Just two years ago, Marmots Acai owner Christine Rector didn’t know what a marmot was and her husband and co-owner, Mark, had never tried acai.
The purple berry is derived from a palm tree native to the Amazon rainforests and is often used to make smoothie-sorbet mixture for the base of a breakfast fruit bowl. And they became well acquainted with marmots once they moved to Ouray.
So this month the Rectors proudly launched their first business and Ouray’s first fruit bowl shop, Marmots Acai, at 460 Main St. The shop is currently open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday but they plan to be open all week starting May 1.
The new breakfast stop is the product of visiting more than 20 acai bowl shops, the Rectors said.
The couple decided it was important to sell acai of the highest caliber, so they worked hard to strike a deal with a distributor to bring the ingredient from South America all the way to Ouray.
“At the end of the day, we were like, we are going to have the best quality acai available,” Mark said.
The menu works as a build-ityourself buffet. Customers can choose between a medium and large bowl with a frozen base of acai, ube — a purple yam that has a sweet, nutty, vanilla taste – and mango or coconut. Overnight oats are an option for a warm base. Then people can choose from a selection of fruits, crunchy toppings like almonds and coconut shavings, all finished off with a squeeze of a nut butter, nutella, honey or agave.
They also plan to serve soups and bagels from Backstreet Bagel Company in Montrose.
The newlywed couple, who moved to the area from Salt Lake City, met a couple of months before Mark’s first encounter with acai. Christine recalled that even during their coffee shop meet-cute, Mark shared photos of and stories of Ouray, where he’d vacationed since he was a teenager. The two went on a first date the next day, and soon after, Christine convinced him to give Salt Lake City-based Rio Acai a shot.
His first taste of the cold treat planted a seed, and the two started chatting about dreams of a fresh start in Ouray and opening their own shop.
That was a little over two years ago now. Last summer during a weekend visit, everything came together.
They found a home for sale just around the corner from a newly available storefront next to the Wright Opera House, formerly Sweet Ouray candy shop.
They closed on both deals shortly after and got to work learning from other acai artisans.
A few months later, when Mark proposed during another trip to the area, a troop of marmots appeared to join in on the moment. Marmots were already an inside joke between the two of them after Christine first saw one in the area, not knowing what it was. At that point, they had their name and Christine enlisted one of her sons to create a logo.
With a new house and brand lined up, they decided it made sense to get married. They were set on tying the knot on their two-year anniversary, but the Ouray County Court judge wasn’t available that day. She let them know that if they really wanted to marry on that date, a pet can serve as a witness to a wedding in Colorado. So on the escarpment above Ridgway last November, their Yorkshire Terrier, Cooper, witnessed their marriage.
They’ve spent their first months as newlyweds moving in and gearing up for the opening.
Christine plans to retire from her job in insurance before the shop opens full time, becoming the shop CEO, but Mark will continue working remotely for a public safety company that designs 911 technology. He calls himself her executive assistant.
“We’re so excited for a new chapter, and just excited for the store to open,” Christine said.
