Inspiring Conversations with Lincoln Smith of Mountain Market

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lincoln Smith.

Hi Lincoln, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m an electrician who worked in the Denver area since 1996. We had friends in Grand Lake who we would visit several times a year. We fell in love with Grand Lake and dreamed of “someday” retiring and moving to the mountains. In 2019 I got promoted to an office job with my company that allowed me to work remotely three days a week. We decided that was a great time to make the move to Grand Lake. So for five years I commuted to Denver two days a week and worked remotely from Grand Lake the rest of the week. Our friends in Grand Lake owned Mountain Market before us, and when they decided to sell we jumped at the opportunity to own a business where we lived. No more commuting! It might seem odd that an electrician would shift careers to own a grocery store. But my entire career as an electrician was building, remodeling, and servicing grocery stores. I’ve worked in nearly every grocery store on the front range. I’m intimately familiar with grocery store buildings, systems, and infrastructure. Learning about grocery products has been a new fun challenge. We have really enjoyed becoming an essential part of the community in Grand Lake and serving our friends and neighbors.
I also serve on the Grand County Search and Rescue team. It might seem like that’s a separate activity from owning the Market, but I see them as intertwined. Owning the Market gives me time to participate in rescue missions. We never want our business to just be about making money. We want to give back to our community. Mountain Market has allowed us to make a life in Grand Lake and we want to show our gratitude to our community by supporting them however we can. My wife, Jenny, is also the local yoga teacher. So she gets to serve our community in a different way. On any given day we might see our customers in the store, at a yoga class, or on the trails. I’ve rescued my customers in the mountains and people I’ve rescued have become customers. It really makes for a vibrant, community oriented business.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think any business owner would describe it as a smooth road. But buying the business from friends who wanted to do everything in their power to see us succeed has certainly made an enormous difference. Our business is very heavily dependent on tourism. I tell people that I make all my money in the summer and lose it all in the winter. Grand Lake’s tourism is at least ten times busier in the summer than in the winter, so it’s challenging to watch the business bleed money in the slow season, just to stay open and serve the locals and the few tourists that come to town in the winter. I would say that the greatest struggle is finding reliable staff who can afford to live in a resort community year round. The grocery business is very labor intensive. It takes a lot of time to receive deliveries and restock shelves. We pay our staff well for a service industry, but Grand Lake is a very expensive place to live and it’s hard for employees to make ends meet. Plus, it’s a very small community. We have approximately 400 year round residents. Most of those are retired, so there is not a very large pool of people to attract to a service job.

As you know, we’re big fans of Mountain Market. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Mountain Market is in the very unique community of Grand Lake. Grand Lake has high-end vacation homes on the lake. Many of those homes have been passed down through families that have been coming to Grand Lake to “summer” for generations. Over the years, those same families have been coming to Mountain Market to stock up for their lake days. We also have customers that have chosen to live in Grand Lake because they enjoy living in the middle of nature. In the fall and winter we get a lot of hunters and snowmobilers, which is quite a different demographic than the summer crowd. We are the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park so we get tens of thousands of tourists passing through our community each summer. Those tourists come from all over the nation and the world, so our business touches nearly every demographic and socioeconomic customer possible. I take pride in the fact that our business is able to be part of a very special vacation experience for our customers. When a customer enters Mountain Market, they most likely have just been out for a hike, or backpacking, or boating or kayaking on the lakes. We have the privilege of interacting with them and being part of their memorable day. We are incredibly fortunate to have beautiful mountains and lakes in our backyard and we get to share them with visitors from around the world.

So with all that being said, we aren’t just selling food, we get to be part of someone’s vacation. And we take that seriously. We want the way we serve our customers to become a meaningful part of their trip, a story they’ll take home with them. There is a large national chain supermarket about 20 minutes away from our store. As a small, family owned and operated business we will never be able to compete with the bulk buying power and prices at a chain store. But what those stores can’t offer is what truly sets us apart. A corporation will never be a true friend and neighbor to their customers like we are. No one shares on social media about the special experience that they had at a big box store. But our customers regularly go out of their way to share a meaningful experience or special product that they found at Mountain Market. At Mountain Market, it’s the personal touches, local connections, and genuine care that create something unforgettable. We have the challenge of carrying products in a small space that will meet the needs of both the high-end second homeowners, the tourists from around the world, and the working class sportsmen that come to Grand Lake for hunting and fishing. I think that we do that well.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Not for work. Work already consumes so much of my life, that when I have time to pick up a book or listen to a podcast, I prefer to learn about things not related to work. Most of my books and podcasts are search and rescue related, or otherwise outdoor related. Living in Grand Lake is a dream come true. The business is a means to that end. So when I’m not at work, I’m enjoying the mountains in one way or another.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mountainmarketgl.com
• Instagram: mountainmarketgl
• Facebook: Mountain Market Grand Lake