The S.M. Bradford store on Whitefish’s Central Avenue has been closed for 18 months after a water pipe broke in the attic. The clothing shop has been undergoing a rebuild, and owner Kay Emmert hopes to reopen soon. 

While the aim of some renovations is to be new and different, the goal is to make the 17-year-old store look just like it did before the flood. When the doors reopen, the store will, once again, offer Western clothing, jewelry, boots and accessories. The interior, too, should appear as it once did. 

“We're trying to re-create what we had because we loved it, and it worked well,” Emmert said.  

When the store first opened in 2008, a Pilot story described the 5,000-square-foot building, built by Gerald and Mark Bervik of Bigfork, as “striking,” and mentioned the hand-cut and hand-chiseled post-and-beam construction and dozens of handcrafted details. 

The building experienced extensive damage when frigid temperatures caused a water pipe to break in January 2024. 

“It was either 36 or 37 [degrees below zero], and it froze a pipe ... at the top of the second floor in the attic, and it was not a leak. It was a flood,” Emmert recalled. “It didn't just trickle down. It poured down.  

“It came through the apartment and through the shop and some of it came through the basement, so it closed us down for a long period,” she added. “It's been a treacherous climb to get back to where we were.” 

A total overhaul was required. All the floors and most of the walls needed to be replaced, along with the lights and chandeliers. The water also ruined the store’s computer system. 

“I mean, to see it was to believe it,” Emmert said of the destruction. “The doors were frozen shut because all the water that had come through.” 

The first step of the restoration was to move everything out of the building - all the inventory, equipment and fixtures from the ground floor, and everything from the apartment above.  

“It was just an overwhelming task. It took several months just to clear out the place because there was so much involved in clearing it out,” she said. “We lost a bunch of inventory. So, that's what took a lot of time, too, was figuring out exactly what was lost, what was staying, what had to be given up. 

“We've ordered a lot of new merchandise,” she added. “We wanted to look as if nothing ever happened.” 

Emmert said people frequently ask when the store will open, but the timeline depends on how soon it can be put back together. 

"They miss us, and we miss them. We really hate being closed because we love being open and love seeing everybody," she said. “Luckily, we'll be open again.” 

In addition to the Whitefish store, Emmert owns three stores in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and one in Bigfork. Two employees from one of the Hilton Head locations flew to Montana to help get S.M. Bradford back on its feet.  

PART OF WHAT makes the Whitefish store so successful is its charming owner and the family-run nature of the business. 

Emmert met her husband while she was at the University of Indiana, earning a degree in telecommunications.  

“I got a job as a weather girl in Cleveland, Ohio, for television and then after that, I was involved in a lot of things,” she said. “I became very active in some community things like junior league and such." 

After her husband graduated from business school at the top of his class, Emmert said he had his choice of 17 job offers. 

“His name was Clayton Emmert, which is the same name that they gave my grandson,” Emmert said. “My husband was so flattered.” 

Clayton worked in banking, bought, grew and sold a company, and was able to retire in his mid-30s. 

“My husband retired at a very early age and then after that, we decided we wanted to do something together because we had too much energy just to retire at such a young age,” she said. “We started the shops 40 years ago.” 

The Emmert family did lots of traveling and happened upon Bigfork and Whitefish about 30 years ago when they opened the Bigfork store. The shop’s name, S.M. Bradford, is further evidence of the family’s closeness. 

Emmert said she devised the name 41 years ago by combining her daughter’s initials, S.M. for Stephanie Michelle, and her son's name, Bradford.  

She said Brad is the guiding force for the businesses, his wife, Claudia, does most of the buying, and their son, Clayton, has been helping at the store every day during the reconstruction. Emmert’s daughter, Stephanie, is the buyer for the Bigfork store. 

“I did buy for all the stores, originally, but now I have retired,” Emmert said. "I still have a little input as far as giving opinions and such, but I don't really actively do anything for the business, but I really love being in the shops. 

“I just really love talking to people,” she said. “I enjoy their company, and I have a lot of good friends who've started as being customers, just by talking with them and finding out about them. It's fun.”

  

 Reconstruction of the S M Bradford store included new ceilings and lighting. (Photo provided)

    The newly restored interior of S.M. Bradford, with new floors and ceiling, looks just like the original store. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)