BUTTE — Butte’s iconic M&M Bar and Café was destroyed by fire on May 7th. The owner, Selina Pankovich, plans to rebuild, and many people in the community are working to help with the effort.
One of those working to help is 5518 Designs, whose staff have finally caught up with pre-orders and expanded their operations to meet high demand, as the number of orders has surged to support of rebuilding the M&M Bar.
"The sales have been going amazingly; I’ve been blown away. I hope Selina feels the encouragement and support of this community, I really hope she does," said Jon Wick, owner of 5518 Designs. Sales have reached 25 states and even other countries.
With so many orders to pack and ship, Wick ran out of room in his store, so he decided to expand: "I talked to J.J. [Adams], the owner of the Finlen Hotel, and he has been generous enough to lend the Treasure State Ballroom within the hotel. He lent us that space, just gave it to us so that we can organize all these items." Wick said.
Adams said it was the least he could do to help bring back the M&M bar. "To lose such an important and iconic building when that’s the thing that makes uptown so magical is the historic buildings right? And it’s just—it's very very difficult to have that loss in our community and anyway we’re just thrilled that we could do anything to help."
5518 Designs has sold 1269 t-shirts, 799 hoodies, and more than 600 stickers. They have so far raised more than $30,000 in support of rebuilding the M&M bar.
"We’re all caught up with the pre-orders so we are now kind of shifting into selling these items directly out of the store," Wick said.
Pankovich knows it’s going to take a lot of hard work and money to rebuild: “It is going to take some grant money, some fundraising, the insurance money, and my own personal investment back into the building and more financing, but it’s something I’m willing to do and I’ll do whatever I can to make it happen,” she said.
Pankovich says is very grateful for all the support she’s received from the community.
Click here to visit the "M&M Collection" on the 5518 website.
NOTE: 5518 Designs initially said $70,000 had been raised; they have now revised that estimate to $30,000.
