Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Watts.
Hi Jenny, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I have loved the Kamas Valley for as long as I can remember. My great-grandfather instilled this love at a very young age by having horses saddled up, tubing hills packed down, and trails ready to ride at the Pines Ranch. He helped homestead the ranch and cared for it during his life. My fondest childhood memories are all with my grandpa on the Pines Ranch.
We purchased Bolt Ranch a few years ago and wanted to find a way to get involved in the community. One Saturday afternoon, my husband and I were driving down Main Street in Kamas and saw that the country store was for sale.
We called and set up an appointment to see the shop, we loved it and felt like this was our next path in life. Soon after we had the shop. Luckily the manager who had run the shop for the previous 19 years was willing to stay on with us and show us the ropes. My daughter and I get to work together every day to fill the shop with everything we love.
Having a shop in Kamas has given us a lot of opportunities to be involved in the community.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Owning a retail shop definitely has its challenges. The supply chain early on was our biggest challenge. However, now our biggest challenge is our nearly 100-year-old building.
The benefit of our old building which needs a lot of repairs is that we have been able to meet a lot of great people in the Valley that have been able to help us with repairs.
As you know, we’re big fans of Bolt Ranch Store. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Bolt Ranch Store is a place where people can shop for clothing (men’s, women’s, kid’s), boots, hats, horse tack, home goods, and gifts. We carefully curate our shop, with items that we really love and use. Not everything is Western in our shop, there is definitely something for everyone.
We have partnered with J.W. Custom Hats in Salt Lake, and have their blank hats in our shop ready to be customized by our in-house hat shaper, Carson Armstrong. We also love personalizing hatbands and branding hats to fit the customers’ needs.
In the basement of our shop, we have a women’s boutique that features a variety of dresses, clothing, and local artists. My daughter Abby, who went to floral design school in London, runs her fresh flower business down there. She specializes in event floral installations, and weddings and provides arrangements for all of the big holidays and sells them in her shop.
We want all of our customers to have a great experience in our shop! We feel like most people are shopping online these days. If someone is taking the time to come into our shop we want them to feel like they are being helped.
My dog Walter (Bernese Mountain dog) comes with me to work every day and is now our official greeter. He loves meeting all of our customers, especially the kids. Our shop has an online store, www.boltranchstore.com, we also share our experiences on the ranch and our new products on our social accounts @boltranchstore. We are really excited this year because the Oakley Rodeo will now be brought to you by Bolt Ranch Store. Look for our shop trailer around at various rodeos around Utah.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
The community has been fantastic up here! We have loved meeting so many people and appreciate all of the support.
I also feel so grateful for everyone that works at the shop. I never could do this by myself. Our team all gets along so well, and we have so much fun together.
Recently we have had fun realizing that most of us are cousins somewhere up the tree. Lastly, my husband has been very supportive of this business. He loves the shop and loves selling boots on Saturdays.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.boltranchstore.com
- Instagram: @boltranchstore
- Facebook: @boltranchstore
Image Credits
Michale Kunde, Abby Watts, and Hudson Randle
