Lehman's Hardware facts for kids
Lehman's Hardware is a special store in Kidron, Ohio. It started by selling things to the Amish community, who often don't use electricity. Today, it's known all over the world for selling non-electric items. The store is about 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2), which is huge! They call themselves a "Low Tech Superstore" and a "Purveyor of Historical Technology." Their motto is "Simple Products for a Simpler Life." The building is very unique, made from an old log cabin and three buildings from before the Civil War. It's also a popular place for tourists to visit. Lehman's also has a smaller, traditional hardware store in Mount Hope, Ohio, where Amish customers can shop easily. Besides the stores, they also sell things through catalogs and online.
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Where is Lehman's Hardware?
Lehman's is located in Kidron, Ohio. This is a small community in Wayne County, Ohio. It's in an area of Northeast Ohio where many Amish people live, about 56,000 of them! Because of its location, it was a perfect place to do business with the Amish. It's also close to U.S. Route 30, which makes it easy for tourists visiting Amish Country to stop by.
The Story of Lehman's Hardware
Jay Lehman, a businessman from the area, started Lehman's Hardware in 1955. He wanted to sell products that didn't need electricity to the Amish community. He bought an old hardware store and gas station that had been open since 1915.
The store was doing okay, with a little help from tourists. But then something big happened in 1973: the 1973 oil crisis. People started looking for simple, low-tech tools because oil supplies were running low. Jay Lehman said, "The oil embargo put us on the map." This event made the store famous. Every time there was a big problem or worry, more customers came to Lehman's. Other events that brought in new customers included the Year 2000 problem, the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the northeast blackout of 2003.
Because of these events, the types of customers at Lehman's changed a lot. In the beginning, Amish customers made up 95 percent of sales. Now, they make up about 6 to 8 percent.
Besides the Amish and tourists, the store helps many other people. This includes homesteaders, missionaries, environmentalists, and doctors in developing countries. They buy items for simple living. The American Red Cross, Peace Corps volunteers, and even Hollywood set designers also use the store. They find old-fashioned items to decorate movie sets that look like they're from the past.
Jay Lehman, who started the store, passed away in July 2020. He had continued to work at Lehman's with fewer duties until earlier that year. His son, Galen, now runs the business as President. Jay's daughter, Glenda Lehman Ervin, is the Vice President of Marketing.
How the Store Grew
Lehman's store grew bigger over the years, often adding parts bit by bit. In 2007, the store doubled in size to 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2). This is about a quarter of the size of a typical Target store. Much of this new part was built inside an old barn from 1849. The barn was moved from Orrville, Ohio, and put back together at the store. They used the original wooden beams and pegs. Lehman's even hired an Amish construction company to move and rebuild the barn. This honored the store's Amish history and made sure the building was strong and well-made. In 2012, Lehman's updated the front of their store. They made it look like it did when it first opened in 1955.
Making Their Own Products
As the store grew, it sometimes became hard to find suppliers for certain items. This happened because companies stopped making old technology or went out of business. So, Lehman's had to find new suppliers or even start making their own products.
For example, the Amish only use black cast iron wood-burning stoves. So, Lehman's arranges for special production runs with manufacturers. They often buy a three-year supply at once.
Lehman's also sells replacement parts for many of their products. They find these parts from different manufacturers. Sometimes, they even figure out how to make the parts themselves if they can't find them. If there aren't enough manufacturers for needed parts, they might get the raw casting parts and hire others to finish them. Or, they do the manufacturing themselves, often without worrying about making a profit on those parts.
"High Tech to Sell Low Tech"
Lehman's has always used modern technology to promote their old-fashioned products. Because of this, sales through their website and catalog now make up 60% of the store's money. They send out about 4,000 to 5,000 packages every week from their online sales.
The store also has a Facebook page with many fans. Galen Lehman's Twitter account has thousands of followers. Their YouTube channel has over 100 videos. One video, where a store employee explains how to use a wood stove, has been watched over 600,000 times!
Glenda Lehman Ervin said, "For many years, we were a store with a catalog. Now we're a direct sales company with a store." This means they sell directly to customers, often online or through catalogs, more than just from the physical store.
Working with the Amish Community
Many Amish people who shop at Lehman's are now also vendors. They build 40 to 50 of the products that Lehman's sells.
Lehman's has been able to work with Amish craftsmen because they have helped the Amish community for decades. They provided the goods the Amish needed to live their way of life. In return, Amish craftsmen now make special products for Lehman's that might otherwise disappear.
The needs of the Amish community are still very important to the store. Lehman's often makes sure the Amish get what they need, even if there are many other customers trying to buy things quickly.
A Fun Place for Tourists
Besides their unique products and being in Amish country, tourists love Lehman's because it feels like a museum. Some visitors mistakenly think the store sells old antiques. But all the products sold are new, but they look exactly like historical items. Real old items are on display around the store.
There's also a special area called the Buggy Barn. Here, workers show how to use old-fashioned tools. There's a bookstore that also shows movies about Amish life. You can find a cafe and the Soda Pop Shop, which has over 300 kinds of soft drinks and 70 kinds of root beer!
Lehman's is very popular and a big tourist spot in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. About 4,000 visitors come on a typical Saturday. Around 500,000 people visit the store each year.
Non-Electric Products
Lehman's says they are the world's biggest supplier of non-electric goods. They sell many different items. These include traditional or historical things, like wood heat stoves or the Reading 78 Apple Peeler. They also sell more modern emergency items, like crank-powered radios and flashlights.
Movies Using Lehman's Items
In the late 1980s, Lehman's found a new way to sell their products. A property master (someone who finds props for movies) contacted them. They needed an old cast iron stove for the movie Back to the Future Part III. Since that movie came out in 1990, Lehman's has provided historical props for many different movies and TV shows.
Flood and Recovery
On February 28, 2011, a part of the North Fork Creek, which runs under the Lehman's store, flooded. This was a flash flood. It was caused by warm weather melting ice and snow. This ice and snow clogged a large pipe that usually drains water away from the store. A storm also brought a lot of rain very quickly.
The flood sent 18 inches of muddy water through the store. In some places, the water was 3 feet deep! The water moved so fast that it carried a large refrigerator across the store. Lehman's didn't have flood insurance, so they had to pay for about $100,000 in damages themselves.
The flood happened early in the morning and lasted less than three hours. Lehman's employees were told to come to work ready to clean up. When people in the community heard about the flood, many came to help. They offered their time, equipment, or food for the workers. Because of this help, Lehman's was able to open some parts of the store just thirty hours later.
Over the next week, different parts of the store reopened each day. By Saturday, March 5, almost all departments were open. This was just in time for a local machinery auction that brought many customers to Kidron. At that time, Lehman's started a sale. They sold products that were a little damaged but still worked, or whose packaging was wet, at a big discount.
The wood-burning stove department was the most damaged by the flood. It was the last to reopen, on April 9, 2011.
