New shop makes downtown Ronan pop

The Gilligan family of Ronan has taken family popcorn night to a whole new level. They don’t just eat it, they make it for all of us.

Stroll into the bright, freshly renovated Mission Valley Popcorn Kitchen in Ronan and you will be greeted by a wave of delicious aromas — the warm, comfort-food smells of popcorn and caramel and fudge. You may stand awestruck at the menu, trying to choose between a daily selection of flavors sweet, sour, salty, savory, or spicy hot, or simply the age-old favorite, buttery warm.

The business is a two-generation family affair. Meghan Gilligan, her husband, Dustin Thomas, brother Shawn Gilligan, moved to the area this year from Phoenix to join parents Karen and Martin Gilligan, who live in St. Ignatius. They all pooled resources and elbow grease to acquire and completely renovate the 331 Main Street SW location. Having learned about the popcorn business from a friend of the family’s popcorn store in Las Vegas, they thought it was a fun and potentially popular way to support the family as Meghan and Dustin moved here to be with their folks.

Popular is right, as they say there has been a lot of local support and customers even come from as far away as Missoula and Kalispell to enjoy their treats.

Among the 54 popcorn flavors the family has brought out so far are intriguing options such as dill pickle, nacho cheese, loaded baked potato, and strawberry cheesecake, in addition to old favorites such as kettle corn, or simple butter and salt.

While Dustin and Shawn are popping and flavoring huge mounds of fresh popcorn, Meghan has dived into fudge, up to her elbows in the variety of flavors she develops and makes fresh every week. Besides the classic chocolate fudge, on any day you will find a rotating selection that could include maple nut, holiday cranberry walnut, Boston creme, chocolate-peanut butter, chocolate mint, or Meghan’s favorite, jelly donut. She even makes apples coated in fudge..

The Kitchen offers decorative gift boxes for personalized gifts for birthdays, office awards, or any special occasion. With preorders, they can provide treats of your choice for events like weddings, birthdays, holidays, or parties and they are getting set up to be able to ship orders.

Though they learned the business from a Las Vegas example, they have been focusing on local tastes. The shop is active on Facebook, and runs polls to see what folks would like them to make next. A recent poll determined that dark chocolate was the preferred choice to be mixed in the next batch of chocolate-mint-swirl fudge. They have found Ronan visitors to prefer sweeter and cheesier flavors over say, habanero, and the huckleberry cheesecake fudge and popcorn are certainly a regional favorite. Many people order their own mixes.

Mission Valley Popcorn Kitchen is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at 331 Main St. SW in Ronan. For more information or pre-orders, visit them on Facebook or call 406-676-0109.