Entrepreneur RF Buche could have stopped at being a fourth generation grocer, and that in and of itself would have been impressive—but it was just the beginning.
RF’s great grandfather, Gus Francis, established GF Buche Company in Lake Andes in 1905, and expanded into other rural communities on or near Native American reservations, carrying everything from clothing to hardware to groceries.
“He believed in supporting those local communities,” recalled RF. “He ended up getting his general store count up to about 18.”
The Depression hit in the 1930s, and Gus lost all but three of his stores. In this time where he lost everything, he not only paid every invoice he owed, but paid them all on time. This was one of many instances RF says he is proud of, and helped shape who he is today.
GF Buche Company is celebrating 121 years this month under Buche Foods and Gus Stops (named after his great grandfather). Gus ran the company well into his 80s and was practically forced into retirement by RF’s grandfather, Bob Sr., who then passed it down to Bob Jr.
RF spent his childhood watching his father at work, and started learning the ropes of the business. When he was 7 years old, a moment in one of the stores changed the trajectory of his life.
A young mother walked through the door and realized she didn’t have enough for groceries. Bob Jr. quietly walked over and slipped her the money so she could put food on the table for her family that night.
Did You Know?
Buche is pronounced “buoy,” but it’s not the original pronunciation. One of Gus’s kholás (or “friends” in Lakota) would pronounce his name as buoy, while the real way to say it was bouché. He found it charming and kept it, forever changing the family name.
“After she left, I asked, ‘Dad, why’d you do that?’ He just said, ‘RF, when you’re in this business, it’s your moral obligation to make sure no one goes hungry.’ I’ve never forgotten that,” said RF.
GF Buche Company has always been big supporters of the communities they’ve been in, whether it was through the school, ball teams, or simply helping others out.
When he was younger working for the family business, RF says he and his dad would make a big deal out of their anniversary sale and would go and have coffee at each of the locations, giving out cake and ice cream or a hot dog and Coca-Cola.
“It was crazy the amount of people that used to come up to me and tell me, ‘I didn’t have enough money for a dress, but your grandpa bought one for me,’ or, ‘He loaned me the money to get a pair of shoes,’ or whatever the case may be,” he reminisced.
Fast forward to 2000, and RF was in charge of the Wagner location. One day his father called a manager’s meeting in Mission, where he made a bombshell statement.
He said, “There comes a time in everybody’s life when you know you’re not the best man for the job anymore, and today’s that day for me.”
“It certainly affects me. There’s sad things that go on all the time out here.”
RF Buche
It was officially his retirement announcement at 54.
“I was in shock, for sure, but it was what I wanted,” said RF, who is now the CEO and president. “I’ve never dreamed about doing anything besides this. I bought him out shortly thereafter.”
GF Buche Company had around seven locations when he took over, and the business has grown to 26 locations, including a Buche Foods inside of Al’s Oasis, which RF purchased from the Mueller family.
“Al’s Oasis is a South Dakota tradition, and the Mueller family did a remarkable job of marketing this place and serving the community and the tourists in the area,” said RF. “I feel very privileged to be able to take the baton and hopefully do as good as them.”
While Al’s Oasis is a tourism and local hot spot, the other Buche Foods and Gus Stops are located in places where groceries are typically hard to come by. Though convenient, RF says they’re constantly battling the current economic climate with rising gas prices and low margins, which is frustrating.
“People are struggling, and they’re having to spend extra money on fuel, utilities, propane, whatever the case may be,” he said.
Pie for Here or To-Go?
Al’s Oasis sells over 50,000 a year at the restaurant. Check out more to do at the attraction at alsoasissd.com.
Finding transportation is hard in tribal communities, which makes the whole situation exacerbated. RF says many have to buy a ride, getting charged $20-$50 to get to a grocery store up to 45 miles away.
“At that point they’re basically almost out of money for food. It infuriates me,” said RF. “That’s money that could have been going toward food or diapers or whatever they need.”
GF Buche Company is also sensitive to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, which comes out on the 10th of each month.
“We’ll stay open until 2 o’clock in the morning because those SNAP benefits will kick in at midnight, and you’ll see people you know quite frankly haven’t had food in days,” said RF. “I’ve seen people bring their kids in and lay a blanket down in a cart with a blanket overtop to put them back to sleep, and use another cart for shopping for groceries because they haven’t eaten.”
In South Dakota, one in five people have food insecurity (over 130,000 people), and 20% of them are children. Staggering facts like this pushes RF to find more ways to help the rural and tribal communities.
For example, eight Buche Foods and Gus Stop locations started offering 50% off qualifying skim and 1% milk for SNAP shoppers through the Add Milk federal incentive program in September. The same month they also partnered with South Dakota State University Extension to help SNAP dollars go further for families buying fresh produce with Double Up Food Bucks South Dakota, matching purchases on eligible fruits and vegetables.
In July 2024, Buche Foods and Pass Creek Tribal Council Representative of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Anna Halverson collaborated to launch a summer food program, feeding 28,000 children across the nine districts of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
“We fed 6,700 kids two meals per day, seven days a week for about 16 weeks,” said RF.
This passion for helping the people of South Dakota is also how Team Buche Cares came to fruition in 2014 as an official charitable arm of GF Buche Company. It all began when a little girl was diagnosed with leukemia in one of the communities they served.
“One of her wishes was to go swimming with the dolphins, and so we did a promotion selling water so she could fly down to Florida and swim with them,” recalled RF. “After we did that, my team was like, ‘What else can we do so we can affect more people,’ and so we would start selling cases of water, and they would do random challenges with me to hit fundraising goals.’”
After being challenged to do a 115-mile bike ride through their stores, RF says he couldn’t walk for two days and decided there had to be a better way to raise funds, hence the creation of the 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization,Team Buche Cares.
The team just wrapped up their third year of their biggest fundraiser, The Rooster Roundup, which takes place early October at RF’s hunting lodge in Dallas at the Cock Block Lodge. In 2025 the non-profit raised just around $2 million and has fed over 600,000 people since its inception.
At last year’s Rooster Roundup they had a Wópila ceremony where they took sponsors and gave them a star quilt, along with having grass dancers. Meaning “thank you” in Lakota, RF says it was special watching them be given a star quilt in the circle from the Oglala Lakota Nation.
“It’s a symbol of gratitude and goes back to when the warriors would go out to battle or hunters would go out, and you’d have a successful hunt or battle,” said RF. “They would drape you in buffalo hide, and so now that’s symbolized with the blanket. There were probably about 180 there last year for that ceremony, and I’ll bet there were 160-plus in tears.
Team Buche Cares became formalized in 2014, but I would argue that my family has been out here doing the same thing for 121 years.”
RF Buche
Springtime holds another pheasant hunting fundraiser at Cock Block Lodge with Steelers in the Field in March, which hosts Pittsburgh Steelers players and a few other participating teams.
Team Buche Cares is known for supporting more than 31 local food pantries and charitable organizations, which they especially focus on during the holiday season. They also have the Mobile Hunger Hero—a mobile distribution hub to deliver free, nutritious food like meat, vegetables, milk, and bread to remote and tribal areas every month.
Anyone is welcome to the Mobile Hunger Hero, which is set up like a shopping experience with guests entering with groceries bags from volunteers.
“The mobile pantry just gives them a little bit extra, especially at the end of the month,” said RF. Some of the product is purchased by Team Buche Cares from fundraising, and others are donated by partners like the South Dakota Farmers Union, Farmers Union Industries, and Prairie Farms.
RF Buche is also busy advocating for Main Street America and his customers. He stresses that grocery stores are the backbone of rural communities, and that once you lose the grocery store, the town starts to fade away.
“I believe small businesses and grocery stores in general are the backbone of this whole country,” said RF.
He serves on the board of directors for the National Grocers Association and spends time lobbying in Washington, D.C. to protect small town grocers and other topics like SNAP. Some of his hard work actually made it into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025.
United States Senate Majority Leader John Thune, United States Senator Mike Rounds, and Governor Larry Rhoden are just some of the connections he utilizes to speak for those who can’t. On one of the first days of session in January, RF’s team hosts a legislative day event during State of the Tribes to show their connection to tribal communities and the importance of how Buche Foods operates.
“What scares me about small town grocers going away is who’s going to help that community? Who’s helping Mrs. Smith with her cancer treatment? I don’t see Dollar General or Walmart doing things like that,” said RF. “Who is going to do those things?”
While RF is busier than ever, he says he couldn’t do it without his team. This collaboration toward a great cause makes being pulled in a million directions on a daily basis worth it.
“I’m a big believer in this industry, and I’m a big believer in my customers,” he said. “I’ll do whatever I can to stand up for them.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT TEAMBUCHECARES.ORG OR BUCHEFOODS.COM+
