Grocery stores to reopen in 3 small South Dakota towns

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) - Three abruptly-closed grocery stores are returning to three small South Dakota communities.

Wagner grocer RF Buche said that the stores in Scotland, Tripp and Tyndall are expected to reopen by mid- to late April, the Yankton Press & Dakotan reported (https://bit.ly/2oc7NQ2 ).

“All three stores will open sometime after Easter,” Buche said. “The stores will have all of the departments that they had in the past. They’ll have the groceries, frozen foods, dairy, meat products and produce. It’ll even have some dollar items.”

The stores have been closed for over a week, and shoppers have had to get groceries in neighboring towns, which are at least 10 miles away.

Buche said the reopened stores will feature a new look and format called “Cash Smart,” where store products will be marked at cost, and then 10 percent of that price is calculated at the register.

“There’s nothing really like it in the Midwest. It’s kind of like an associate wholesaler,” he said. “You have the cost plus the additional 10 percent.”

Buche is hoping the format change will help keep down expenses.

“It’s about efficiency and selling groceries at the right prices,” he said. “This will help to make it possible to have a grocery store in each of these towns.”

Mark and Pam Mora had leased all three stores from Buche since May, but closed them for good after March 18. They did not provide the newspaper a comment.

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Information from: Yankton Press and Dakotan, https://www.yankton.net/