BELLE FOURCHE—Sometimes when things fall into place, you have to believe it is meant to be. That is the case for the newest store to open in Belle Fourche, The Homestead Store. “I don’t really remember making specific plans. Both of us just feel like God opened doors and made this to where we couldn’t not do it, He made it so easy, I don’t have any other answers for it—it’s pretty amazing,” explained Bridget Howell Johnson, Co-owner. The business opened its doors on May 1.
The Homestead Store has found its calling in curating products that are from handcrafted artisans and locally sourced products with a focus on clean food. “No preservatives, hormone free, just getting right back to the basics of the product line and keeping it local,” explained Michelle Hafer, Co-owner. “So it’s very community driven, instead of people having to drive to Rapid or buy it offline or go to Spearfish, it’s just basically keeping everything in Belle Fourche and keeping a good, clean product, right back to the basics.”
Johnson added, “It was really important to us that it was local and or handmade, small batch stuff—we don’t want stuff that’s large scale—family businesses, that is pretty important.”
While Johnson and Hafer only met in December of 2024, the two have become fast friends with a mission. “I reached out back in December, we sat and talked for five hours! Bridget and I just kind of kept talking and talking and we both have the same vision,” explained Hafer. “I was working full time in an industry for over 31 years and when we decided to do this, I was like—all right, I’ll retire from that, she (Bridget) sold a horse and here we are!”
Johnson was also in a position looking for new direction. “I quit my full time job of five years in December, and about a week later, she called me and wanted to visit about buying meat from us—beef and pork for her meals—and it felt like God was opening the door with that,” she said.
Once the decision was made to open the business, the duo was off and running, each with their own strengths. “Things have happened fast and I’m very thankful to Michelle, making all the phone calls and doing all the State stuff. I can handle the vendors, but when it comes to paperwork, it’s not my thing, that’s her, she’s the technical side of things,” explained Johnson.
The name of the business and the items inside all harken back to a time from the past, when things were made at home and traded with neighbors, but with a more modern twist. “We have stuff that you would have had on the homestead—or maybe a modern day homestead—handmade, homemade stuff, using resources that are available to you when you’re raising your own animals, is what we were going for,” said Johnson.
May 1 was a soft opening for The Homestead Store—a chance to invite friends and family in and
get their opinions on the store and products and of course practice with the new POS system. “This is new to us, we are learning a whole new industry,” said Hafer. “I don’t know if you ever feel completely ready, but we were at the point where we thought that, you know, we just need to open and bring what we have to the community right now.”
The soft opening found the business busy throughout the entire day. Customers, friends and family stopped to check out the offerings. Janet Prettyman and Irene Beard travelled from Hot Springs to visit the store. “We came specifically to see this store, it’s a lovely, lovely store! We spent $200 this morning and then came back and made another purchase,” shared Beard.
The store is officially open Wednesday through Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and can be found at 1853 5th Avenue, Belle Fourche. Hafer added, “If there are other vendors out there that want to participate, we’d love to have them contact us and see if we can get them in here and if it’s a good fit.”
There is a wide variety of products, whether you are looking for bison, beef, pork or lamb, or perhaps cheese, low and slow pasteurized milk, eggs, dye-free, non-toxic snacks, gluten free baked goods, The Homestead Store has you covered. “We offer artificial dye-free and just natural products, healthy, good, locally sourced meat. You can buy pieces and parts if you don’t have the space for a half of beef or quarter beef. You can come in here and buy hamburger and you know where it’s coming from. I’m a big believer in knowing where your food comes from,” said Johnson.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
