The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-07-20
.OSEBUD MERCHANT
ATTRACTS ATTENTION

Unusual interest has developed in
7holesale and jObbing circles over
hat a number Of the trade papers
eclare Is an unprecedented record
or retail business done By Ben B.
SUITS, of the Outlaw Trading Post
t Winner, S. d. Many of the
rticles written about Winners UNI
lue business lay special stress about
he success of the originator of that
usiness who, little more than three
ears ago, went to Winner without
ioncy and who today is at the head
+ the biggest business in the Rose
nd country.
When Ben Butts reached Winner
ate in 1919 he was looking for new
,cation and having heard that the
.osebud country held opportunities
Or men with a vision and blessed with
lenty of ambition, he lost no time in
lsplaying his willingness to work,
lis first job consisted of shoveling
low from the sidewalks at SO cents
er door. He invested some Of his
,rst capital" for jack knives and
usking mitts which he sold on the
reefs, His pocket was his first
store" He was next heard from
Hing honey from door-to-door.
Off Trade Route
He then made a small payment on
p. me lots, off the business route OF
re city and tearing down old c~orrals,
. built a 10 by 20 shack with All
ght foot ceiling, constructed home
AIDE fixtures from packing cases, and
rnt into business for himself. Sew
al business friends told him he had
ade a business blunder in starting g
tail business III a location surround
by railroads, round house, lumber
rds and livery barns.
Watch me- said Butts, "I'm
ing to tell the trade where I an
d what / am doing, and it is coming
ling on me-"
The Name Outlaw"
In the days when he was peddling
skiing mitts to the Rosebud farmers
the streets of Winner, somebody
lied him an outlaw The phrase
lex in Butts memory and as he cut
i-time lumber for his store his mind
IS busy framing a name for his bust
IS. That is how one bright morning
nailed up a sign over his door read
y"The Outlaw Trading Post"
Travelling statesmen who made
inner in those days, declare there
$ something fascinating about the
Y the little "shack down the alley"
racted trade. One addition after
other was constructed around the
ginal store until today Butts has
$50 feet Of floor space and 29,25O
t of real estate, along with numer-
buildings in the neighborhOod
ich he hs leased for warehouses.
Dizzy Business Growth
10 fast did this business grow that
frame additions grew like mush-
ms, every sixty days finding new
struction work. While this was
ng on the stock continued to be en-
yed until today the store employs
.ty clerks each day and thirty-five
ks on Saturdays. Cash register
IS have recorded 1850 cash sales
a single Saturday with total daily
,ipts at S $500. Overhead expense
been cut less than 10 per cent and
stock is turned nine times a year.
! years business is estimated at
900. This unique store never
es and only cash trading is done.
rything is bought in carload lots
rever possible. The theory is "a
stock and multiplication of sales,
buying to sell and not to hold"
Iom does the stock of this store
over 100000, Notwithstanding the
mite sales. On Saturdays a spe-
traffic policeman is employed in
I of the store to safeguard the
DDS.
tits does not like to talk about
,wn business. Rather, he talks OF
ncr and the Rosebud country. He
seredit for his success to his wife
A. Butts, who takes considerable
est in the business and to his
in, John l.. Webster, an e~x-service
who joined Butts after leaving
army. Recently Butts brother,
Y Butts, of Omaha, moved to
aer taking charge of the newly:
4 hardware department.
is record, travelling men declared,
lever been duplicated in a city OF
ier's population in so short a
and under the same circum-
eS.
Boy of "Wanderlust"
Rr<fa 10 ho1 on ~uuncuo1 ro.