The former Shopko at 3101 North Montana Avenue in Helena has been largely vacant since 2019. That’s seven years on one of Helena’s primary retail corridors.
That changes this year.
The building is being converted from a single-tenant space into six leasable units. Dunham’s Sports, a national chain with 250 locations across the country, has signed on as one of the tenants. The sporting goods retailer already operates in Billings and Havre, and a third Montana location opens in Kalispell within weeks.
Sterling Commercial Real Estate Advisors’, Connor McMahon, CCIM represents the building owner and worked with the ownership team to develop the redevelopment strategy.
Reconfiguring to Six Sites Instead of One
Finding a single national tenant to replace a big-box anchor isn’t the strategy it was in the past. The economics have shifted. Retailers run leaner footprints today, and that changes how owners have to think about vacant big-box space.
Subdividing into six units opens the tenant pool significantly. It brings in regional operators, service-oriented retailers, and national brands that want a Helena presence but don’t need a full big-box footprint to operate here. It also distributes risk. One tenant leaving doesn’t take the whole site with it.
What the Dunham’s Signing Means
Dunham’s runs every potential market through a site selection model: population density, traffic counts, trade area demographics, competitor mix, co-tenancy. This Helena site met their criteria.
When a 250-store retailer commits to a market, it’s a read on the underlying fundamentals: the population, income, and demand to support national retail at scale.
What Owners of Vacant Retail Space Should Take Away
Waiting for a single-tenant replacement to materialize is rarely the right call, and often the most expensive one. Every year a building sits dark, it depreciates in the market’s memory. Prospective tenants start asking questions about the area’s viability.
The Shopko redevelopment is a practical example of a different approach: adapt the building to match current demand, rather than waiting for demand to match the building as it exists. That takes capital, a clear leasing strategy, and the right broker relationships to fill the spaces.
If you own retail space in Montana and are evaluating your options, we’re happy to walk you through what the current market looks like and what your building’s realistic alternatives are.
