Aug. 10, 2021

Bender Commercial Real Estate Services, Bender Midwest Properties and Bender Residential have moved temporarily while their office is being renovated and expanded. The companies moved in early 2020 from downtown to 305 W. 57th St. While construction work happens at that site, the businesses are based at 5116 S. Solberg Ave.

A longtime Sioux Falls home furnishings and interior design business is opening a retail store in the Jones421 Building. Interiors Etc. was started in 1975 by Mary Kelly. Over the years, Kelly has done both residential and commercial interior design, and now her son Richard Kelly is running a retail side of the business. The store, which is expected to open sometime this month, will offer high-end furniture, lighting, art, rugs and accessories. It will be in the former Bella Rosa space in the downtown mixed-use building at 421 N. Phillips Ave.

Bella Rosa Flower Market has moved from its original downtown location to 8th & Railroad Center at 401 E. Eighth St. and added to its retail offerings with an emphasis on houseplants. Bella Rosa’s hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The owner of a New York-style pizzeria in New Jersey is opening a restaurant in Sioux Falls. Pizza Shop will be in a retail center at Empire Place on West 41st Street in front of The Empire Mall. In addition to hand-tossed pies with a variety of toppings, the menu will include calzones, salads, pastas and sandwiches on homemade focaccia bread. It’s expected to open early next spring.

Crumbl Cookies has opened at Empire Place. The franchise bakery offers a weekly rotating menu of cookies, with new flavors every Monday. Hours for in-store pickup and delivery are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Chase Bank has opened its first branch in South Dakota. The new building is in the Empire Place development. Services include checking and savings accounts, business banking, mortgages, investment products and advisers.

A private equity firm based in New York and London plans to acquire Avera eCare. Aquiline Capital Partners is the buyer for the telemedicine operation Avera Health has grown over the past two decades, which will be renamed Avel eCare. The headquarters will continue to be in Sioux Falls, and the more than 230 employees will remain.

Steve Schmidt has started Tidal, a sales consulting firm that takes a high-tech strategic approach to lead generation. It can serve in a support role for a company’s sales team or be a sales team for an organization. Tidal has a team of 28 full-time employees and independent contractors and has an office at 5000 S. Broadband Lane.

Ben and Renee Forred have started The Casual Campfire Supply Co., selling fire starters made from soy wax and sawdust. They’re sold online with 50 percent of proceeds donated to the Feeding South Dakota BackPack Program.

‘O’ So Good Restaurant opened and closed in a nine-day span in its new location. It moved from Garretson and started operating out of Wileys kitchen in downtown Sioux Falls on Aug. 1 and closed Aug. 9. Chef Omar Thornton cited the mental and physical tolls he was facing.

Scherer Inc., which is located in the Tea industrial park, has acquired the mill roll/flaker roll/flour roll division of Idaho-based SoulCraft LLC, bringing an additional business line to the Sioux Falls-area company. The plant will continue to operate in Idaho.

The owners of Watecha Bowl have purchased the former Doc’s Bar in Freeman. Lawrence and Sophie West are turning the vacant building into The Whiskey House, which will be a restaurant, bar and casino with five Airbnb units on the second floor. They envision opening the business in October.

Sabena and Isaac Carter have launched QBIC Luxury Picnics with the goal of giving people another option for date nights and other special occasions. They have five packages available starting at $159 for one hour. Picnics can be set up in a few local parks or in Sioux Falls backyards. They include food, nonalcoholic drinks, a charcuterie board, plates, flatware, blankets, decorations and a custom letterboard message sign.

Waxing the City has opened a second location in Sioux Falls. The new spa is ls at Dawley Farm Village. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Year Round Brown will open its seventh location in Sioux Falls at 2211 W. 57th St. It’s the former home of Rudy M. Navarrete’s Tex-Mexican Restaurant. CEO Zach Neugebauer said he hopes to start construction this month and open in the first quarter of next year.

The owners of Food Mama are moving home to Wisconsin this fall but hope to find someone to buy the food truck business they’ve been building for three summers. The trailer is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays in a parking lot at 11th and Cliff. Joe and Yvonne Garcia hope to operate through October if the weather is nice.

Mini-Critters has opened its second Sioux Falls store. The new location at 2621 S. Minnesota Ave. sells pet supplies and small animals such as hamsters, rats and rabbits. Fish and reptiles will be added. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Builder’s Millwork & Window has moved into its larger home in the former Campbell Supply/Runnings store on East 10th Street. The supplier of interior trim, windows, doors, cabinetry and counter tops for single-family and multifamily housing has combined its Sioux Falls showroom and Tea warehouse in the 53,000-square-foot building at 3101 W. 10th St. with the bonus of a much larger parking lot than the previous showroom at 2310 E. 10th St. Hours for the showroom are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

Acton Academy has found its teaching space for its first school year. Located in Four Hills Plaza on Southeastern Avenue south of 41st Street, the space will be able to host 18 to 22 elementary students and two instructors.