Not long ago, Christopher Pope's toy store existed only in a management thesis he wrote at Yale. Pope himself was in the thick of corporate life in Washington, D.C.
Today, the Great Rocky Mountain Toy Co. is a magnet on Main Street. Even people who haven't a child to shop for vist the store where a train chugs constantly around a track suspended from the ceiling, and the lifesize cutout of a bear reaches toward dancing neon stars.Pope and his wife, Maddy, are the shopkeepers. They gave up their Washington jobs and moved to Bozeman in 1991.
"I think we had a rich and happy life in Washington," said Pope, 40. "But we saw this little window open up, and I guess we wanted to shake the tree a bit."
The toy store is a world apart from their old jobs, his with an Amoco subsidiary and hers with the Trust for Public Land.
Many of the toys are designed to educate as well as entertain, and the inventory includes classics rarely found in the toy departments of discount chains. Wooden rocking horses with soft manes peer down from aerial perches, and furniture of unpainted maple occupies a dollhouse awaiting a buyer.
The stock also includes some things that tie in with the outdoor life of the northern Rockies. A small tent, for example, is just right for dolls or teddy bears.
Outdoor recreation, clean air, scenery and low crime commonly come up when people talk about moving to Montana. But Pope emphasizes the opportunity for community involvement when he talks about the decision to come here.
"What we didn't have in Washington was the opportunity to be as engaged in the community as we are here," he said. "A lot of people have come here with an interest in getting involved, not to escape."
He also likes this area of 28,660 residents as a place for his two children, one of them born here.
Pope is quick to add he and his wife didn't get a laid-back life when they swapped Washington for Bozeman.
The toy store is open every day, and he figures that between the two of them, they put in 100 hours a week. That has been necessary even with a good staff, he said.
The store began with a Small Business Administration loan, and the Popes have other debt after leaving the security of corporate salaries and benefits.
But the fresh life is worth the debt and the uncertainties of operating a new business in a new place, Pope said. He no longer has to make frequent business trips, and it is easy to get two hours away so he can have lunch with his daughter and go to her gymnastics class.
"I can be at her school in five minutes," he said. "In Washington, it takes half an hour to get anywhere."