hours dictating when all stores should be open and closed, downtown provides the owners with a mentality that they can work for themselves, and not under the rules of an owning body, she said.

But while retail businesses are booming in downtown Missoula, the area still has no resources to create a business recruitment plan, McCarthy said. If it did have the resources available to create the plan it would be able to help attract stores like Williams-Sonoma -- stores that would attract customers and help develop other downtown areas, she said.

Although Missoula doesn't have the means to attract big-name stores downtown, the city is definitely growing.

"We're going to grow no doubt about it," McCarthy said. "We're either going to grow out or up."

Most of Missoula's recent growth has been out -- to the west of town, but McCarthy sees this as something that will end with time. Either space will run out or Missoulians will make decisions to keep the city from sprawling too far.

"Missoula has a strong commitment to open space, so we're going to have to learn how to build up," she said.

The downtown district of Spokane, Wash., is a great model for how Missoula could grow, she said. Missoula and Spokane have a lot in common. Both cities have a river running through downtown, both have Interstate 90 running through the middle, both downtown districts have many historical buildings and both are located in the Rocky Mountain West. But, while Spokane has a thriving downtown community, there are also aspects to the area Missoula wouldn't want to copy, McCarthy said, such as their empty building tops. While Spokane mainly has businesses on ground levels and vacant upper floors, that is definitely not the case in Missoula, she said.

There's no question Missoula is growing and downtown is thriving. Retail businesses in the area are adding to the mix and are so far successful. But only time can tell if this year's new crop of businesses can make the cut, and continue to thrive along the ever-changing storefronts of Higgins Ave.

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