7 ms·

Your paying for the business + history

by edf13 7y ago

stevehawk 7y ago
I gotta assume in this case you're more paying for the history.. can't imagine there's as lot of business with 13 residents and nearest city being 45 minutes away.
- floren 7y ago
  It sounds like they do fine; only beer in 100 miles is a pretty good business proposition. They also go through 1200 pounds of pinto beans a year, so somebody's buying food there.
  - mywittyname 7y ago
    That's about 3.5 pounds of beans a day. Which would make maybe 4 or so gallons of soup, that's 512fl oz or 32 16oz portions.
  - owenversteeg 7y ago
    1200 lbs a year, assuming a half pound per serving, is only 2400 servings a year, or about six a day. I can't imagine six bowls of beans does much to pay the bills even in rural Montana.
    - joevandyk 7y ago
      A half pound of beans is an awful lot for a serving.
      - owenversteeg 7y ago
        Really? The recipes I found seemed to use 3 1lb cans of beans per 4 people. That's 3/4 lb of beans per person. Also, this is Montana, they don't shy from larger portions, a pound a person wouldn't surprise me.
- yellowapple 7y ago
  Just because the town only has 14 residents doesn't mean there's nobody passing through or otherwise visiting.
  - Merrill 7y ago
    Looks like a corral for rodeo, cattle auction, county fair, etc. next door just south of the bar. Appears to be used.
Mikeb85 7y ago
History doesn't pay the bills when you're in the middle of nowhere. Also, I'm sure all the other abandoned buildings around here have stories.
kempbellt 7y ago
Not really. You'd really just be paying for the history. Spending a quarter million dollars on a four wood (edit: brick) walls and a door in a podunk Montana town that is about a 100 mile drive to the nearest town isn't a business purchase. You likely wouldn't recoup the cost in your lifetime.
- CharlesColeman 7y ago
  > Spending a quarter million dollars on a four wood walls and a door in a podunk Montana town that is about a 100 mile drive to the nearest town From the OP: > The Jersey Lilly was the town’s first brick building, built in 1914 as the first bank of a very different Ingomar. > The nearest town, Forsyth, is “only” 44 miles away. “That’s really close in Montana, trust me.” If you want to write a dismissive comment, go ahead, but at least get the facts straight (which were clearly stated in the first three paragraphs of the OP).
  - MS90 7y ago
    I mean, he's got a point. Forsyth has less than 2000 people in it. As someone who used to live in Montana, the nearest town worth mentioning is Billings which is 111 miles away, and the nearest town worth really going to is Missoula which is 371 miles.
    - Merrill 7y ago
      It all depends on your point of view. I have a nephew who lives outside of Roy, population 108. He grew up in central South Dakota but moved to Montana because South Dakota was getting way too crowded.
      - MS90 7y ago
        Ha! It is crazy how different perspectives can be depending on where you're from. When I moved up to Montana in 2011 they had just broken 1,000,000 population for the first time in the state's history and all the locals were talking about how crazy it was. Meanwhile I also thought it was crazy, because I had just moved from a place where there were a million people within five miles of me. A quick google shows that Montana still has just one area code - 406 - for the entire state.
ewhanley 7y ago
In Montana, you're paying for the liquor license. It's not uncommon to see hole-in-the-wall bars in 2000 person towns go for $1 million. They are quota-ed and similar to the NYC taxi medallion system.
- micro_cam 7y ago
  This is correct. On the other hand since tasting rooms can operate without a liquor license it creates a real advantage for small brewereries etc. My town of 5000 has two mircobreweries, a distillery and a cidery and Montana ranks second (IIRC) in breweries per capata. Plus all the really cool bars are out in the middle of the mountains nowhere near a town.
  - DubiousPusher 7y ago
    True story. I was born in Ennis, population single digits thousands. They have a brewery and distillery.
- Reedx 7y ago
  Does that actually recoup? Or are they buying those licenses to use in more populated areas? (curious if they are tied to the town or not)
  - ewhanley 7y ago
    If I remember correctly, it depends on when and by what authority they were issued. I think some are specific to a town whereas others extend to the whole county.
  - ewhanley 7y ago
    As with Uber and medallions, the increasing popularity of craft breweries able to operate with an inexpensive license has led to some big legislative battles. The Montana Tavern Association (MTA, liquor license holders) try to crush the craft breweries every legislative session. They have limited the taphouses to some extent: they can only serve four pints per person per day and they have to close at 8 PM. Also similar to Uber vs taxi drivers the general public likes the breweries and the MTA struggles to maintain a popular image while trying to legislate away erosion of their license values.

Your paying for the business + history

by edf13 7y ago

Your paying for the business + history

I gotta assume in this case you're more paying for the history.. can't imagine there's as lot of business with 13 residents and nearest city being 45 minutes away.

floren 7y ago
It sounds like they do fine; only beer in 100 miles is a pretty good business proposition. They also go through 1200 pounds of pinto beans a year, so somebody's buying food there.
- mywittyname 7y ago
  That's about 3.5 pounds of beans a day. Which would make maybe 4 or so gallons of soup, that's 512fl oz or 32 16oz portions.
- owenversteeg 7y ago
  1200 lbs a year, assuming a half pound per serving, is only 2400 servings a year, or about six a day. I can't imagine six bowls of beans does much to pay the bills even in rural Montana.
  - joevandyk 7y ago
    A half pound of beans is an awful lot for a serving.
    - owenversteeg 7y ago
      Really? The recipes I found seemed to use 3 1lb cans of beans per 4 people. That's 3/4 lb of beans per person. Also, this is Montana, they don't shy from larger portions, a pound a person wouldn't surprise me.
yellowapple 7y ago
Just because the town only has 14 residents doesn't mean there's nobody passing through or otherwise visiting.
- Merrill 7y ago
  Looks like a corral for rodeo, cattle auction, county fair, etc. next door just south of the bar. Appears to be used.

Mikeb85 7y ago

History doesn't pay the bills when you're in the middle of nowhere. Also, I'm sure all the other abandoned buildings around here have stories.

kempbellt 7y ago

Not really. You'd really just be paying for the history. Spending a quarter million dollars on a four wood (edit: brick) walls and a door in a podunk Montana town that is about a 100 mile drive to the nearest town isn't a business purchase. You likely wouldn't recoup the cost in your lifetime.

CharlesColeman 7y ago
> Spending a quarter million dollars on a four wood walls and a door in a podunk Montana town that is about a 100 mile drive to the nearest town From the OP: > The Jersey Lilly was the town’s first brick building, built in 1914 as the first bank of a very different Ingomar. > The nearest town, Forsyth, is “only” 44 miles away. “That’s really close in Montana, trust me.” If you want to write a dismissive comment, go ahead, but at least get the facts straight (which were clearly stated in the first three paragraphs of the OP).
- MS90 7y ago
  I mean, he's got a point. Forsyth has less than 2000 people in it. As someone who used to live in Montana, the nearest town worth mentioning is Billings which is 111 miles away, and the nearest town worth really going to is Missoula which is 371 miles.
  - Merrill 7y ago
    It all depends on your point of view. I have a nephew who lives outside of Roy, population 108. He grew up in central South Dakota but moved to Montana because South Dakota was getting way too crowded.
    - MS90 7y ago
      Ha! It is crazy how different perspectives can be depending on where you're from. When I moved up to Montana in 2011 they had just broken 1,000,000 population for the first time in the state's history and all the locals were talking about how crazy it was. Meanwhile I also thought it was crazy, because I had just moved from a place where there were a million people within five miles of me. A quick google shows that Montana still has just one area code - 406 - for the entire state.

ewhanley 7y ago

In Montana, you're paying for the liquor license. It's not uncommon to see hole-in-the-wall bars in 2000 person towns go for $1 million. They are quota-ed and similar to the NYC taxi medallion system.

micro_cam 7y ago
This is correct. On the other hand since tasting rooms can operate without a liquor license it creates a real advantage for small brewereries etc. My town of 5000 has two mircobreweries, a distillery and a cidery and Montana ranks second (IIRC) in breweries per capata. Plus all the really cool bars are out in the middle of the mountains nowhere near a town.
- DubiousPusher 7y ago
  True story. I was born in Ennis, population single digits thousands. They have a brewery and distillery.
Reedx 7y ago
Does that actually recoup? Or are they buying those licenses to use in more populated areas? (curious if they are tied to the town or not)
- ewhanley 7y ago
  If I remember correctly, it depends on when and by what authority they were issued. I think some are specific to a town whereas others extend to the whole county.
- ewhanley 7y ago
  As with Uber and medallions, the increasing popularity of craft breweries able to operate with an inexpensive license has led to some big legislative battles. The Montana Tavern Association (MTA, liquor license holders) try to crush the craft breweries every legislative session. They have limited the taphouses to some extent: they can only serve four pints per person per day and they have to close at 8 PM. Also similar to Uber vs taxi drivers the general public likes the breweries and the MTA struggles to maintain a popular image while trying to legislate away erosion of their license values.