Investing in Bigfork: couple pursues dream of smalltown life

It was Christmas 2011 when Renny Johnson and his family had their “aha” moment. Johnson and his wife, Sarah, had been working the corporate life for years in places like Chicago and San Francisco when they finally decided they’d had enough. They had spent vacation time the last 17 years in Bigfork with Johnson’s parents, Ray and Kathy, who own a horse ranch here.

Renny and Sarah knew what Bigfork was like. More importantly, they had an idea of what it was becoming.

They opened Montana Adventure Sports in downtown Bigfork June 2012. The outdoor shop is between the Garden Bar and Owney’s restaurant. Snowboards and Bigfork are two words that have not been used often in the same sentence, but with the new shop in town, you can actually buy a snowboard. Or a latte, or a parka or a bicycle.  

The shop has exceeded the couple’s expectations.

The couple had been looking for a small town to open a business and raise their family.

“Everywhere we went, the places were saturated and there were no opportunities,” Johnson said. “There was nowhere like this with such a clear business opportunity. This is an outdoor paradise. This area allows us to live in a place where we can live our dream, with the type of business we want, in a four-season town.”

“We were not living the life we wanted,” Johnson said, “so we went back and put together our business plan.”

Johnson has positive ideas for growth about Bigfork. He said he’s intent on changing the idea that Bigfork closes for the winter. “I was very nervous going into winter,” he said, “but we’ve proven it’s wrong to think that there’s nothing going on here. People voted with their dollars and we ended up having a good winter.”

Doing that, however, took the investment of staying open. Johnson hopes other businesses will follow suit. “You need to be open every day, even if it’s slow,” he said.

One surprise has been on the bicycle side of the business. While they sell high-end road bikes and mountain bikes, the business is enjoying another revenue stream they didn’t see: restoration of vintage bicycles. One local customer brought in a bike to have restored, and others have followed from around Montana. “We want to give people the option to bring their bikes back to life,” Johnson said. “That’s been really fun, and a great way to get to know the community.”

Johnson is a former barista, as well as a former top-level corporate executive. He installed an espresso bar in the store to give people a reason to come hang out. “Our goal is to have a very community-oriented shop,” he said. Service is at the core of their business plan. “We really wanted to add value to the community. We feel well-supported here.

Montana Adventure Sports is doing some different things, not just with snowboards or vintage bicycles. An attorney by trade, Sarah Johnson is a yoga instructor who will offer yoga lessons on special paddleboards that the shop sells.

Snowboards. Yoga on the water.

Grand ideas for this young couple, and for Bigfork. But Johnson has put his money on Bigfork, and thinks this town offers great potential.

“We needed to invest in ourselves,” he said. We traded one set of stressors for another, but this is about being together as a family. It’s about feeding our souls.”

With a new brewery taking shape in the former North Shore Lanes building, Bigfork is undergoing a transformation — again. “Bigfork is in a transition,” Johnson said. “People are making the investment in this town.”

Moving to Bigfork has long been a dream for the couple. Now they’re living it every day, watching the little town grow through the front windows of their outdoor shop on Electric Avenue. “Bigfork has been in our hearts a long time,” he said. “It’s a very special place to us.”