Dec. 13, 2023

Rachel Alfson calls her new business venture, which offers jewelry and hard-to-find Asian groceries, totally unplanned.

“It’s a blessing that came,” she said. “It’s not like I planned it for a long time. As everything was put together, I thought, maybe this is for me.”

In mid-November, Alfson opened Oriental Merchandise & Gold, also known as OMG, just off 41st Street on Hawthorne Avenue, next to Innovations Hair Salon and across from a Blue Tide Car Wash.

She joins friends James and Amy Jorgenson in the same L-shaped strip mall, although the Jorgensons’ 7-year-old business, Jameys Massage Therapy, faces 42nd Street. The Jorgensons and Alfson and her husband, Ricky, have been friends for years; both women are natives of the Philippines who met in South Dakota.

Alfson began selling 18K and 21K gold jewelry before the pandemic, operating her business online and sometimes meeting customers in parking lots. The pandemic halted her operations for a time. When the Jorgensons told her about a storefront opening near their business, she decided to start a store that also would offer food and merchandise to draw in customers.

Her jewelry is made of what she called Saudi or Dubai gold and also comes from a supplier in the Philippines, PNGB Precious Asher Jewelry. She offers rings, earrings, bangles, necklaces, charms and watches.

In her native Philippines, Alfson said, gold jewelry often is viewed as a commodity, like real estate. It accumulates in value and can be pawned easily if ready cash is needed. In the United States, gold jewelry is viewed more as adornment, she said, something to wear for enjoyment.

Alfson obtains the groceries that line the store shelves and fill a cooler from distributors in California and Chicago. OMG will fill a need in that part of Sioux Falls, she said, so customers don’t have to drive to the city’s north end.

Alfson, who came to the United States seven years ago, and her husband have a blended family of six children. She lives in Canton.

OMG’s hours will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. After the December holidays, she may start to take Wednesdays off.