The treasured Missoula downtown area has seen the passing and arrival of several businesses and storefronts over the past years. The closing of many Missoula staple businesses has brought sadness to many Missoula residents and the opening of new businesses has brought controversy to the Higgins area. However, the changing landscape of downtown might not be as negative as many think.
Aimee McQuilkin, owner and founder of Betty’s Divine since 2005, finds the changes occurring around Missoula’s downtown and Hip Strip area positive. “One might think of that as not great, but it is great,” said McQuilkin. “I mean the whole idea of things never changing and things staying the same is just a false reality”.
Betty’s Divine is one of Missoula’s staple storefronts, situated on the Hip Strip. McQuilkin highlighted that downtown wasn’t always as vibrant as it is today. “Betty’s first opened in 2005, and when I opened, there were a lot of vacancies downtown and a lot on the hip strip,” she said. “We were rebounding from the mall opening in the ‘80s and all the big buck stores opening on reserve and online shopping was just starting and it was really hard for the downtown to compete with all of those places,” she said. “I love that now, 19 years later, there’s a lot more options for people downtown.”
Jason McMackin, owner of Brasserie Porte Rouge on Front Street has seen a similar trend of a growing vibrance in Missoula’s urban areas. “What some people don’t remember is like seven or eight years ago, if you came down here on a Thursday night and you looked from Higgins east, this building, when it was the Pearl Cafe, would be the only light on,” said McMackin.
Brasserie Porte Rouge is a relatively new business to the downtown area, opening only two years ago next to the Dram Shop. “We opened at a kinda crazy time to open,” said McMackin. Prices, employment, and customers were all in flux and opening a new business was a big risk for the founders. Brasserie Porte Rouge is now a key restaurant that contributes to the expanding downtown area.
Missoula downtown has undeniably grown more than ever in the past 10 years. According to the Downtown Missoula Partnership, in 2022 34 businesses opened, a record high, with only seven closings. The following year saw 10 closings with restaurants, an industry that has taken the hit of the change. However, McQuilkin highlighted that the closing of a small business is often not the sad circumstance that many think it is. “A lot of what you see isn’t sad, it’s actually something to celebrate, that the person that has worked their lives serving our community food, or whatever it is they do, is going onto something else and they’re done,” she said.
“It’s just the natural cycle of a business, to evolve into something else,” said McQuilkin. “It’s just one of those things I try to remind people when they’re upset or sad or nervous about changes in the businesses in Missoula, I’m just like, you know what, this is life.” Mquilken also noted that growth in Missoula is positive and necessary to remain a vibrant town. “You can’t be mad about it,” said McMackin, harping on the fact that changing businesses is an unavoidable part of living in an urban area.
The look and feel of Missoula is evolving, something many long time residents have mixed feelings about. “I don’t know how to feel about it, I have lots of feelings about it,” said McMackin.
The consistent argument that we are losing sight of what was ‘old Missoula’ McQuilken finds tired. “We all automatically are like, ‘what’s happening to old Missoula’ and it’s like you know what, when I moved here, ‘old Missoula’ was different, it’s gonna be different in 20 years, it was different 10 before, it’s just always changing,” she said. The expanding options of downtown is something McQuilkin finds extremely exciting for the growth of the city. “The more the better. The more reasons, someone whether they live in Missoula or whether they’re visiting, will park and roam downtown.”
Along with this, McMackin highlighted how Missoula needs to have the capacity to support new local businesses. “We have this place that is not inexpensive, people have to be making enough money to come here. It can be frustrating for us because the wages in Montana still feel really suppressed compared to other parts of the country.”
Much of the change and refocusing in Missoula, McQuilkin attributes to Covid and the impact it had on businesses. “I feel like Covid re-shifted our focus and made us realize we don’t need to work our asses off all the time, especially if it’s not bringing joy to our lives.” “A lot of people made life choices that are better for their mental health, and we as Missoula sadly are losing them, but that’s the beauty of this idea of constant change, is that there’s always new and more,” she said.
Missoula Downtown has remained a central place for small businesses, and McQuilken believes this will not be changing anytime soon. “I have such confidence in this city and groups like the Missoula downtown association that really work hard to set up a downtown environment that is really connected and accessible.” “There’s really no chains downtown, and there’s a lot of thought and reasoning behind that and I don’t fear that we’re gonna lose that,” she said.
McMackin hopes to see even more growth in the future. “Fill it in. Build it up,” he said. “There needs to be places for people to start out. There needs to be inexpensive shops.” McMackin said that Missoula needs to have an allowance for storefronts that are niche and cater to small interests. “That’s what gives a community character. It isn’t an attorney office, a weed shop, and another hotel.”
McQuilkin highlighted that downtown will always be changing, “If we really don’t wanna be fearful of it we should be involved and shape change,” she said.
