Local home-based business makes, markets and sells its popular product

Picture courtesy of George Everett of Mainstreet Uptown Butte
ButteNews.net



Front Street mechanic passes the torch
Photo and story by Jim Larson
ButteNews.Net
Bruce Metcalf has sold Bruce’s Quick Lube and Car Care.
The new business is called Butte’s Best Quick Lube and Auto Repair.
The new owner is Kris Loomis, a master mechanic.
Loomis is an expert in all aspects of car care, noted Metcalf.
A new addition to the menu of services is air conditioning repair and maintenance. Not many shops in the area did air conditioning Loomis said, and he added that it required special equipment.
Air conditioning work was already coming in at a brisk pace, Metcalf said. He noted that Loomis was an expert in air conditioning. “He’ll keep everybody cool this summer, that’s one thing we never did,” Metcalf said.
Metcalf noted that he was turning 65. it was time that Uncle Sam helped with his lifestyle, he quipped.
He said that he had been looking for a buyer and that “Kris stepped up, and he was very interested in making this a better place.”
“It’s been a great place, great people in Butte, and I appreciate everybody’s patronage, and I’ll miss it, but not a lot. I’ll enjoy my retirement I assure you,”Metcalf joked.
Metcalf started the business in December of 1984.
Reflecting on the last 30 years, he noted that there had been “lots of ups and downs, lots of changes,” but now is was time to start another chapter of his life.
Metcalf said that Loomis would keep on all three of the shop’s current employees.
“Kris kept my old crew, and he’s taking off where I left off,” Metcalf said.
Loomis said that he had become tired of working for other people.
“I’m a master mechanic. I’ve been doing it for a long time. Time to step up to the plate, and do it myself,” he said.
When asked if he was going to do some fishing, Metcalf said, “You know, I don’t fish, but I love to get into the hills. I’ve got a cabin. I’ve been busy as a beaver. I don’t know when I had time to work.”
You can find Butte’s Best Quick Lube and Auto Repair at 1111 East Front Street.
You can call them at 782-6124.
Redline’s had a fine year
Story and photo by Jim Larson
For the Butte Weekly
Things are right on track at Butte’s oldest snowmobile dealer. “We’re having a good year,” says owner Margie Fine.
Fine owns Redline Sports on Harrison Avenue, and her store carries all terrain vehicles and motorcycles as well as snow machines.
She attributes the dealership’s health in part to its longevity. “I’m a staple of Butte, I’ve been here the longest,” she says during an interview in her office at the store. Redline was established in 1962, and was Montana’s first Honda store, she says. The dealership carries Polaris and KTM as well.
“The people of Butte love to play, and they are outdoors people,” Fine says. Farmers and ranchers use her products too, she notes.
In addition to a strong market position, Redline has the personnel to take advantage of that high ground. Strong in sales, service and parts, the Redline staff has more than century’s combined experience. “My employees have been with me forever,” Fine says. She attributes that loyalty to enjoying the lifestyle. “You have to have a love for it,” she says.
That enthusiasm apparently has to be instilled at an early age. “If you don’t start as a child, you don’t ride,” Fine says. Riding the vehicles that Redline sells is a family sport, she says. Customers pack a lunch and head out to enjoy the outdoors, she notes.
Keeping families safe is an important issue in Fine’s industry, and much of the Redline showroom displays safety equipment. In addition to a large inventory of safety gear, Redline offers classes in riding, maintenance, and avalanche preparedness. Fine notes wryly that the area hasn’t received much snow to go along with avalanche classes.
Weather is always an issue the owner says. She would prefer either sunshine or snow with nothing in between, she jokes.
One aspect of the business that weather doesn’t control is Redline’s loyalty program. Fine says that 300 of her customers take advantage of the program. Those who sign up receive notices about events, special offers and new models through email.
Find Redline Sports at 2050 Harrison Avenue. Call them at 782-9129. Find the online at redlinesports.com.
Butte’s Uptown jewelers adapt to thrive
by Jim Larson
ButteNews.Net
Upon first entering Butte Jewelers-Buffalo Gallery, visitors are greeted by the store’s chief of security, Buddy, a tiny black poodle. Clearance to enter is quickly granted as Buddy has a lot of shop to keep an eye on and a great deal of curiosity to satisfy.
Returning to store patrol, Buddy hands his guests off to owners Donna Hollingsworth, Bremer Hollingsworth and their son Shane Hollingsworth. Donna and Bremer opened the shop in 1988. Donna is a Carroll College graduate who worked in the lab at Saint James Hospital and now works part time at Mercury Street Medical. Bremer worked as a machinist and then obtained an engineering degree at Montana Tech. His welding skills proved useful when the couple opened Butte Jewelers. Shane attended Montana Tech for a year before turning his full attention to the family business, Donna said.
During a visit last Friday, Donna was kind enough to offer a tour of the business, an operation that fills an entire building at 53 West Broadway, a building that the family owns.
In the front of the shop are jewelry cases that contain an inventory of considerable variety and quality. The store keeps up with what’s trending. “Colored diamonds are in, and we have a good selection of those,” Donna says. Popular tungsten bands are in stock, as well as pieces of sterling silver that can be mixed and matched. Butte Jewelers also carries a large inventory of Montana rubies. “We go to the shows and we stay up on things,” she says. Traditional items are represented as well, including a well-stocked pearl display.
The jewelers also carry a nice selection of mantle clocks, and there is an impressive display of watches, including a Butte Jewelers line. Quality watches with the Montana Tech logo can be purchased there as well, Donna points out.
Upstairs is the Buffalo Gallery, at one time a considerable source of income for the business. The gallery sold new releases of first edition prints by artists such as Nancy Glazier, a prominent regional wildlife artist. That part of the business has become less important, and has been replaced by framing as the operation’s primary income. The Hollingsworth’s will be sprucing the gallery up for the upcoming Christmas stroll, Donna says.
That part of Butte Jewelry-Buffalo Gallery is operated primarily by Shane. In addition to framing art, Shane creates framed mementos of unusual quality. He incorporates the studio’s advanced engraving equipment and hot stamping capability into framed pieces that capture life events such as graduations and weddings in a unique way.
Bremer notes that a customer would have to travel to Seattle to find engraving equipment comparable to Butte Jewelers’. The store stocks a variety of engravable items. “We have a lot of gifty things,” Donna says.
As part of the upstairs tour, Donna shows a pole bed built by Shane. There are usually several on display, she notes, but they are in great demand, and only one was available to view Friday.
During the Friday visit Donna noted several times that she and Bremer were attempting to be “semi-retired,” but their business keeps them busy. Customers can even bring their knives in to be sharpened. “We do whatever it takes,” explains Donna, a survival strategy that has kept Butte Jewelers in business for 25 years.
Passion for vintage clothing, costuming fuels Rediscoveries
8-28-13
By Robin Jordan
Brian Mogren, owner of Rediscoveries Vintage Clothing & Costume, 83 E. Park, said his interest in historical artifacts and collecting started at an early age.
“I began collecting when I was 12 years old,” Mogren said. “I grew up in Opportunity. My grandparents had lots of old things and one of our close neighbors collected glassware. I grew up with an interest in antiques.”
Mogren also developed an interest in theater during high school and participated in high school and in college. He said at one point, he even considered majoring in theater, but instead got his teaching degree at Western Montana College and taught for several years.
However, he continued his passion for antiques, especially vintage clothing. He said he began selling vintage clothing wholesale in the 1980s and began doing costuming for theatrical shows in 1985. In 1990, he opened his own vintage clothing store, Debris, at 123 N. Main in 1990.
Mogren said he moved the business to 55 W. Park in 1992 and opened Rediscoveries at its current location in 2000. He said the shop, which offers vintage clothing, a huge collection of hats, accessories, jewelry, toys and other items from bygone years, caters primarily to women. Although most of his stock is available for purchase, he offers costume rentals.
“Costume rental has become the main part of my business,” he said. He said he does a brisk rental business for Halloween and for other special occasions like proms or period dress balls like one held recently in Virginia City.
Summer has been busy for Mogren, he said. In addition to running Rediscoveries during Butte’s bustling festival and tourist season, he did all the costuming for and even performed in Butte Burlesque, the variety show staged in July by the Big Sky Repertory Theatre. Once that was through, he had to travel to other antique fairs and shows, including a vintage doll show. He said buying and selling at these regional events is a big part of his business.
Retail business has changed during the years he has been in Butte, Mogren said. Not only has the retail makeup of Uptown Butte changed, but customers have developed new shopping habits, such as buying on the internet. Mogren said if businesses are to succeed, they need to keep current on marketing ideas and how to best reach their target customers.
Keeping their doors open a bit later to take advantage of those customers who come Uptown in the evening hours to eat might help retailers in the district, he said. He said on days this summer he has stayed open later, a number of customers have taken the opportunity to shop during more convenient hours.
Mogren said he is optimistic about the future of retail in Uptown Butte. He said he chooses to stay in Uptown Butte, not because he has to, but because he believes in the potential of the district. He would like to see an open former for potential business owners to meet with current business owners so they could share experience and new ideas that could help the district grow.
“I think it’s great that we’ve seen big renovations like the Hennessy Market and Apartments, the Metals Bank building and the Hirbour Tower,” he said. “I’m hoping that the construction of the new General Operations building for NorthWestern Energy will encourage people interested in opening new businesses in the Uptown. If it brings some new businesses in, the NorthWestern building could be the spark that Uptown Butte has needed to finally turn the corner.”
Rediscoveries Vintage Clothing & Costume is open Monday 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m.-4 p.m. For information, call 723-2176.