"Wild Joe's has never belonged to me…. It has always been ours." Erica Brubaker opens her letter to customers on the Wild Joe's Coffee Spot website with that line. A little further down comes the date that shapes downtown Bozeman's whole holiday season: "Join us for our last hurrah in our space December 5th during Christmas Stroll."
So the night downtown lights its decorations is also the last night for a coffee shop that has held 18 West Main for 25 years. Everything on the calendar between now and then runs toward that evening.
The last hurrah is booked for the busiest night of the year
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that the shop announced the closing on Instagram on Sept. 28. The post said its lease would be "involuntarily terminated" and that "a new business is already in line to rent the space." Brubaker, the co-owner and manager, told the Chronicle she wasn't given a chance to renew.
The 46th Annual Christmas Stroll is Saturday, Dec. 5, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Downtown Bozeman Partnership's event page lists Santa photos, the lighting ceremony for the downtown decorations, voting in the Gingerbread House Contest, horse-drawn wagon rides, caroling, winter activities hosted by local nonprofits, and food vendors. The same page calls the Stroll one of downtown's most beloved traditions, "drawing thousands of locals and visitors downtown" on "one of the busiest nights of the year."
That means Wild Joe's closes with Main Street at its fullest. In the Chronicle's coverage, Ellie Staley, executive director of the Downtown Bozeman Partnership, called the shop "certainly a gathering place in downtown Bozeman" and said it has been one "for a really long time." She also noted its "really loyal following."
Four weeks of downtown dates, with a coffee shop at the end
The holiday events downtown are familiar, but this year they double as the final weeks of regular visits to Wild Joe's. Here is the season in order, with the dates from the Downtown Bozeman Partnership's events calendar:
| Date | Event | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Christmas Stroll application deadline | For food vendors, nonprofit activity vendors, and downtown businesses entering the Window Decorating Contest or hosting an in-store activity |
| Thu., Nov. 19 | Ladies' Night, 5 to 8 p.m. | Participating retailers, restaurants and bars offer pre-holiday shopping, dining and drink specials |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Gingerbread House Contest registration deadline | Presented by the Downtown Bozeman Association and the Sweet Pea Festival |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Small Business Saturday | All day downtown |
| Fri.–Sat., Dec. 4–5 | "Holiday Noir," Crawford Theater, 7:30 p.m. | An Emerson production for ages 18 and up |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | 46th Annual Christmas Stroll, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. | Also the last hurrah at Wild Joe's |
| Fri., Dec. 11 | Winter Art Walk, 6 to 8 p.m. | The first downtown event after the closing |
Look at the Dec. 4 and 5 rows together. "Holiday Noir" plays the Crawford Theater on both nights at 7:30 p.m., so on Saturday the curtain goes up right as the Stroll is winding down. And Winter Art Walk on Dec. 11 will be the first downtown evening without Wild Joe's on the block.
The memory window turns the shop into part of the Stroll
The shop says it will put up a memory window in December, filled with memories customers send in. According to the Chronicle, the window will be on display in the front of the shop ahead of the closing after the Stroll.
That puts the window right in the middle of downtown's Window Decorating Contest season, when storefronts along Main Street are dressed for the Stroll. To be part of it:
- Send a memory. The shop's website asks anyone with a fond memory for the December window to email Brubaker using the address listed there.
- Come in during the regular weeks. The shop describes "Bozeman's most diverse selection of locally roasted coffees," along with breakfast burritos, paninis, soups and baked goods, plus pastries and salsa made by other local businesses. Online ordering is also available.
- Stop by on Dec. 5 during the Stroll for the last hurrah.
The Chronicle noted that the shop was known for its compostable rainbow coffee cups and its welcoming atmosphere.
College Street goes into the holidays without its gift baskets
Main Street is not the only place in town where a gathering spot is changing hands this season. A few blocks south, Joe's Parkway Market, open since 1969, was set to close in early October, as the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
For decades the market was a holiday stop. The Chronicle listed its favorites as seasoned prime rib, the wine selection, charcuterie boards and "holiday gift baskets of specialty foods." It called the market a long-standing gathering point for the historic neighborhoods of south Bozeman and for the Montana State students and faculty across College Street.
That makes this the first holiday season in more than half a century without that counter. Owner Tara Wantulok, who started at Joe's as a college job in 1998, told the Chronicle, "Customers don't only come here because they need something. They come here because it feels like home."
The two closings have the same shape. Both places ran on regulars and tied a neighborhood to the institutions around it. Now they are changing hands within weeks of each other, right as the year's busiest stretch for gathering begins.
What the two addresses become next
The two spaces are headed in different directions.
Joe's Parkway Market. The Wantuloks sold the land, building and business to Todd Waller, founder of Venture West Development. Waller studied at MSU in the late 1990s. "Our first focus is a local business that services the greater residential neighborhood and the university, and fills the big void left by Joe's," he told the Chronicle. He plans to renovate the building and add on to it, creating commercial space for more retailers. He said he would "sure love to get another market in there," something "kind of the next generation" of Joe's. Local vendors come first, and if none materialize he would look for a regional market that fits. Wantulok told the paper that the whole three-block College Street business strip "needs a little bit of love," and that she believes in its current and future business owners.
18 West Main. The Chronicle reported that Montana Knife Company job postings for a general manager describe a new Main Street store in the Wild Joe's space with a Black Rifle Coffee Company shop inside. One posting compares it to the company's flagship store in Missoula. So the address will keep serving coffee, under a different business.
The Wild Joe's name itself. Brubaker has asked for help keeping the shop going. "If you or someone you know is interested in continuing the Wild Joe's legacy in a new location, we would love to hear from you," her letter reads. "These community gathering places must continue to exist." She told the Chronicle, "I'm hopeful someone interested in continuing the legacy in a new location will present themselves."
Wild Joe's last hurrah at 18 West Main is Dec. 5, during the Stroll, and the shop is collecting memories by email for its December window.
Michelle Horning has spent decades watching places like Wild Joe's and Joe's Parkway shape daily life across the Gallatin Valley. Her work centers on what makes a community feel like home. If you're curious how Bozeman's changing storefronts tie into the bigger picture of where you live, Michelle Horning would be glad to talk. Schedule a free consultation.
