Joe's Parkway Is Closed. Where Will Bozeman Go Now?

For 57 years, one building at 903 West College handled a whole holiday shopping list. Joe's Parkway Market opened in 1969 across College Street from Montana State. According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, it was known for its seasoned prime rib, its wine selection, charcuterie boards, hard-to-find cheeses, meats and sauces, and holiday gift baskets of specialty foods. You could pick up the roast, the cheese, the bottle and a gift for the neighbors in one stop, a short walk from the historic blocks of south Bozeman.

The store closed in early October, after the Wantulok family sold the land, the building and the business. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, four weeks from today. It's the first holiday season in decades without Joe's, and the errands it combined are now split among several shops, most of them on West Main Street. Getting it all now means a route across town, and the roast decides what order you run it in.

One store's holiday list, split five ways

Here is what Joe's covered and where each item can be found now. Each shop below lists the category on its own website.

Look at the addresses. Three of the five are on West Main, from Mavens at 720 to City Vineyard at Gallatin Crossing near 2825. Daniels is north of downtown on Griffin Drive, and Town & Country's East Main store is across town on Highland Boulevard. Nothing in the table is on College Street.

The Co-op does have a closer option, its downtown store at 44 East Main. The Co-op itself describes it as a compact neighborhood market with wine and local staples, not the full West Main assortment. That's fine for a last-minute bottle. For the specialty-counter shopping Joe's was known for, you'll want the bigger store.

Start with the roast

Of everything on the list, the centerpiece needs the most lead time, so it sets the order for the rest.

Daniels runs its counter on orders. Its site asks customers to browse the product list and then email [email protected] or call (406) 587-3092 to set up a pickup at the shop. It also says steaks and chops can be cut to your preferred thickness. Town & Country's East Main meat department takes special orders through its in-store butcher. As of this writing, none of these shops has posted a 2026 holiday order deadline on its website. The safest plan for a Thanksgiving or Christmas roast is to call early and ask when they need the order.

With the roast settled, the rest of the route falls into place:

1. Order the roast from Daniels or the Town & Country butcher, and confirm the pickup day.
2. Plan the cheese stop for a weekday or Saturday. Mavens Market is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed Sundays. Its café opens earlier, at 7:30 a.m., if you want an espresso first.
3. Leave wine and gifts for whenever fits. City Vineyard lists store hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Sunday, at its Gallatin Crossing location. It has been open since 2000 and has a tasting lounge if you'd like to try something before you commit to a case.
4. Finish at the Co-op on West Main for everything else on the list, from produce to butter to another bottle.

Joe's used to handle the gift baskets on its own. City Vineyard's site links to a line of baskets, including the Vineyard Basket and the Brew Basket. You can also build your own from the Mavens cheese case, which the shop says has everything for "the perfect cheeseboard or gourmet meal."

The College Street block, this fall

Joe's was more than a holiday stop for the blocks around it. The Chronicle called it a long-standing gathering point for the historic neighborhoods of south Bozeman and for Montana State students and faculty. Owner Tara Wantulok told the paper that the whole three-block College Street business strip "needs a little bit of love."

Here's where the block stands heading into November:

• Colombo's Pizza & Pasta, 1003 West College, is open for dine-in and takeout and lists dinner hours seven nights a week.
• Studio Coffee Roasters, 1013 West College, serves espresso drinks, tea, pastries and baked goods.
• Amelia's Authentic Italian Eatery, which opened at 815 West College in spring 2025, has posted on its own site that it is temporarily closed while it relocates and will post an update once it has moved.

On a winter evening, pasta at Colombo's and a morning coffee at Studio are still a walk away for anyone living near campus. The shopping half of the block is what's missing.

Two decisions still to come

What happens on this stretch next depends on two decisions that haven't been made yet.

The first is who moves into 903 West College. The buyer is Todd Waller, founder of Venture West Development, who studied at MSU in the late 1990s. He told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that his "first focus is a local business that services the greater residential neighborhood and the university, and fills the big void left by Joe's." He plans to renovate the building and add on to it, creating commercial space for more retailers. He also said:

"I'd sure love to get another market in there, and I'm in some conversations right now... Something similar to Joe's, just kind of the next generation of it."

Waller said he would start with local vendors and would "cast the net a little bit wider" to a regional market if needed, as long as it was a good fit. No tenant has been announced. Wantulok's own hope, in the same story, was that "whoever comes in here can give it some new life and new energy."

The second is when the street itself gets rebuilt. In September 2025, KBZK reported a $2.5 million redesign of College Street from 8th to 11th Avenue, with construction then expected the following summer. Later Chronicle coverage focused on opposition to removing south-side parking for a shared-use path. Then on June 9, 2026, the City of Bozeman postponed bidding and construction. It said final plans are complete but it was still working out construction easements and access with business owners. On timing, the city wrote:

"Moving forward, the city will decide over the winter if we can schedule construction next summer in a manner that can be effectively coordinated with the Kagy Boulevard construction closure."

That puts both decisions on the same winter calendar. Whoever takes over the Joe's building could be renovating just as the street out front is torn up, or could open first and see the construction later. Either way, the block's next chapter will be decided over the next few months.

The same turnover is happening elsewhere in town. On Main Street, Wild Joe's Coffee Spot plans to close its 18 West Main location on December 5 after 25 years. The Chronicle reported that the shop said it was not given the chance to renew its lease. Job postings described in a later Chronicle story point to a Montana Knife Company storefront with a Black Rifle Coffee shop inside. The paper called that a developing story. If you have a holiday morning coffee routine downtown, there are about five weeks left of it.

What happens on College Street affects how daily life works for everyone who lives within walking distance of 903 West College. If you live near campus and are curious how a new tenant or the street project might shape the blocks around your home, Courtney King follows these changes closely and is happy to talk them through. Schedule a consultation whenever it suits you.