By Jana Bounds EBS Contributor
BIG SKY–With the changing season comes a shift in the business landscape. Indicative of this change is a handwritten note on the front door of Enoteca, a wine bar in Town Center, with a single line: closed for the season.
The business, which opened February of this year and served Italian fare alongside an extensive wine list, closed on Aug. 27.
“I was tempted to keep it open until Labor Day but I could not impress upon my staff that the financial model absolutely had to be adhered to, so I had to close early,” said Enoteca owner Colleen Helm, who also owns the space the business occupied.
“The long-term plan was to build up the wine bar and then sell the whole thing. That was and remains the plan,” she said.
Apart from that broad intention, there are no immediate plans for the space or the business, she said.
Wrap Shack co-owner Don Mattusch said he and his wife, Karen Macklin, have had continuous growth and enjoy being a niche in the community, but are selling their business in West Fork Meadows to have flexibility for family health issues.
The business, which specializes in wraps and salads, opened in 2004 and was purchased by the couple in 2011. It is listed with Realty Big Sky.
“We’re not retiring. We’re not moving,” Mattusch said. “We’re still going to be doing something.”
According to Kinga Wilson, former sales associate for Luminous Audio Visual, owner Austin Pettit decided to pivot the business away from the retail store and focus on client installations.
The inventory was liquidated on Aug. 17 and the Town Center space is for sale. “It’s a stunning place wired for anything,” Wilson said. “I envy the person who gets it. It’s wired for the future.”
Pettit could not be reached for comment before EBS’s publication deadline.
