New grocery store coming to Ekalaka

Buck and Toni Kratzer have long discussed owning and operating a grocery store in Ekalaka.

The couple moved to Ekalaka from Eureka in 2012. Together with their three young daughters Kira (9), Daisey (7) and Loraina (2), they currently operate Kratzer Construction and the Midway Motel. Early in 2020, they started to spend more time planning and designing a store, and last fall construction began on Ijkalaka Grocery.

"We wanted to bring some history into it," Toni Kratzer said about the name of the Main Street store that they hope to open sometime early this summer.

The spelling of the store name, "Ijkalaka," refers to the town's namesake, Ijkalaka Russell, a native Sioux who was the wife of David Harrison Russell, the first white settler in the area. When Ijkalaka met Russell, a scout and frontiersman, she was 16. The daughter of Wombalee We-Chosh (Eagle Man) Ijkalaka (Restless or Moving About) was born in 1858, living on Powder River.

Kratzer said they considered a few names before settling on something that their family and friends throughout the community liked and appreciated. The name seems to fit perfectly.

"We decided to do this because it's a good opportunity and a good way to help out the community," she said about their decision to build a new store.

The opening date is not set in stone, Kratzer explained, because some supplies have been delayed due to COVID shutdowns. Even with those delays slowing construction and ordering, she is hopeful of that early summer opening.

Ijkalaka Grocery will be a member of Associated Food Stores, a retailers cooperative that supplies about 500 independently owned retail supermarkets throughout Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Nevada and Wyoming.

"If there is anything that people would like us to carry, they can let us know," Kratzer said about what the store will have in stock. "We will work with the community to try to get in what they are wanting."

The store is located in the middle of Main Street where the concrete slab and hoop building previously used for dances and various other events sat, between the Old Stand and Buckhorn bars. Kratzer Construction is, of course, the main contractor for the project, but the couple has called in subcontractors for plumbing, electrical and other aspects of the build.

The footprint of the building is quite ample for a grocery store. The structure measures an impressive 56 feet wide by 116 feet long. The back portion will be storage, a meat cutting room and offices. Total shopping area for the store is approximately 5,200 square feet.

Ijkalaka Grocery will also include a deli with grab-and-go items like fried foods and cold sandwiches, and a full walk-in beer cave. There will be two check stands located at the front of the store.

Hours of operation for the store will be 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days per week.

"We'll start looking for help towards the end of April," Kratzer said about staffing the store prior to its opening. "Anyone interested can feel free to call me for details." Her number is (406) 853-1428.

Kratzer is placing the order for the technical systems this week and expects that Associated staff will arrive in about four weeks to set all of the systems up. Their is plenty of work to do in the meantime, though, including finishing the front of the newest addition to "Ijkalaka's" main street.