New storefront in downtown Baker

On Nov. 1, at 125 South Main Street in Baker the ribbon to mark the official grand opening of the much-anticipated Junction 39 was cut at 10 a.m. "This will make it so real," said JoDee Pratt while preparing things for the opening.

"It's actually kind of mind-blowing," added Deanna Hayden.

Junction 39 is the vision of Baker community members JoDee Pratt, Rita Breitbach, Pam Nelson and Deanna Hayden. "We talked a couple of different times about doing some sort of second-hand store," explained Hayden. "We just decided that we had enough things that maybe we could try it out."

"I wasn't going to quit until it was (a reality)," Pratt smiled. "It's been a beautiful time working with these girls. We've developed a real comradery and I think we'll enjoy this for a long time."

Junction 39 is far more than a second-hand store, however. Featuring over 20 vendors, coffee, cookies and ice cream, Junction 39 has a little something for everyone. Among the vendors are Sylvia Landa, LeeAnn Koppinger, Debbie Newell, Barb Lechler, Connie Fradenburgh, Bob Curry, Kelly Hatch, Mia and Beaver Hastig, Robin Menger, Jerilyn Wiseman, Sheena Veazey, Brittany Bertsch, Traci Bruha, Donna Winn, Pam Schultz, Sharon Rustad and Kirstie Nelson. "We have more vendors contacting us," noted Hayden.

The building, initially purchased by the Southeast Montana Area Revitalization Team to be used for office spaces, is a historic building that was used to base the grid work of Baker's streets on so when the ladies at Junction 39 approached SMART asking if they knew of any available spaces it seemed like a no-brainer. "I really liked their idea for a vintage shop and thought it would be a cool, natural combination to put a vintage store in a vintage building," said Vaughn Zenko, executive director of SMART. "We thought a retail store right in the heart of downtown might be an even better use of that space than offices, and our main goal all along was just to save that building and get it usable again for something."

SMART worked out with Junction 39 that if they put some sweat equity in with the painting, carpeting, and things of that nature that SMART would pay for the rest of the necessary improvements to make the building livable.

"Everything did go fairly smooth once we got on the right track," explained Nelson.

"They've got a beautiful historic building for their great store, we've saved downtown Baker a landmark building and made it viable again, and Baker's got a new business as a cornerstone of downtown," said Zenko. "It goes to show what can be accomplished with a little vision, a little teamwork and a little elbow grease. We're excited to have been able to make this happen for Junction 39 and for downtown."

The Junction 39 crew is eager to bring their store to the community and can't wait to see what's in store for them and their new business. Now that they're officially open the store hours will be Tuesday–Friday 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. "I can't even express myself I'm so excited," Breitbach smiled.