Honey Fly Company didn’t begin with a business plan.
It began with a question.
While spending weekends exploring Wyoming’s backroads in search of a family cabin, Jon and Lindsey Cox found themselves talking about the future. Their boys would eventually grow up. The schedules, sports, and constant activity that come with raising a family would slow down one day. What then?
“What are we going to do when the boys graduate?” Lindsey recalled asking.
Jon already had an answer.
“He wants to fish. Mine? I want to read.”
But another question quickly followed.
“What are we going to do together?”
The answer came unexpectedly.
“Let’s start a bug shop.”
Today, that simple conversation has evolved into Honey Fly Company, an ambitious family venture on Riverton’s Main Street that blends a fly shop, meadery, entertainment venue, art space, outdoor adventure experiences, and community gathering place into something difficult to define and easy to appreciate.
“We live in Riverton—a river town. A fishing town,” Lindsey wrote in a recent company blog. “And somehow, there wasn’t a single dedicated fly shop. That didn’t sit right with us.”
The idea lingered long enough to become reality.
In 2022, Jon found a building downtown and saw potential where others might have seen only work. The Cox family approached Jon’s parents about becoming partners, and together they purchased the property.
“The day we closed, he took the boys and me to see it,” Lindsey wrote. “What had been hiding on Main Street all this time wasn’t polished or pretty. It was raw, worn, layered with history. And somehow, we could all see it: the potential.”
That potential came with plenty of labor.
The family spent months tearing down walls, removing ceilings, and hauling away decades of debris. Five shipping containers were eventually filled as layers of the building’s history were uncovered. They found remnants of its past life as a car dealership, traces of Ships Tavern wallpaper, and forgotten pieces of Riverton’s history tucked behind walls and hidden in corners.
Eventually, the building was stripped down to its shell.
Then everything changed.
During a trip to Alaska for Jon’s 40th birthday, the couple wandered into a small establishment on a cold November day.
“It was a meadery,” Lindsey wrote.
While Lindsey had long enjoyed mead, the experience opened her eyes to new possibilities.
“I’ve always loved mead, but this was different. It was on tap. It was cold.”
Suddenly, the vision for Honey Fly Company expanded.
“At its core, it’s simple: you just need honey,” she wrote.
The couple reached out to Lindsey’s uncle, local beekeeper Mike Ibach, and another piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“‘Let’s make mead.’ Just like that, Honey Fly became more than a fly shop.”
Turning that vision into reality required more than enthusiasm.
The family applied for funding through Fremont County’s economic development program. Their first application was denied.
They refined the plan and applied again.
Denied.
Each application cycle stretched across months.
“What felt like a simple ‘yes’ turned into a year-long process of patience, persistence, and proving that this idea, our idea, was worth believing in,” Lindsey wrote.
In 2024, the answer finally changed.
The MOVE Committee, with support from Fremont County commissioners, approved $164,000 in funding for the project.
“We were ecstatic,” Lindsey wrote. “It was time to stop dreaming and start building.”
Construction accelerated. New plumbing was installed. An addition was built behind the building to house what would become The Hive, Honey Fly Company’s meadery.
But somewhere along the way, the project became much more than its founders originally envisioned.
Honey Fly Company grew into a reflection of the people behind it.
It’s Jon’s passion for fly fishing and Wyoming’s outdoor lifestyle.
It’s The Hive, where locally produced mead will be crafted and shared.
It’s Three Goatsmen, inspired by adventures in the mountains.
It’s Bee Flat Entertainment, bringing music and events to downtown Riverton.
It’s Honeyhole Studio, showcasing art and creativity.
It’s River Town Merch, celebrating local identity.
And perhaps most importantly, it’s intended to be a place where people gather.
“At its heart, Honey Fly isn’t just a business,” Lindsey wrote. “It’s a place.”
The family envisions hosting community events, live music, watch parties, and opportunities for people to connect.
“A place that keeps people coming back, not just for what it is, but for how it feels,” she wrote.
As Honey Fly Company prepares to welcome the public, Lindsey said the reality of what has been created is still sinking in.
“As Honey Fly gets ready to open its doors, I find myself overwhelmed in the most wonderful way,” she said. “Standing in this space, seeing what was once just a dream become a reality, I realize it has turned into something even greater than I ever imagined. Every corner represents years of hard work, faith, and hope, and it is more beautiful than I could have hoped for.”
What excites her most now, she said, is what comes next.
“The dream no longer lives in our imaginations. It’s real,” Lindsey said.
The response from the community has exceeded anything the family expected.
“We are deeply grateful and incredibly humbled by the love shown to Honey Fly,” she said. “We look forward to creating a place where people gather, connect, and make memories, and to bringing even more positivity and life to our downtown community.”
After all, Honey Fly Company was never meant to be just one thing.
It began as a conversation during a search for a family cabin. It became a fly shop, a meadery, an entertainment venue, and a gathering place. But at its heart, it remains exactly what Jon and Lindsey set out to build together:
A place where community comes first.
Honey Fly Company‘s grand opening celebration is scheduled for Saturday, June 20, at 708 E. Main Street in Riverton. The event will feature a 10 am ribbon cutting, live music throughout the day, local vendors, mead tasting, visits with baby goats from the Three Goatsmen crew, and an evening performance by Chris and Duffy of the Duffy Bishop Band. The event is designed to celebrate not only the launch of the business but the community that helped bring it to life.
