Walk into Pushkin Provisions in Choteau and you will notice something right away — almost every item on the shelf has a label telling you exactly where in Montana it came from. And if you look around for someone to ring you up, you will notice something else — there is nobody there.
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That is entirely by design.
Chris Bechtold spent 25 years as an organic cattle and bison rancher before retiring and opening Pushkin Provisions. Over those decades on the land, he developed a deep appreciation for locally sourced goods — and when he stepped away from ranching, he saw a gap nobody else was filling.
"I feel that it's really important that we try to make things close to home and use things that are made close to home. And here in Montana, we've got an immense state that produces all these wonderful things," Bechtold said.
He sourced his inventory using the USDA's website to find Montana-made products from across the state. The result is a store stocked with goods that tell the story of Montana's producers — sourdough from Power, steaks from Conrad, pasta from Polson, and much more.
"It solved the problem for me. And I thought it might solve the problem for everybody else, too. So, it was a little bit of boredom and a little bit of, hey, I see a hole here that can be filled," he said.
But the product selection is only half the story. Pushkin Provisions has no employees. No cashier. No manager on duty. The store operates entirely on the honor system — customers come in, take what they need, and pay on their own.
For Bechtold, that is not a risk. It is a reflection of the community he lives in.
"Choteau is — we pride ourselves on being a small town, an All-American town and taking care of ourselves and all. This is a great test for us, and it's a great test for everybody. I trust people, I think people, for the most part, are good. There's a bad apple every now and then and, you know, we can make a little applesauce out of those. But, for the most part, people are good," he said.
A retired rancher, a store full of Montana-made goods, and a community trusted to do the right thing — Pushkin Provisions may be the most Montanan business you have never heard of.
