Helena Hallmark Owner Dave Simkins Sells Shop After 50 Years

Dave Simkins sold Leslie's Hallmark and Montana Shop at 1609 11th Avenue, ending a nearly 50-year run that once stretched to 12 Hallmark franchise locations across Montana. The sale to Winnie's Hallmark took effect April 1, closing a chapter for one of Helena's most deeply embedded independent retailers.

The transaction marks the final piece of a years-long wind-down. Simkins had been selling off his other locations in Billings, Bozeman, and Great Falls as their leases expired. After turning 70, he said, he knew the Helena store was next. At its peak, his family-run operation represented one of the larger single-owner Hallmark portfolios in the state.

For longtime shoppers, the more pressing question is continuity. Winnie's Hallmark confirmed the store will remain inside the Hallmark franchise system, and Simkins said the handoff was designed to be seamless. "It's gonna be a nice transition," he said. "Smooth, and it should look the same the day after April 1st as it does today." What the new ownership plans for staffing levels, community partnerships, and product mix beyond that assurance has not been disclosed.

Last Friday, friends, former employees, and residents who have known Simkins since childhood gathered at the store to say goodbye. Scott Brown, who has known Simkins since the 1950s, put the store's place in Helena bluntly: "Everybody in town knows Dave, and they love to come to his store." Twelve-year employee Melodi Crowe offered a more personal measure: "He is probably the best boss I've ever had." Simkins described the shop the same way he ran it. "It's all family, and our customer base is family," he said. "The people that work here, same."

Simkins' footprint extended well beyond card sales. The store backed the Last Chance Tour Train, the Humane Society, Helena's fire tower renovation, and Montana gift producers. "Giving back is very important," he said. "You know the community has given so much to us over the years, that it's only natural that giving back is a big deal."

The store's own path reflects broader pressures on Helena retail. Simkins relocated Leslie's Hallmark from the mall to the Capitol district after the mall shed tenants for years and the bank holding the property declined to discuss lease stability. Each January, he said, purchasing Christmas inventory was "a leap of faith" that the store would survive to December. The 11th Avenue location, about 1,500 square feet larger than his two mall spaces, proved a more durable footing.

Whether Winnie's Hallmark maintains the civic partnerships and employee culture Simkins built will be the real measure of the transition, and Helena will have an answer quickly. Brown put it simply: "I look forward to seeing him for a long time around Helena.