Colstrip, Montana comes together to form clothing store – Got Socks!

Because of coal mines and the power plant, Colstrip, Montana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colstrip,_Montana is blessed to have a fairly high per-capita income, but up until several years ago, there was no where in Colstrip to buy clothes, not even a pair of socks.

A lot of the income Colstrip’s 2,400 residents were making was going to Billings for retail shopping, said Jim Atchison, executive director of the South Eastern Montana Development Corp. http://www.semdc.org/

In 2003 during a community meeting, residents decided the town needed a clothing store, but there was no single business person who wanted to open one.

Instead, they worked with the Montana Cooperative Development Center http://www.mcdc.coop/ to create a cooperative. Got Socks! opened in June 2005.

By ERIN MADISON • Tribune Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20090104/BUSINESS/901040307/1046/SPECIALSECTION05