Twenty years promoting the arts in Seeley Lake

SEELEY LAKE – The power was out. Grizzly Claw Trading Co. Owners Dee and Susan Baker were prepared for a great sales day during the heart of their first summer in business. Now it was so dark in their store that it was nearly impossible to see what was in the display cases.

When two visitors from North Carolina walked in they apologetically told them that yes, they were open but they had no power. When the two middle-aged men insisted that they wanted to see what was in the cases, the Bakers obliged taking them through the store with flashlights and candles.

"They just spent all kinds of money," said Dee. "That night we couldn't believe it. We got the sense that they thought this was a real western experience."

It is that connection with their customers and the community that has allowed the Grizzly Claw to continue to expand from its humble beginnings 20 years ago. While the Bakers each measure success differently, they both agree without their employees and the community support they wouldn't be able offer a space for artists to sell their work, a place to showcase regional authors and a community gathering place over a cup of coffee.

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Dee was the one who presented Susan with the idea to start a store. After trapping for 20 years and working as a carpenter, he thought starting a store would allow him to market his furs in a market that was not as volatile as the commercial fur market. It was also was an opportunity to engage their two sons Ariah and Brody, who were in middle school, and teach them new skills.

"I was really shocked because it had never really crossed my mind to do anything like a store," said Susan who was working as a cook but enjoyed sewing and making jewelry on the side.

They took a step of bravery and opened the Grizzly Claw Trading Company in 1998 in a 10 X 12 foot space in the Lazy Pine Mall. Susan made jewelry to sell, Dee sold his furs and they offered Seeley Lake artist Will Kat's carvings on consignment along with a few other odds and ends.

"We had no experience in retail and sales," said Dee. "We were just trying to make it."

After one summer in the Lazy Pine Mall they signed a year lease for the Seeley Lake Mercantile, in their current location on Highway 83. They opened Memorial Day weekend in 1999.

They continued to carry Will Kat's carvings and they added Ovando artists Martha and Jerry Swanson's wooden bowls. They also offered trade beads, antiques, funk and junk, southwestern pottery, Navajo rugs and tribal items from Africa.

"I've always been interested in bringing in foreign ideas for people to get exposed to them, through art or reading or beautiful things," said Susan. "The idea was to have a little bit of something for everyone in here."

Dee clearly remembers the advice offered by a 30-year trading post owner from the southwest when he asked for guidance.

"He told me to buy something I didn't like," said Dee who smiled at the memory. "Ever since, I think we've always tried to do that."

In the winter when it was slow, Sue made jewelry and Dee trapped.

"We are both producing things in the slow times," said Dee. "Places that don't do that, unless they are coming from some background money, I don't know how they do it."

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The local artist community gravitated to the store. Artists started asking the Bakers if they would carry their artwork and products.

"We thought we were going to be like a little road side stand with our stuff," said Dee. "But once stuff started to come in, I think it kind of dawned on us that we could have a role in the community. We could help artists market their arts and products."

The Grizzly Claw now carries between 80-110 artists' work including their first two consignment artists, Will Kats' carvings and Swanson's bowls.

"I don't remember an evolution to the Grizzly Claw. What I remember is this outstanding gift shop exploding full-blown out of the artistic interests of Dee and Sue," wrote Jerry Swanson in an email. "With jewelry from Montana stones to an amazing collection of Native American artifacts, the Grizzly Claw would outclass any gift shop in Bigfork or any other Montana town.  If you wanted to match their collection with any Montana shop, I think you would have serious trouble."

Both Kats and the Swansons agree that having a place to display their artwork has been a boost to their business. Martha Swanson said that she appreciates how knowledgeable the Bakers are about their craft and the skills of other artists and are excellent at explaining this to customers.

"Over the years, Dee and Susan have carefully curated the work of local and regional artists. With great attention to detail, they have selected work that suits their clients needs and work that embodies a sense of place," wrote Martha in an email. "The Rocky Mountain West is aptly represented by the wood carvings and bowls, landscape photographs, the log furniture and sturdy pottery." 

Current manager Kathy "Littlebird" Kinzfogl said the transformation in the artist's community that she has seen over the past 13 years working at the Grizzly Claw is "uplifting and wonderful to see." While all the artists that offer their work at the Grizzly Claw are talented, Kinzfogl said it is a challenge for many of them to promote their work.

"It is wonderful that we can show their work and help build their confidence as well," said Kinzfogl.

"They are both skilled artisans - Dee a woodworker and writer and Sue a first-rate jeweler," wrote Martha. "They understand the challenges one faces trying to make art for a living. Their encouragement and respect for the craft resonate with the artisans."

Three years after they opened, the Bakers put in Jitterbug Java's Espresso. Both felt is was a good addition to the store because coffee was popular and there was no coffee shop in town.

Cyd Kats was working at Seeley Lake Elementary school when Dee offered her a summer job as a barista.

"I loved making coffee!!" wrote Cyd in an email. "It was scientific and a real pleasure to watch customers take their first sips and smile!"

Cyd started working in other parts of the shop as well and enjoyed sharing about the interesting products in the shop. The Bakers encouraged her to start creating displays of jewelry and artwork which they quickly found she had natural talent. Cyd thrived with the new challenge and said, "It was fantastic - a lovely way to express creativity."

When the Bakers hired Sara Wilcox around 15 years ago she helped expand the Grizzly Claw's book collection to include more than just "A River Runs Through It," "The Big Sky" and "This House of Sky," which Dee revered as the only three books he ever needed to sell. She had worked at the University of Montana Book Store and knew about marketing and book signings, a new world to the Bakers.

The bookstore fostered the Grizzly Claw's relationship with the Alpine Artisans, Inc. Open Book Club events that began nine years ago. They are now a signature event held up to 10 times a year on Saturday evenings which Martha believes enriches the cultural scene in Seeley Lake.

"We both love books," said Dee. "To have big name authors read in here and get to meet them is a big thrill."

"Not only is the Claw a welcoming venue to the locals who attend and fill the place, the authors are impacted by the Claw's atmosphere and friendliness," wrote AAI Program Manager Jenny Rohrer in an email. "Great Falls author Jamie Ford, when presenting his award-winning novel "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," stopped mid-sentence to exclaim, 'I have never read in such a place - with a buffalo robe hanging behind me, a Salish adze hanging above me, surrounded by art and books!'"  

The Grizzly Claw has also hosted high school student writing events and a poetry slam. For the past 10 years, they have offered the Grizzly Claw Scholarship to a graduating senior that is funded through their used book sales.

"That connection with the school here and the kids there, I would never have had that out in the woods trapping or doing construction," said Dee.

Susan added, "It's just a way to give back to the community and to help promote the young people for reading and writing."

The Grizzly Claw branched out from literary events to include a space for screening "Facing the Storm" in conjunction with Alpine Artisans' Crown of the Continent Community Cinema film program and concerts by Jack Gladstone and the Drum Brothers.

They have also hosted artist workshops to promote art and local crafts because Susan thinks it is a creative and fun outlet.

With all the successful events and expansion, the Bakers acknowledge how lucky they have been with employees. For a shop that they once ran themselves, they now employ up to 10 people in the summer. The Bakers specifically mentioned the contributions by: their first manager Jodie Miller who was "gung-ho, dynamic and she knew a lot of people;" Pam Strumpfer who really organized the store, had a lot of great ideas and introduced them to the computer; current manager Kathy "Littlebird" Kinzfogl; main barista Zia Nelson; Sara Wilcox for helping with the books and Cyd Kats for her fantastic displays of jewelry and artwork and barista skills.

"They are great people," said Susan. "Everyone seems to bring some type of talent into the fold and a specialty that they have that helps the business."

The Bakers have also enjoyed employing high school students. They have always been impressed with their work ethic and what they have gone on to do outside of high school.

"These incredible high school kids are the future," said Dee.

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Reflecting on 20 years, the Bakers quickly identified the summers of the Jocko Fire in 2007 and the Rice Ridge Fire in 2017 as two of their hardest years.

It was their "good customers in the valleys" that came into the purchase gifts and others that stopped in "to spend some money because you must have had a terrible summer."

"I had no idea people thought like that," said Dee. "That community support has really been amazing."

The third was the economic recession that started in 2007. Dee said watching customers, who find something they want, make the decision of whether to buy it or not tells them a little about the economic condition of middle America.

Another challenge has been catering to their customers which they define in four groups: the 'tourists' who are primarily in Seeley Lake for six weeks during July and August; the summer homeowners; regional travelers that regularly come through the area and the locals.

"It becomes a little bit challenging," said Dee. "Every year you have experience about what you have already carried but what you want to expand into is a totally gamble. But that is fun for us."

For Dee, his measure of success has been keeping their doors open, making a living and providing a space for artists to share their work. Susan said success for her has been being able to survive on what she knows how to do and what she loves to do - making jewelry.

Along with their employees mentioned above, the Bakers want to thank the community for their support; Gary Miller and Citizens Alliance Bank for working with them; Rohrer for her continued support and Kats for sharing his art from the businesses' inception.

"These people have been really instrumental in us staying alive here," said Dee. "Without the local business there is no way we would still be here."