Test of Time
Small businesses share secrets to big success
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Statistics suggest that most failures of startup businesses will occur in the first two years of their existence. According to the Small Business Administration, seven out of 10 new establishments survive at least two years, and 51 percent survive at least five years. Factor in that both small and large businesses were hit hard by the recession, and those numbers don’t seem to bode well for entrepreneurs in the United States.
But in the Mission Valley, there are several small businesses that have beaten the odds and become mainstays in their communities.
David Brown has owned Polson’s Brown’s Jewelry for the past three years, but the business has been in his family since 1954. Selling jewelry has been in the Brown family for decades. It all began with David’s great-grandfather James, who started out as a dentist but after a late-night tooth-extracting emergency decided to switch careers. Ever since, jewelry has been a family tradition.
David took over the family business from his father Tex in 2009. Today, while David answers phone calls and tends to customers, Tex sits hunched over a desk, tiny instruments in hand, repairing a watch.
“When you hit a recession like this, it’s the services that keep the lights on,” David said, referring to services such as repairs and engravings.
He is a graduate gemologist and jewelry manufacture arts graduate. His father is a master watchmaker. Though the glass cases around the store are stocked with diamond rings, gold necklaces and brand-name watches, David said during poor economic times, people buy less jewelry.
“It’s more a luxury than a necessity,” David said. Though the Brown family has been in the jewelry game for more than five decades, David said making sure a small business thrives is hard. It’s a heavy crown he will pass on to his children only if they want to wear it. It means long hours — 50 to 60 hours a week, or more — and competing against large chains.
“It’s hard for an independent store to survive,” Brown added, citing the competition from “big box stores” like Walmart.
“We try to provide good service, something those bigger Walmart’s don’t have,” David said.
Not too long ago, David said a couple celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary came in, and said they had bought their original wedding set at Brown’s Jewelry all those years ago. David said for him, it’s those stories that make his job enjoyable.
Across the street and about a block and a half away sits Crow’s Nest Gallery and Framing, which celebrates a milestone on Feb. 14. Owner Lou Marchello has operated his business for 40 years, back when it was half variety store and half gallery-and-frame shop. But in the end, it was the art of framing that sold him.
“It’s fun, and it’s a way to use creativity to enhance artwork you have,” said Marchello, a certified professional framer. “You try to enhance the artwork to give the best focal point so you don’t even notice the frame or mat.”
Marchello came to the Mission Valley in 1971 while on vacation. At the time, he was working as a manager of a Woolworth’s store in Denver when he decided to switch industries and locations.
Marchello returned the next year to sign the contract to purchase the town’s variety store, which eventually gave way to the gallery and frame shop.
When asked about his secret for staying in business for four decades, Marchello says the answer is simple: customer service.
“It’s very important to give good customer service and to do something as quickly as possible. I like to have turn around in a week, at least,” he said.
Another aspect is providing a quality product. For years, Marchello used a foot lever to cut his frames, which he said ruined his knees. These days, his knees can rest easy as he uses a high-end saw and computerized mat cutter, among other tools, to assemble works of art. In a workspace in the back of the gallery, it takes Marchello about 20 minutes to cut and assemble both frame and glass from start to finish. In fact, he utilizes little help, only employing two part-time employees.
But Marchello doesn’t mind putting in more hours; because he enjoys his craft.
“I’m 68 years old, and I’m not ready to quit,” he said.
His one tip for those who are thinking of starting a new business would be to have enough money.
“You need to have enough financial backing to weather a year and a half to establish yourself,” Marchello explained. “And customer service, it’s the most important thing.”
Rob Shrider, owner of Ronan Sports and Western, also takes pride in his store’s customer service and knowledge of products. Shrider purchased the store in 2000 from owner Dick Lucheau, who started it in 1957.
“There’s always competition. The Wal-Mart store is a direct competitor,” Shrider shared. “It’s pretty tough; it’s really tough actually. I think there’s luck involved, and the knowledge of products brings back customers. There’s more personal contact than in the bigger marts.”
Though Shrider employs a majority of his family, he also puts in a lot of hours, and said it’s important to keep your expenditures in check.
“The store’s been here a long time; people’s fathers and mothers remember this store. It’s a part of hometown heritage,” he said.
Despite long hours and a tough economy, Shrider takes pleasure in his job.
“If jobs are fun, this is a fun job dealing with people having a fun time hunting and fishing,” he said.
“When you start up a new business, don’t give up your day job,” said Tony Hoyt owner of Hummingbird Toys and Treats in Arlee, of the tough, early days of his business.
Twenty-four years ago, Hoyt took a chance and started a business in Arlee after working in Missoula for years at a successful variety store. It was a gamble that paid off.
Today, Hoyt has established his store not only locally but also globally, selling more than 60 varieties of licorice online.
“If you have a small business, you have customer service; you have to be super friendly,” Hoyt said. “I’m a candy store, but you still have to cover all your bases in a small town.”
Today, a young boy and his mother picked up a few last minute items, such as a toy gun and some candy before making their way to a birthday party.
Hoyt said he hopes to save people an hour roundtrip drive into Missoula. His store provides everything from candy, toys and birthday cards to T-shirts and huckleberry products.
In addition to providing a friendly atmosphere, Hoyt said he advertises, strategically placing billboards along U.S. Highway 93 to attract tourists, especially during the summer. But utilizing billboards doesn’t mean renting from a company that charges a couple hundred a month, but instead approaching landowners and placing signs for the same amount a year.
Because he said his business attracts so many out-of-towners, he makes it a point to promote Arlee and the surrounding sites.
“I always ask people ‘Where are you going?’” Hoyt said, adding that he often directs visitors to the National Bison Range and the People’s Center in Pablo.
This helpfulness even landed his business in a self-guide tour book published by a Bozeman-based company who visited his store before.
“Maybe I was a tour guide in my other life,” Hoyt joked.
When asked why he promotes Arlee and the area so much, Hoyt says it’s because he sees such potential. Across the street from his store sits two vacant buildings and Hoyt only sees possibilities.
For him, Arlee is the perfect place to start a small business; rent is cheap, the location is on the highway; and the landscape is beautiful.
“We’ve got a beautiful town and future. I would love to see more businesses,” he said. “Compared to Missoula, we don’t have the traffic but if you run your business right, you can be successful.”
