PIERRE – South Dakota businesses C&B Operations in Freeman and Erv's Furniture of Bowdle have received the Heritage Award from the South Dakota Retailers Association (SDRA).
Presented for the first time in conjunction with the organization’s 125th annual meeting in Pierre, the award recognizes each store’s unique role in the association’s rich history.
The South Dakota Retailers Association was founded in 1897 by a small group of merchants who wanted to help each other improve their business practices and advocate for retailers in the legislative process.
Handwritten documents prepared by early association leaders show the Freeman business, at that time called Guenthner & Haar, was among the businesses that signed the organization’s constitution.
The documents also show Erv’s Furniture in Bowdle — known then as H.A. Mason Company — was also a founding member.
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The only two business businesses that signed the founding paperwork are still selling the same type of product in the same community as they were in 1897, and remain members of the association 125 years later.
“Small businesses like C&B Operations are the backbone of their local communities, as well as the backbone of our organization,” said executive director Nathan Sanderson. “It is thanks to their strong support that the South Dakota Retailers Association is celebrating 125 years of dynamic impact in the retail community.”
