Town and Country Foods on North 19th is closing, but a new-and-improved version of the store will be popping up on the other side of town.
“Darn it,” said Helen Schmitz.
Schmitz has been shopping at the Town and Country at 19th Avenue and West Beall Street for 23 years. When she heard it will be closing, she was upset because for her, the store is—
“Close to home, convenient, and they have some products that other stores don’t,” said Schmitz.
According to the president of Town and Country Foods, Travis Frandsen, the 35,000-square-foot grocery store is part of phase 2 of development at Ferguson Farms off Huffine Lane. It will be accompanied by new businesses, an apartment complex, and more.
“Obviously there’s so much growth out there on the west side of town,” said Frandsen. “This is what we needed to do to set us up in the Bozeman market for the next 20 to 30 years.”
This will be Town and Country’s biggest store. The North 19th location employs about 60 people; the new store will need around 100 employees.
A big jump for the little grocery store Frandsen remembers.
“When I started, 19th wasn’t even a street,” he said.
The 19th Avenue Town and Country has been in Bozeman for 50 years, having opened in 1971.
Frandsen says he knows the change will be hard for a lot of folks. He describes it as a very difficult decision and one not made lightly.
“I understand, I grew up in this store. I started work here when I was 21,” said Frandsen. “I see customers in here that I’ve been seeing my whole life.”
Schmitz says she’ll miss the store but still supports Town and Country.
"I just really hate to see it go,” she said.
The North 19th location will likely close in June of next year, and you can expect to see the new store at Ferguson Farms up and running by next spring. In the meantime, over at the Town and Country in Livingston, a remodel is underway of the store Frandsen says was built in the 60s.
“They just started with the first phase, which is the front exterior of the building,” said Frandsen.
Phase one should wrap up later this summer. The next step will be remodeling the interior.
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