New Herberger's department spotlights local crafts

The Kalispell Herberger’s this month became a bit more localized with the addition of a new department highlighting local crafters and merchandise.

Herberger’s in early December announced the launch of the Close to Home section of the store, located inside the long-standing department store, featuring about 15 products made by Flathead and Montana small businesses.

Gary Evans, Herberger’s manager for 15 years, said he’s glad to see the store promoting area talent.

“It’s always been a hole for us,” he said. “We’d have people come in and ask us for Montana shirts or something related to Glacier [National] Park, anything made in Montana and we just hadn’t had an assortment at that time. Now it’s a really easy answer. It’s a local connection.”

The Close to Home department inside Kalispell Herberger’s now features a handful of area items, including hand-made soaps from the Kalispell-based Montana Homestead Emporium and mittens made by a Missoula-based company. Prices range from $3 items to $125 items, offering a variety of options. The Close to Home sections have popped up in Herberger’s stores around the state, including the Butte and Billings stores, along with Kalispell.

The idea developed from the Herberger’s corporate office, but gave regional marketing teams a chance to curate a selection of items that best fit each local store. Evans said the selection for the Kalispell Herberger’s was inspired by the outdoor lifestyle that typically draws folks to the Flathead.

“We’re a kind of outdoor-type area as everyone knows,” he said. “That’s the product we were looking at, to fit with cabins or lodge-type homes here in the valley.”

The Close to Home department will be a staple department, restocking Close to Home with items to match each season.

Evans said different types of lodge-y décor for spring or summer could hit the shelves next year, but he said the thought behind locally made and Flathead-fitted merchandise would remain the driver for what items are chosen.

Evans said while Close to Home comes at the perfect time for a department store in the holiday gift-giving season, the new addition will serve the store well during the height of winter and summer, the valley’s two busiest tourist seasons.

“It’s a good time for it during the Christmas gift season, but we think another big opportunity will lie in the tourists that hit the valley,” he said.

Evans said he hopes the new section will expand in the coming year with the Herberger’s store, which is currently undergoing an expansion project at the Kalispell Center Mall. The new addition is tentatively expected to open in September 2017.

For now, Evans is enjoying a new arm of the business to help local producers get goods on the shelves.

“It’s going over very well, especially when you can support the local economy and the state of Montana’s economy,” Evans said.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.