Cameron takes ownership of The Pickle Barrel

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor

Just as COVID-19 was ramping up in the local area, Katelyn Cameron, of Brandon, took ownership of The Pickle Barrel in Sioux Falls. 

Jill Meier/BV Journal

Katelyn Cameron is a woman who sees the glass half full.

“They used to call me ‘Pollyanna’ at the law firm,” she shares, “because I always have a smile on my face. You have to, especially right now.”

As the new owner of The Pickle Barrel, a Sioux Falls sandwich shop located at 1612 Western Ave., Cameron stepped into her new role on May 17, just as the coronavirus pandemic was heating up.

“I’m excited to see what our potential is,” she said. “I’ve got big goals and we’re pretty sure they’re do-able.”

Cameron’s optimism stems from the restaurant’s base of loyal customers.

“The Pickle Barrel has a very loyal following, and they’re still coming in, and it’s really heartwarming to hear, ‘I’m glad you’re open,’” she said. “A lot of them are doing carryout and we do delivery through Food Dudes. The people are great. They come in, order and all stand in their own little space as they wait for their order. Then, they grab their food and leave.”

Until taking ownership, Cameron admits she’d enjoyed lunch there with a former co-worker, a loyal Pickle Barrel follower.

All of The Pickle Barrel’s breads are baked fresh daily, and the meats and cheeses are prepared daily, as well. “We import all of our hot sandwich meat from Montana, that’s the staple,” she said. “As for cold sandwiches, The Bobcat and the Ken Special” are the top sellers.

“We layer all of our meats and cheeses, and those are two of our bigger sandwiches,” she said.

The Pickle Barrel also offers soups, chips, made-from-scratch dessert bars, and of course, pickles.

“Every sandwich comes with a pickle,” Cameron says. “On a normal day, you’d just grab it from the pickle barrel, but right now, we’re handing them out.”

The Pickle Barrel is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Cameron hopes to expand on those hours, possibly being open on Sunday and Monday, too.

She currently employs six and hopes to add a seventh soon.

“Right now, we’re doing loose catering for St. Francis House, Bishop Dudley House, Call to Freedom and down the road, hopefully The Banquet,” she said. 

Those catering jobs came as an unexpected blessing. St. Francis House executive director Julie Becker received an anonymous donation to cater in lunch for these non-profits. 

“Whoever the investor is, I do not know, but I’d like to thank him,” Cameron said. “Truly without this guy and this plan, I’m not sure we would be surviving. It’s keeping us afloat, and when Julie told me this, I got chills up and down my arms, I had tears in my eyes, and I’m like, this is a miracle. I can’t express how much of a Godsend it is.”

Cameron and her husband, TJ, previously owned and operated Victory Lanes, a restaurant, bar and bowling alley in Brandon. She said returning to business ownership “has been a longtime dream.”

“We finally have seemed to recover from all of the previous dealings,” she said. 

While she enjoyed her work at the law firm, the paralegal by degree, was tiring of her daily work in bankruptcy.

“It was dogging me every day and I didn’t want to be a part of that anymore, even though I loved where I was at, what I was doing and the people I worked for,” she said. “I needed to make a decision for me, and I loved having my own business, and I really loved the restaurant side of the business.”

Cameron hopes to expand the chain sandwich shop in the future, possibly bringing the Bozeman, Mont.-based franchise to Brandon. 

“I don’t think one Pickle Barrel would ever be enough,” she said. “The Pickle Barrel is a franchise. It’s a very mom and pop kind of franchise” that lists four in Montana.

She also envisions a store on both the east and west sides of Sioux Falls.

“This is an obscure location,” she says of the shop’s Western Avenue locale. “But the people who know us, know us. We’re located right in the middle of the VA Hospital, Avera, Sanford, Lifescape, the aquatic center, which we’ve never experienced the hustle and bustle of what it can be, but we’re hoping all of that hustle and bustle will allow us to have another location.”

 

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The Brandon Valley Journal

 

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Brandon, SD 57005
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