‘The Occidental General Store’ breathes new life into small South Dakota town

ISABEL, S.D. (KFYR) – Isabel, S.D., might not be the middle of nowhere, but it’s pretty close.

The town of around 130 residents is about 135 miles from Bismarck and 175 miles from Rapid City.

There are a few small towns that are a little closer, but even those are at least 20 miles away.

But there is good news for residents of this small South Dakota town, and it all starts at the local grocery store.

Loading groceries has become Ryan Maher’s regular Monday and Thursday morning routine. On those days, he’s up early to pick up groceries from the Timber Lake grocery store.

“We haul groceries in rain, snow. The other day it was 107, and we’ve done it when it’s 20 below,” he said.

He hauls them 20 miles down the road to his grocery store in Isabel.

“I’m too small and I can’t meet the minimum requirements. We’re a long ways from everywhere,” Maher said with a laugh.

But ‘The Occidental General Store’ has quickly become the center of this community.

“I think the best part is it’s a place where people come in, say hi and have fun and visit,” said Deb Bunn, the store’s lone full-time employee.

“I like grocery store work,” she said.

She’s been here since the store opened two years ago.

That was a day Maher wasn’t sure would ever happen.

“I bought the biggest piece of junk,” he laughed. “The roof was leaky and the floors were rotten.”

But the lifelong Isabel resident was determined to restore the 1914 building and breathe new life into his hometown.

For regular customers like Keri Swift, having a well-stocked store just down the street has made life a little easier.

“It’s nice when I need to do big shopping or a little shopping where I just need a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk,” said Swift.

It seems The Occidental is exactly what this community needed.

“That’s why this has been successful. Because we are so far removed from the Walmarts and the Sam’s Clubs and the Costcos,” said Maher. “If Walmart was just 20 miles down the road, this wouldn’t work.”

That makes this middle-of-nowhere location the very key to its success.

The Occidental is open seven days a week. Maher depends on several part-time employees to maintain that schedule. He said being open every day has been crucial to the store’s success.

And it’s brought in many tourists on their way to the Black Hills, looking for a place to stop. He said he gets lots of customers from Bismarck but has had people from as far away as London, France, the Netherlands and Amsterdam shop at his store.

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