KALISPELL — Montana Coffee Traders downtown Kalispell location is set to reopen on Feb. 3 after being closed for 10 months.
“We absolutely planned to be back by this time, and we’re excited to be there,” Montana Coffee Traders Café Coordinator Jessie Farnes told MTN News.
One of the Flathead Valley’s most iconic coffee shops closed its doors last April due to staffing shortages brought on by COVID-19.
“You know I think staffing is a big challenge nationally, I think a lot of people are reflecting on their lives trying to decide what they want to do, thankfully we’ve found that recently it’s been a little bit better of a hiring market, we certainly had a lot of applicants to come work in this location this round and we’ve hired an incredible team of people that we’re really excited about." - Montana Coffee Traders Café Coordinator Jessie Farnes
Farnes said the Kalispell location will operate a little differently this time around providing more flexibility for the new staff.
“We’re not going to have the full kitchen like we had before because hiring for line cooks was really challenging and continues to be one of the more challenging positions to hire for so, we’re doing a food structure more similar to our downtown Whitefish café where it’s a quicker service, quicker style of service and a lot of food is being produced in our central kitchen,” added Farnes.
Farnes said Coffee Traders are working on an updated compensation package to make sure workers can live comfortably as affordable housing continues to be a major issue in Flathead County.
“Because I think that key component has really changed a lot over the last couple of years, certainly with housing costs and everything else so, it’s been a work in progress and it’s really something we’re working on this winter on specifics,” added Farnes.
New Kalispell location manager Abby Church said excitement is already building for opening day.
“I cannot even begin to explain how many people come to the door and ask when are you guys opening? What’s happening? We can’t wait to come back, and it’s just going to be so fun to see all of the faces and meet the new people and just watch this place expand and grow,” said Church.
The downtown Kalispell location at 111 South Main Street will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
