Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION
PURSUANT TO                RULE 13A-14 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,
                             AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO                   SECTION 302 OF THE
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I,
Bruce C. Dale, President and Chief Executive Officer of Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc. (the
registrant) certify that:

1.
I have reviewed the registrants Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year    ended January
30, 2005 (this report);

2.
Based on my knowledge, this report    does not contain any untrue statement of a material
fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of
the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to
the period covered by this report;

3.
Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included
in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results
of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
this report;

4.
The registrants other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and
maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

| | a.
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is
being prepared;
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| | b.
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures and
presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
evaluation; and
| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | c.
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrants internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the registrants most recent fiscal quarter (the
registrants fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control
over financial reporting;
| | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.
The registrants other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most
recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrants
auditors and the audit committee of the registrants board of directors (or persons
performing the equivalent functions):

| | a.
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
the registrants ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information;
and
| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | b.
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have
a significant role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.
| | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|By: | /s/ Bruce
      C. Dale
      Bruce C. Dale 
      President and Chief Executive Officer
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Date:
 April 29, 2005

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