Retail on a Rural Reservation

Poplar, Montana defines the word rural. Located in the northeastern-most corner of the state on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, home to Assiniboine, Sioux, and several other tribal nations, fewer than 1,000 people live in this community. Poplar is almost 200 miles from the nearest Montana city with a population more than 10,000, so residents visit Williston, North Dakota, for services and shopping. The unemployment rate on the reservation is conservatively estimated at twice the Montana rate and may be as high as 75%.

Despite Poplar’s unemployment rate, Deloris Red Eagle had several wage-paying jobs over the years, including positions as a secretary, parts assembler, and nurse’s assistant. She was tired of working for bosses with “difficult personalities.” At the time she accessed the Careers through Partnerships Project, she had been unemployed for close to three years. Deloris realized she wanted to pursue self-employment. She had always been interested in going to garage sales and getting great deals—now she applied that interest to a business: Red Eagle Second Hand Store.

Years before, her husband had purchased an older building in the downtown area of Poplar. She considered using the building for her store, but Deloris needed startup capital to buy a cash register, inventory, and money for some building improvements. She was in a position to offer sweat equity, but there were few other resources she could take advantage of in Poplar. Initially “no one wanted to help, or take a chance on me. I did not have a lot of collateral and little credit.” Deloris first contacted Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation, several banks, and small business assistance groups. Later she discovered the resource that eventually helped her—the Montana Job Training Partnership (MJTP) and the Rural Institute with the Careers Project. The Careers Project, a U.S. Department of Labor disability demonstration project, provided a small grant of $2,400 that allowed her to purchase price tags, signs, an accessible ramp for the building, and paid for vocational services including instruction in business bookkeeping.

a small grant of $2,400 that allowed her to purchase price tags, signs, an accessible ramp for the building, and paid for vocational services including instruction in business bookkeeping

Red Eagle Second Hand Store has been in operation since November 1999. Deloris explains, “I have not been able to get rich from it, but it has been self-sustaining.” Recently Deloris was able to reinvest some of her profits into aluminum siding for the front of the store, which she says “really made a world of difference” to the building’s appearance.

As with most business startups, the first few months were critical. Deloris had planned her business well and had found some creative ways of finding inventory. “Occasionally we get donations, but most of the time we go out and buy items at garage or estate sales.” Some of the items Red Eagle Second Hand Store has for sale are washers and driers, small appliances, TVs, VCRs, and clothing. She worked hard to come up with a bookkeeping system that would track her inventory.

Deloris could not predict what occurred in December of 2000. Shortly after Red Eagle Second Hand Store opened its doors for business, someone broke into the store, stole some items, and left the door open during a particularly cold night. The pipes froze, flooding the basement and causing significant damage to her inventory, not to mention to the building itself. Shortly thereafter she invested in heavy metal screens to go over the windows. “No one has broken in since then.”

Red Eagle Second Hand Store is located on Main Street in Poplar, Montana. You are welcome to stop by and check out the great deals.

How to contact this small business owner:

Deloris Red Eagle
Red Eagle Second Hand
1006 Main Street
Poplar, MT 59255
(406) 768-5355