The Tuttle Community Store
Tuttle is located in Kidder County in central North Dakota. The town is small (60 people in the 2020 census) but the community came together to own and operate a grocery store so the town wouldn’t lose that vital service. Through regular business and donations the Tuttle Community Store has managed to stay open, however their distributor, Henry’s Foods, has decided that they no longer wish to do business with such a small store and will end deliveries on April 1, 2023. The future of the store is unknown, without a distributor there’s no way to stay open.
The Tuttle Community Store
The Town Cafe and grain elevator in Tuttle
Doreen Holm manages the store and has said a Dollar General that opened in Steele, about 20 miles south of Tuttle, has hurt the already struggling store. “If Dollar General offered franchises we’d probably try to do that here, but they own their own stores so that isn’t possible.” Steele also has a dedicated grocery store, otherwise the next nearest store is in Harvey, about 50 miles away, or Bismarck, 60 miles away.
The US Post Office shares the same building as the store
A former food cooler case has been transformed into a little library where community members create their own library by donating books
“Help your store, buy clearance”
The same distributor is also cutting ties with a small store in Hurdsfield, about 20 miles to the north of Tuttle. “We just don’t know what’s going to happen, this may be it,” said Ms. Holm. “They only want the big guys to stay around.”
Heavy snow has pushed a herd of deer into Tuttle where they scavenge for spilled grain around the elevator
The Tuttle Community Store faces an uncertain future. The town held a meeting on March 22 to try and find a solution. Tuttle has already lost its railroad and school, however there is a bright spot in town. The Tuttle Rural Innovation Center bought the closed school and is working to transform it into a community center to house businesses and local craftsmen.