Local Made in Montana Business Expands to Double Space

Made in Montana business, Hometana is adding an additional 1000 square feet to their operation, nearly doubling their current square footage. The additional space will also add 18 feet of window storefront. The renovation reveal is slated for the first weekend in April. Owner Shirstie Gaylord left Montana in her twenties, traveling the country for her career as a photojournalist. She always enjoyed buying Montana products, specifically looking for Montana t-shirts that she could wear anywhere in the country. “Montana products is always something that I've supported, it's just a passion of mine.” Shirstie and her husband returned to Montana in 2016 and decided to start making their own apparel and started selling their t-shirts at The Great Falls Farmer’s Market in 2017. Since then, they have grown from selling their creations at a six-foot table to expanding into a gift shop, a custom apparel printing operation and wholesaling to over 50 stores in Montana. “We just grew little by little,” explained Shirstie. “We opened the Great Falls storefront in the beginning of November 2021. We started with about 600 square feet and then we went to 1000 square feet. Now this is going to be a total of 2000 square Feet.” Hometana designs and prints all of their apparel in-house. The extra square footage will add more retail space and also give way to a larger storage and warehouse area to accommodate their growing operation. “We are incredibly excited about the expansion,” explained Shirstie. “It's a testament to the support we've received from our amazing community. People can feel confident when they shop at Hometana. Their dollars will continue supporting small towns & entrepreneurs across the state.” Almost half of Hometana consists of apparel, stationery, stickers, and drinkware made by Shirstie and her husband. The other half of the store consists of items made by approximately 50 other artisans. These include a variety of items including jewelry, soaps, candles, Huckleberry products, and more. For more information visit Hometana, located at 112 1st Ave South, and let them know you found them in The Great Falls Gazette.