RED LODGE — Red Lodge businesses are celebrating a summer that was disaster-free and filled with tourists after multiple years of the opposite.
From 2020 to 2023, the community has had anything but a normal year, with three separate disasters hurting local businesses.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down many businesses and scared visitors away from traveling. In 2021, it was the Robertson Draw fire — which forced much of the community to evacuate — and in 2022,it was the historic floodsthat devastated much of the region and shut down Yellowstone National Park entrances. In 2023, much of town was still picking up the pieces after the flooding.
For Market 5555 owner Jody Ronning, 2020 wasn't the easiest year to open her shop.
"We started this, and I quit my job right during COVID," Ronning said Tuesday afternoon. "We started questioning that decision a little bit. That summer was tough. A lot of turmoil and a lot of uncertainty."
The pandemic proved to only be the beginning of a stressful time for Ronning.
"The next year we had the fire where Mount Maurice burned down and they evacuated town," Ronning said. "Then of course, 2022 was the floods, so it wasn't the easiest three summers."
Suddenly, Ronning's business was three years old and struggling.
"Your first five years in a business kind of is a make or break and when three of those years are so uncertain and so awful, you know, you really do kind of rethink your choices," Ronning said.
And Ronning wasn't alone. Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce Director Sherry Weamer said that many businesses have felt the loss of consistent tourism these past few summers.
"The businesses and the community depend on our visitors," Weamer said Tuesday morning. "There's no way we could have all the great restaurants and other shops we do downtown without them."
This year, Mother Nature had this mountain town's back. The Beartooth Pass closed for the season Tuesday morning, after a stretch of never making it into October. The pass is an iconic roads that draws thousands of tourists to Red Lodge during the period it's open.
"Typically, there's a storm that comes in and closes it down a little early," Weamer said. "But we were so lucky this year. Every day was kind of a bonus."
And with the iconic road open all summer, Ronning said her business felt the boost.
"This is what a real summer is supposed to look like," Ronning said. "It was much better sales than we'd had the prior three summers."
It's a big relief for many businesses — who are now hoping for snowfall and a great ski season.
"I would not be here without the tourists," Ronning said. "I really wouldn't be, and they were great this year."
