Situated in a corner shop on West Main Street, Mavens Market has become Bozeman’s one-stop cheese shop for all of the town’s foodies. Home to the largest selection of meats and cheeses in Montana, Mavens has over 100 types to choose from, along with a variety of other artisan products. Endless variety, paired with the option to sample cheeses means you’re sure to leave with a few goodies for your own cheeseboard. If you’re looking for someone else to design your cheeseboard, Mavens does that, too.

Attached to the market is a well-rounded cafe with a full espresso bar serving up breakfast sandwiches, grilled paninis, soups, salads, and wine. Here you can find tasty treats like the Carbonara Eggwich, the Montana Gold Grilled Cheese, a huckleberry mocha, a variety of fabulous flavors of gelato, and much more.

I sat down with co-owners Brie Thompson and Valerie Flammang over coffee in the cafe to discuss the inception of the market.

Taylor Owens: How was Mavens Market conceptualized?

Brie Thompson: Let’s see… Val and I actually met, like fifteen years ago, working at The Bay. Then she went on to manage The Bay for a really long time. And I went on to open Olivelle. Then we reconnected eleven or twelve years later. We were out for cocktails one time when we started talking about this dream of opening this cheese shop in Bozeman, because we felt Bozeman really needed a great cheese shop. Like a big city style cheese shop where you could taste the cheese. And then you could buy as much or as little as you wanted. Then we just started dreaming. And then she said, ‘Oh, my gosh, that corner unit that used to be Country Flower is now available for lease. We should get serious about this.’ Then it happened, and we made a phone call the next day. We were like, ‘Okay, we’re opening our cheese shop.’ We both have a lot of experience in the food industry. So we’re both very familiar with different quality foods and different suppliers, the niche, and knew what we were hoping to create. Because of that, I’d say it was somewhat easy. I’d say the concept we had has changed a lot though, because, when we started, we were adamant that we didn’t want to open a restaurant. We just wanted to have a market. Then customers kept coming in asking for food, and asking for more. So we slowly added sandwiches, and then when COVID hit, we really added sandwiches. Now we do a lot of sandwiches. A lot of paninis, gelato, coffee, cheese, and wine. We also have a Montana winery license. We actually source wine from different growers all over California and Washington. Then we bring it in, we bottle it, and we label it with artwork from local artists.

TO: Do you serve wine in the cafe, as well?

BT: Yep. People can come in and get a glass of wine with their panini. During the summers, we do wine slushes. So you can also get a wine slushie.

TO: What would you like people to experience when they walk through your doors?

BT: That’s a good question. That’s a really good question. I want people to feel welcome. But I want them to be overwhelmed—happily overwhelmed, with new experiences, new flavors and new tastes.

Valerie Flammang: Yeah, I mean, with such a large selection of cheese that we have, we want them to step out of their comfort zone a little bit and try something new and try something that they normally wouldn’t even think of; you know, like all the different bries and soft cheeses. We have a ton of bleu cheeses. You know, a lot of bleu cheese scares people. Just trying new things and being adventurous.

BT: I think when someone walks in here, we want them to kind of feel like they’re maybe in Europe or in a different place, too. They’re still in Bozeman, but they’re getting to experience the rest of the world right here at home.

TO: What do regulars keep coming back for?

BT: Oh, yeah, definitely. We have our regulars and our regular top items. Our Turkey and Avocado PLT sandwich is without a doubt our number one, as well as our Montana Gold, which is a grilled cheese with our tomato Gouda bisque. Our Montana Gold and our tomato Gouda bisque are like our number one thing we’re known for. On the market side, all the triple cremes and all the fresh, French cheeses are very popular.

VF: There are a couple of Gouda cheeses we carry that are popular. And one thing that’s great here, too, is that we have a customer loyalty program. So people come in and we will track everything that they purchase. So they don’t need to remember the name of certain cheeses. We will keep track of all of that for each customer. So a lot of people will come back and be like, ‘I need that cheese that I had.’ So that’s really helpful that we have that.

TO: Do both of you have favorite menu items?

BT: Yes, but we rotate all the time. We’re constantly just trying new sandwiches, and we’re like, ‘oh my gosh, I forgot how great that one was.’ So cheeses, too. I mean, I come and grab cheeses frequently, and we do meat and cheese night at home for every Friday night for dinner. I have a nine- and an eleven-year old, and they’re constantly trying different things. But for favorite cheeses, I’m definitely a triple creme person. My name is Brie, so it fits, but truffle Gouda is also one of my favorites.

VF: The Humboldt Fog is one of my favorites. And the Saint Angel Triple Creme is a go-to for me. And the Cremeux De Bourgogne, which is a French triple creme. I love that one. I love the variety. I think the cool thing is that you can get small amounts of a lot of different things. So even just picking and pulling different cheese every time and then trying them I think is what makes it so much fun. You can’t go wrong. It’s just a matter of trying something new.

TO: What would you say makes you unique in the local food scene?

BT: I think first and foremost it is just the biggest selection of cheeses, for sure. And then the fact that we let people taste before they purchase. Ultimately, we want to make sure someone likes something before they take it home. We don’t want to just sell you stuff to sell you stuff. We want to make sure you’re enjoying your experience. And enjoying what you’re about to purchase. Yeah, we work really hard to bring in new and unique things, not something you’re gonna get everywhere else. And then to offer that in a way that’s also unique. We think about our customer and think about what a customer would enjoy.

VF: We love to get customer feedback. So we’ll have some customers come in and request certain cheeses or items and then we’ll just get their name and phone number. We’ll jot it down and then we’ll do our best to find it. We brought in multiple products that we originally didn’t even carry. I think just having that relationship with the customer and finding the products that they’re searching for by bringing them into the store sets us apart from other places, as well.

BT: It’s not some big corporate chain, so we have more flexibility.

TO: What do you personally enjoy most about being part of the greater Bozeman community?

BT: I mean, I’ve grown up here. So this is just my home. I think it’s been fascinating to watch Bozeman growing like it has, though. And then knowing that we’re offering something that the local Bozemanites and the people that are moving here and traveling here can all appreciate to that same level. Bozeman is just home.

VF: I’m originally from Minnesota. So I moved here in 2002, I want to say it was. But even just with our business here of having customers coming in, and just the excitement that everyone sees, and even people who still live in Bozeman and who have never been here to see us yet. They’ll be like, ‘how long have you been here’? That excites me, you know, being in Bozeman and that people are just so excited. And you know, to experience new things. That’s kind of what keeps me going and excited to do new things and to try new things and keep doing what we do.

TO: Do you have anything coming up that you would like readers to know about?

BT: We have a lemonade slush that’s very popular. It’s made with fresh lemon juice and cane sugar, and it’s frozen and delicious and cool. But then the adult version is our wine slush, which people just love. I mean, it’s like a whole glass of wine in a Capri Sun bag; it tastes like an otter pop. It’s pretty delicious. We just opened our second location in the Billings Bozeman Clinic. So we now have a cafe in the Billings Clinic. That just opened a week-and-a-half ago. We’ve been working really hard to get that all put together.

Check out Mavens Market this summer for delicious cheeses, meats, and treats from a local cafe and market right here in Bozeman.