FOR SALE: Small Town Bar 40 Minutes from Billings Seems Like a Bargain

It's not uncommon for bars in Montana to be on the market, either officially, or quietly being shopped around. It's kind of like the old saying that everything is for sale for the right price, and the bar business is no different.

Some owners are retiring and others might be tired of the long hours usually required for small-town bar owners, who frequently wear multiple hats. The owner of your favorite local watering hole may also be the bartender, cook, server, busser, accountant, and maintenance man.

Read More: Cowboy Up. Iconic Montana Bar in Miles City is For Sale

The Two Bear Tavern in Fromberg, MT is on the market.

With bars in Montana's bigger cities easily hitting the million-dollar mark, you'll have to look at smaller communities for bar bargains. The quaint Two Bear Tavern in Fromberg is listed for $369,000. You can own this bar for less than the price of an average house in Billings.

Prime location on Highway 310.

Home of the Fromberg Falcons, Fromberg's population hovers around 400 people. The town would probably be much sleepier if it weren't for thousands of Wyoming travelers and tourists from Lovell and Cody coming to and from Billings or connecting with I-90 in Laurel. Some Fromberg residents happily trade the forty-minute commute to Billings for the slower pace of small-town living.

Perhaps if you purchase the Two Bear Tavern, you could lure some of those hungry travelers in with bar food specials. I'm envisioning a Wall Drug-style marketing campaign, with clever roadsigns beginning in Laurel and ending at the Wyoming border that say things like, "Hungry Travelers Trust Two Bear Burgers! 17 Miles Ahead!"

Fun Fact: Fromberg was once nicknamed the fruit basket of the region.

Fromberg was founded shortly after the nearby coal town of Gebo brought miners to the area. The arrival of the Northern Pacific railroad and a post office (in 1903) cemented the town's spot on Montana's map. It's a stone's throw from Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River.

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Reverand John Clark, an early Fromberg resident, is credited with planting the first orchard in town, spurring others to plant apple and fruit trees. This led to Fromberg being known as "the fruit basket" of south-central Montana. Nowadays, the area's economy remains mostly agriculture and tourism-related.

The Two Bear Tavern in Fromberg is listed by Todd Sherman at Coldwell Banker Commerical. Find more details and photos HERE.