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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    Shoppers fill their carts at Buche Foods.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    Independent grocers like Buche Foods are facing unprecedented challenges in the face of competition, industry consolidation and thinning margins. Here, shoppers scan the offerings at Buche Foods, the only supermarket on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, in May.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    Juanita Scherich says she likes to shop at Buche Foods because the store staff has “really bonded, it’s like a family.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Deb Lindsey for The Washington Pos | of | Share this photo

    Dollar stores have “really taken hold” in rural communities,” says Rial Carver of the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University, and many independents view them as a bigger threat than a megaretailer like Walmart.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    Independent grocers like Buche Foods often support their community, sponsoring sports teams and hosting cookie drives and fundraisers.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out, right, says RF Buche and Buche Foods are responsive to the community’s needs. “We have barriers in every direction we look, and food is only one of them,” he said.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    The 20,000-square-foot location at Pine Ridge is one of seven stores for the Buche Foods chain.

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    Independent Grocery Stores - Eunice Straight Head for The Washington Post | of | Share this photo

    Buche Foods is the only full-service supermarket in Pine Ridge. Residents here don’t have easy access to national chains; the closest Walmart is 55 miles away, in Nebraska.

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