Lehman's Hardware
Encyclopedia
Lehman's Hardware is a retail store located in Kidron, Ohio
. Originally specializing in products used by the Amish
community, it has become known worldwide as a source for non-electric appliances. The 32000 square feet (2,972.9 m²) facility bills itself as a "Low Tech Superstore" and a "Purveyor of Historical Technology." It is also a popular tourist destination. Lehman's also maintains a smaller, more traditional hardware store in Mount Hope, Ohio, where their Amish customers may shop with less interference from curious tourists. In addition to the two stores, there is also a catalog and online business.
. It is located in a tri-county area of Northeast Ohio that is home to the nation's largest population of Amish, some 56,000 in number. Its location made it a natural place from which to do business with the area's Amish population, and its proximity to Ohio Route 30 has also made it a popular stop among tourists who are visiting Amish Country.
The store did a modest business, with a mild boost from tourism, until the 1973 oil crisis
. As domestic supplies of oil began to dwindle, people began to look for low-tech equipment to help them deal with the shortages. According to Jay Lehman, "The oil embargo put us on the map." The oil crisis secured the store's reputation, with each new disaster or potential disaster bringing in new customers. Other events that increased Lehman's customer base include the Year 2000 problem
, the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the northeast blackout of 2003
."
As a result of this change, there has been a marked shift in the demographic makeup of Lehman's customers. In the early years, the Amish community accounted for 95 percent of Lehman's sales. Now it makes up between 6 and 8 percent.
Besides the Amish, tourists, and jittery citizens, the store is a resource for homesteaders, missionaries, environmentalists, survivalists, and doctors in developing countries, to purchase items needed for simple living. Lehman's also counts among its customers the American Red Cross, Peace Corps volunteers, and Hollywood set designers also use the store to find historically accurate items for decorating period sets.
At age 82, Lehman still serves as chairman of the business and comes to the store every day to interact with customers. The business side is now handled by his son Galen, who started working at the store in his teens and is now its President. Jay Lehman's daughter, Glenda Lehman Ervin, currently serves as the store's Vice President of Marketing after working many years at a large corporation.
In the case of cast iron wood-burning parlor stoves, the Amish only accept the product in black, so Lehman's arranges special manufacturer runs, typically buying a three-year supply at a time.
Lehman's also deals in replacement parts for many of their products, tracking them down from individual manufacturers, or at times reverse engineering them. When there is a lack of manufacturers for needed parts, they often obtain the casting parts and hire out the work, or do the manufacturing themselves, frequently without regard to profit.
The store also has a Facebook
page with more than 15,000 fans, and Galen Lehman's Twitter
account has more than 2,400 followers. Their YouTube
channel has 146 videos, including one of a store employee churning butter
that has received more than 36,000 hits. QR codes
appear in their print advertising and plans are in the works for them to be displayed on their store shelves.
"For many years, we were a store with a catalog," said Glenda Lehman Ervin. "Now we're a direct sales company with a store."
Lehman's ability to tap into the Amish tradition of craftsmanship came from its decades-long commitment to providing the Amish with the goods they needed to maintain their lifestyle. In turn, now Amish craftsmen provide Lehman's with exclusive lines of products that would otherwise vanish.
The needs of the Amish community still remain a priority at the store, and Lehman's often refuses to defer their needs to meet those of fad or panic buyers.
Lehman's popularity has made it an important tourist destination in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. Some 4,000 visitors come on a typical Saturday, while the annual figure is around 500,000.
or the Victorio strainer, which is used to make apple sauce and tomato juice, to more contemporary emergency items such as crank powered radios and flashlights.
Lehman's also has employees whose job is to teach customers how to use their new low-tech acquisitions.
trying to locate a cast iron stove for the film Back to the Future Part III
. Since the 1990 release of that film, Lehman's has provided historic period props for a number of different films and television series:
the store. The 50-year flood
was caused by thawing temperatures, an ice and snow pack that clogged a five-foot culvert that drained water away from the store site, and a storm that brought 1/2 inch of rain in less than 15 minutes.
The flood sent 18 inches of muddy water through the business that crested at 3 feet in some parts of the structure. The water moved so quickly that it carried an 18 cubic foot refrigerator across the length of the store. Without flood insurance, Lehman's was left to absorb an estimated $100,000 in damage.
As the flood occurred in the early morning hours of the day and lasted less than three hours, Lehman's employees were advised to report to work dressed for cleanup. Hearing word of the flood, many members of the community turned out to help, offering labor, equipment or food for the workers. Because of this, Lehman's was able to open their doors on a limited basis thirty hours later.
Over the course of the next week, the store reopened different departments each day. By Saturday, March 5th, all but two were in operation, in time for a local machinery auction that brought many customers into Kidron. At that time Lehman's began a sale, deeply discounting products that were cosmetically damaged but functional, or whose packaging was damaged by the rising water.
The wood-burning stove department, which was the most heavily damaged by the flood, was the last to reopen. It did so on April 9th, 2011.
Kidron, Ohio
Kidron is an unincorporated community in southwestern Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, Ohio, United States.It is home to an outdoor flea market held Thursdays and Saturdays, weather permitting, and, since 1929, a retail store called Kidron Town and Country, which includes a grocery store,...
. Originally specializing in products used by the Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
community, it has become known worldwide as a source for non-electric appliances. The 32000 square feet (2,972.9 m²) facility bills itself as a "Low Tech Superstore" and a "Purveyor of Historical Technology." It is also a popular tourist destination. Lehman's also maintains a smaller, more traditional hardware store in Mount Hope, Ohio, where their Amish customers may shop with less interference from curious tourists. In addition to the two stores, there is also a catalog and online business.
Location
Lehman's is located in Kidron, Ohio, an unincorporated community in Wayne County, OhioWayne County, Ohio
Wayne County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States, and is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. As of the 2010 census, the population was 114,520. Its county seat is Wooster....
. It is located in a tri-county area of Northeast Ohio that is home to the nation's largest population of Amish, some 56,000 in number. Its location made it a natural place from which to do business with the area's Amish population, and its proximity to Ohio Route 30 has also made it a popular stop among tourists who are visiting Amish Country.
History
Jay Lehman, an area businessman, founded Lehman's Hardware (now called "Lehman's") in 1955 with the intent of selling non-electrical products to the Amish community. He began the business by purchasing a combination hardware store and gasoline filling station that had been in business since 1915.The store did a modest business, with a mild boost from tourism, until the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
. As domestic supplies of oil began to dwindle, people began to look for low-tech equipment to help them deal with the shortages. According to Jay Lehman, "The oil embargo put us on the map." The oil crisis secured the store's reputation, with each new disaster or potential disaster bringing in new customers. Other events that increased Lehman's customer base include the Year 2000 problem
Year 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...
, the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the northeast blackout of 2003
Northeast Blackout of 2003
The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage that occurred throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Ontario, Canada on Thursday, August 14, 2003, just before 4:10 p.m....
."
As a result of this change, there has been a marked shift in the demographic makeup of Lehman's customers. In the early years, the Amish community accounted for 95 percent of Lehman's sales. Now it makes up between 6 and 8 percent.
Besides the Amish, tourists, and jittery citizens, the store is a resource for homesteaders, missionaries, environmentalists, survivalists, and doctors in developing countries, to purchase items needed for simple living. Lehman's also counts among its customers the American Red Cross, Peace Corps volunteers, and Hollywood set designers also use the store to find historically accurate items for decorating period sets.
At age 82, Lehman still serves as chairman of the business and comes to the store every day to interact with customers. The business side is now handled by his son Galen, who started working at the store in his teens and is now its President. Jay Lehman's daughter, Glenda Lehman Ervin, currently serves as the store's Vice President of Marketing after working many years at a large corporation.
Physical expansion
The Lehman's store added a number of expansions over the years, often in a piecemeal fashion. However, in 2007 the store doubled in size to 32000 square feet (2,972.9 m²) - about 1/4 the size of a typical Target store. Lehman's built most of this addition inside an 1849 barn moved from Orrville, Ohio, and reassembled at the store site, using the original hand-hewn timbers and wooden pegs. Lehman's asked an Amish staffed construction company to perform the deconstruction and reconstruction to honor the store's Amish heritage and give the structure the same integrity as it had when first built.Manufacturer and distributor
As the store did business, it often found it difficult to find suppliers of certain items as manufacturers quit making the obsolete technology or went out of business. This forced Lehman's to look other places to develop new suppliers or become their own supplier.In the case of cast iron wood-burning parlor stoves, the Amish only accept the product in black, so Lehman's arranges special manufacturer runs, typically buying a three-year supply at a time.
Lehman's also deals in replacement parts for many of their products, tracking them down from individual manufacturers, or at times reverse engineering them. When there is a lack of manufacturers for needed parts, they often obtain the casting parts and hire out the work, or do the manufacturing themselves, frequently without regard to profit.
Direct sales
Lehman's has always embraced modern technology in order to promote their products and their store. Because of this, sales through the company's website and catalog now account for 60% of the store's revenue. They send an estimated 4 - 5,000 packages each week as a result of their online sales.The store also has a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page with more than 15,000 fans, and Galen Lehman's Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account has more than 2,400 followers. Their YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel has 146 videos, including one of a store employee churning butter
Butter churn
A butter churn is a device used to convert cream into butter. This is done through a mechanical process, frequently via a pole inserted through the lid of the churn, or via a crank used to turn a rotating device inside the churn.-Process:...
that has received more than 36,000 hits. QR codes
QR Code
A QR code is a type of matrix barcode first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white...
appear in their print advertising and plans are in the works for them to be displayed on their store shelves.
"For many years, we were a store with a catalog," said Glenda Lehman Ervin. "Now we're a direct sales company with a store."
Relationship with Amish community
Many Amish served by the Lehman stores are now vendors, building 40 to 50 of the products that Lehman's sells.Lehman's ability to tap into the Amish tradition of craftsmanship came from its decades-long commitment to providing the Amish with the goods they needed to maintain their lifestyle. In turn, now Amish craftsmen provide Lehman's with exclusive lines of products that would otherwise vanish.
The needs of the Amish community still remain a priority at the store, and Lehman's often refuses to defer their needs to meet those of fad or panic buyers.
Tourist attraction
Besides their line of products and their location in Amish country, tourists are also attracted to Lehman's because of the museum-like quality of the store. Some tourists mistakenly think the store sells antiques, but all of the products sold are new, historically accurate replicas. Actual period pieces are on display throughout the store. There is also a small theater where workers demonstrate the use of old-fashioned tools, and the Lehman's bookstore shows films on Amish life for visitors.Lehman's popularity has made it an important tourist destination in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. Some 4,000 visitors come on a typical Saturday, while the annual figure is around 500,000.
Non-electric products
Lehman's claims they are the world's largest supplier of Non-Electric goods. The items offered range from traditional or historical items, such as a selection of 30 different axesAxes
Axes may refer to:* Axes, woodworking hand tools* The plural of axis* Axes , a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane* X and Y axes, or X, Y, and Z axes, perpendicular lines used in the Cartesian coordinate system...
or the Victorio strainer, which is used to make apple sauce and tomato juice, to more contemporary emergency items such as crank powered radios and flashlights.
Traditional or historical
- Apple Peelers
- Bottle Cappers
- Brass cowbells
- Cast Iron cookware
- Crank butter churns
- Foot pedal sewing machines
- Graniteware
- Grist mills
- Hand crank ice cream machines
- Hand driven washing machines
- Hand water pumps
- Kerosene lamps
- Pitchforks
- Water pump
- Wood and coal cook stoves
- Wooden barrels
- Wooden buckets
Contemporary
- Composting toiletComposting toiletA composting toilet is a dry toilet that using a predominantly aerobic processing system that treats excreta, typically with no water or small volumes of flush water, via composting or managed aerobic decomposition...
- Crank powered flashlights
- Crank powered radios
- Gas powered washing machines
- Propane powered refrigerators
Lehman's also has employees whose job is to teach customers how to use their new low-tech acquisitions.
Motion pictures using period merchandise
In the late 1980's Lehman's discovered a new market for their products when they were contacted by a property masterProperty master
The property master is an artistic and organizational employee in a film, television or theatrical production who is responsible for purchasing, acquiring and/or manufacturing any props needed for a production...
trying to locate a cast iron stove for the film Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction comedy Western film. It is the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The film...
. Since the 1990 release of that film, Lehman's has provided historic period props for a number of different films and television series:
- "Back to the Future Part IIIBack to the Future Part IIIBack to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction comedy Western film. It is the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The film...
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"
Flood and recovery
On February 28, 2011, the North Fork Creek, part of which runs beneath the Lehman's store, overflowed its banks, flash floodingFlash flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas—washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a storm, hurricane, or tropical storm or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields...
the store. The 50-year flood
100-year flood
A one-hundred-year flood is calculated to be the level of flood water expected to be equaled or exceeded every 100 years on average. The 100-year flood is more accurately referred to as the 1% annual exceedance probability flood, since it is a flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded...
was caused by thawing temperatures, an ice and snow pack that clogged a five-foot culvert that drained water away from the store site, and a storm that brought 1/2 inch of rain in less than 15 minutes.
The flood sent 18 inches of muddy water through the business that crested at 3 feet in some parts of the structure. The water moved so quickly that it carried an 18 cubic foot refrigerator across the length of the store. Without flood insurance, Lehman's was left to absorb an estimated $100,000 in damage.
As the flood occurred in the early morning hours of the day and lasted less than three hours, Lehman's employees were advised to report to work dressed for cleanup. Hearing word of the flood, many members of the community turned out to help, offering labor, equipment or food for the workers. Because of this, Lehman's was able to open their doors on a limited basis thirty hours later.
Over the course of the next week, the store reopened different departments each day. By Saturday, March 5th, all but two were in operation, in time for a local machinery auction that brought many customers into Kidron. At that time Lehman's began a sale, deeply discounting products that were cosmetically damaged but functional, or whose packaging was damaged by the rising water.
The wood-burning stove department, which was the most heavily damaged by the flood, was the last to reopen. It did so on April 9th, 2011.
External links
- Official website
- Lehman's Facebook page
- Galen Lehman's Twitter feed
- Lehman's Hardware YouTube Channel
- Lehman's Butter Churn Demo (YouTube Video)
- Simple Life Sells at Wayne County Store, feature story from WKSU-FMWKSU-FMWKSU-FM — branded 89.7 WKSU — is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio and owned by Kent State University. The station features NPR, APM and PRI programming, classical music, regional news and, on weekends, folk music....