Dozens of local Montana businesses closed or adjusted their operations Friday as part of a loosely organized national protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The protests are part of a “no work, no school, no shopping” strike that activists pushed for nationally in order to pressure ICE over aggressive tactics it and other federal agencies have used in Minneapolis and elsewhere since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year.
“We are stepping away from business as usual to stand with those who are being harmed by systems rooted in fear, racism, and violence,” Noteworthy Paper and Press, a Missoula stationary store, wrote on Facebook. “We’re choosing solidarity over sales, care over convenience, and people over profit.”
Protesting businesses were concentrated in Missoula, Helena, Livingston and Bozeman, according to social media posts reviewed by Montana Free Press, with fewer participants in Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell and smaller Montana communities.
Some establishments offered messages of solidarity online, but said they were unable to close their doors for a day. Helena’s Sunflower Bakery wrote on Instagram that, though it supported the strike, it would be open on Friday.
“Sourdough is a process that takes days in the planning and execution, and to shut down for one day impacts three days of work, leading to lost income and food waste we can’t justify at the moment,” the post read.
Rihanna Thomas, owner of Bozeman-based Big Sky Fertility and Wellness, said on Facebook that she supported the movement but intended to work.
“Today I’ll be working. Not because I don’t care — but because I do,” Thomas wrote. “I fully support immigrant communities and stand against ICE and fascism. I also run a small business, I’m a mom, and I don’t have the luxury of unpaid days off — just like many of the women I serve.
More than two dozen Missoula businesses were named as participating in the strike in a document circulated on social media, including many within the downtown area. About 18 of those were listed as “closed in solidarity.” Others were described as open to the public but not conducting business or open for business while pledging a portion of their proceeds to related charities.
Clyde Coffee, which operates a location at the Missoula Public Library and another on Higgins Ave., posted on Facebook that it would participate in the strike by halting sales Friday while leaving its spaces open as a community gathering space.
In Great Falls, Hi-Line Climbing Center announced it would be closed.
“We support the people of Minnesota in their quest for fair and equitable governance,” the business wrote online.
Two other Great Falls businesses, Cassiopeia Books and Luna Coffee, said the decision to remain open was a result of pragmatic assessments of the community’s needs.
Millie Whalen, who owns Cassiopeia Books, said she supported the strike and would have participated, but chose to keep the store open because she only learned about the movement the day before. She thought closing on short notice would disrupt the shopping plans of her out-of-town customers.
“The problem is I get a lot of people who come in from Choteau and Augusta to do their weekly shopping here, and they don’t come back for another month,” Whalen said.
Matt Pipinich, who was born and raised in Great Falls and works as the managing owner of Luna Coffee, said in a Friday interview that he chose to remain open because his business serves as an inclusive community space for minority and marginalized communities. He highlighted that is relatively rare in Great Falls and noted the local LGBTQ Center announced on Friday that it was permanently closing.
“We weren’t going to sacrifice our local community for something that might have had a marginal impact,” Pipinich said. “I don’t want to belittle anything, but the work we do outside of being a business, the work we do to support our community, is reliant on our being open.”
Pininich believes more impactful political action would require businesses and community members coordinating an intentional, local campaign. That didn’t happen ahead of Friday.
“When I tried to reach out to other businesses in our network, they hadn’t even seen that it was going to be a thing today,” Pipinich said.
In Livingston, Creative Reuse Montana, a second-hand craft store, said on Facebook that it would open its space for a pay-what-you-can-donation session on Friday.
“We believe in the power of community resources and collective creativity,” the business wrote. “Call your senators. Call your representatives.”
Bozeman’s Country Bookshelf said on Facebook it will remain open “with no expectation of sales.”
“If you need a welcoming space to sit, read, make signs, write to your senators, or simply connect, we will be here with free coffee and donuts (while supplies last) and community (unending supply),” the business wrote online.
The store plans to donate 10% of Friday sales to the National Immigration Project.
In Helena, downtown coffee shop Montago Coffee Co. announced it would be open for business on Friday, but that all proceeds will go to the legal fund of Roberto Orozco-Ramirez, a Mexican citizen and diesel repair shop owner arrested in northeast Montana’s Froid earlier this month.
“We really struggled with the decision in how we should support the national ICE OUT protests that feels right to us and have decided to keep our doors open to the community,” Montago said in its post. “We love having a safe space for community discourse and want to provide that to those who want it.”
This story was updated Jan. 30, 2026 to include statements from additional businesses.
