(UPDATE) After questions from customers on the KRTV Facebook page, Mountain View Co-op provided the following responses:
Deb Wandler: "Do you know if the fertilizer they sell will be available this summer at the other location?"
Mountain View Co-op: "We’ve moved bagged fertilizer across the street to our Feed Store. The coolest thing about that is you can drive right into our feed store, and the team there will load you up with what you need. It’s a great way to avoid the snow and wind!"
Chariti Butterfield: "Oh please don’t stop filling propane tanks I don’t any to do the buy replacement tanks"
Mountain View Co-op: "We’ve moved our propane filling station across the street to our Feed Store! It’s much faster and more convenient than ever!"
(FEBRUARY 2, 2022) Mountain View Co-op has expanded their Great Falls locations over the last few years and are close to starting their final expansion - a total demolition and re-build of their gas station and convenience store on the southeast corner of the intersection of Smelter Avenue and 10th Street North, across from the refinery.
The gas tanks have been removed and the inside is about ready to be torn down and rebuilt. Regional Division manager David Douglas said this expansion has been a long time coming. It is the final plan for expansion in Great Falls.
“That location’s been there since 1930. It’s been added onto several times. If you look at that location right now, the ease of access for customers to come in is a challenge. It’s a zoo for people trying to get in and cars to get in and get gas,” Douglas said.
He continued, “Some of the additions that we’ve made over the last three to four years have allowed us an opportunity to do it down there and make the upgrades. We went through phase one, phase two, phase three, and we’re in phase three right now of that process of trying to make Black Eagle look a little bit better there on that corner.”
Those three phases: the new convenience store/gas station designed for trucks that opened several years go, across Old Havre Highway from the Montana Club. Second, a new corporate building that was recently completed, located behind the new store, for administration, marketing, IT, HR, and leadership teams.
And now Mountain View Co-op has entered phase three: demolishing and rebuilding the store that has been a mainstay for decades.
The expansion is estimated to cost anywhere from three to four million dollars and will create an estimated 20 to 30 jobs. They also plan to include a bar and casino in the new building.
Foster Sensibaugh is the manager of the location being expanded and says the entire team is excited about it. The people that were working at the store and across the street at the bigger gas station, which he says might be challenging.
“The convenience store business is a challenging bug as it is anyway. The good thing is we have a good team. Everybody’s willing to help. It’s been a lot smoother than we anticipated,” Sensibaugh said. “We’ll all benefit from everything, but the customers are going to really enjoy the fact that we’ve got a lot more and the ease of getting in and out of that location there is going to be fantastic.”
The co-op expects demolition to start later this month and their goal is to finish the expansion by November 2022.
