BUFFALO POUND — One entrepreneur hopes to improve convenience for residents at Buffalo Pound’s ΒιΆΉΚΣΖ΅ Lake and attract a younger, growing crowd with the launch of a new one-stop-shop store in the village.
The Lakeside Market is Buffalo Pound’s newest venture and first opened its doors on Dec. 7.
“We’re just trying to bring convenience to the lake,” announced Dakota Kuntz, owner of The Lakeside Market and Life’s A Beach Rentals, his second business that has provided water sport, cabin, and ice shack rentals for the past five years.
“I’ve lived out here for 16 years and we haven’t had a store or anything,” he said, noting that many of his rental business patrons have asked where the nearest shop is. “I’ve had to send them back to Moose Jaw, so (I thought) it would be neat if we could do a store out here.
“I’ve been saving up and wanted to do it for years, and I finally found the right property to do it.”
The Lakeside Market, which also owes its success to Sindy Dion, Kuntz’ girlfriend, and her sister, Jinny Dion, features a selection of fresh local produce, artisanal goods, and a variety of everyday essentials. Live bait can also be purchased in the village now, rather than necessitating a trip up to Chamberlain.
Once the market gets established, Kuntz hopes to grow the business into the three adjacent lots he currently owns. He hasn’t determined what he’ll do with the opportunity and is now in talks with the RM of Marquis and the community.
“We just want to make sure that everyone gets a say in what we do, because we want to keep all our neighbours really happy and everyone excited about it…,” Kuntz shared.
In the meantime, the market serves as a permanent storefront for the work of local artists and vendors. New applicants are welcome and or calling the store.
“We’re trying to make the community (feel like) it’s their business as well,” he continued. “So, we just reached out to a bunch of different people that we knew in the area… and we want to make it like a family business, but bring the community in on it as well.”
The store has had several vendors sign on including Art by M, , , and . Recently, a nearby berry farm stopped by to offer a variety of homemade jams and pies made after their harvest.
“I think we had two (more vendors) stop by today and add more goodies to the store,” Kuntz noted on Dec. 12.
with the goal of enhancing community life and encouraging more people to stay at the lake for longer. Plus, he said, children who grow bored while their parents are ice fishing can use the rink to pass the time.
“We love our community, and I do a community rink and just want people to play hockey, be able to go find a drink or something to eat, and keep you at the lake as long as possible…,” Kuntz said.
“We just want to see more young families move out here, grow the population, and kind of realize that it’s a year-round space, and not just seasonal.”
The Lakeside Market will continue to run as a year-round business and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. except for Wednesdays and statutory holidays.
To contact Dakota Kuntz or for more information about The Lakeside Market, call 306-630-4600, email [email protected], or visit ‘’ on Facebook.
The Lakeside Market is located at 1065 Tatanka Drive at Buffalo Pound’s ΒιΆΉΚΣΖ΅ Lake.
