Lehman’s Country Life

One of the newspapers in Cleveland ran an article about Lehman’s. I managed to find the link and thought it might be of interest to the readers.

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Today I posted a new Front Page on Lehman’s web site, when I posted the new page I did not link the USA Made toys to the proper place. This has been fixed, hope it did not cause any problems for anybody.

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Join us THIS SATURDAY (September 29th) for the Cast Iron Cafe Open House from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Lehman’s in Kidron. The cafe will be in full swing, serving gourmet sandwiches (including the Fine Swine – ham and cheese, lettuce, tomato and honey mustard on soft pretzel bread, pictured here), wraps, salads, soups, pastries, desserts, hand-dipped ice cream and coffee concoctions. Free food samples will be offered including fruit smoothies and freshly baked cookies.

Pictured here is Tammy, our illustrious cafe manager, serving up the Fine Swine, and also a delicious vanilla cappuccino which I imbibed in about 2 minutes (made with Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee).
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Kidron Ohio is the home of Lehman’s located a bit more than an hour south of Cleveland (come visit), situated in Wayne County. Lately, the area has received a lot of exposure on the web including multiple listings on You Tube

Among the listings are a virtual tour of Kidron (see them all)

And an Amish Auction (No they are not auctioning off Amish! )

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Last weekend I had dinner with an old friend who’s now Mommy to a bouncing 4-month-old baby boy. We had the usual heated discussions about teething, sleeping, doctor’s appointments – all the things on new moms’ minds. My friend mentioned that she had started pricing jars of baby food at her local market, since her son is about to start eating cereal and after that, “real” food. She was astonished at the simple ingredients (applesauce = apples and water) and the higher-than-expected cost. “I think I’m going to make my own,” she said. Remembering my own shock at baby food prices, I gladly pointed her toward a baby food maker from Lehman’s.

This thing is great. Small, well-made, portable (take it to grandma’s house, out to eat, etc!) and so easy to use even the baby could do it … well, almost. (I’m fairly sure my 2-year-old could handle it now.) Best of all, it’s affordable. And when you add up the money you’ll save – not to mention the cupboard space! - on all those jars of food, this is one little accessory I think every new mother should have.

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My office, which used to be in a tiny corner of the warehouses in Kidron, is now about five miles north, along with our warehouses and several dozen administrative staff. Even though our World Headquarters (as we jokingly call it) is off site, I still make sure I get down to the store several times a week. Sometime I have to park in the cow pasture (I am serious — watch your step!) and as I hoof it into the store, I glance at all the license plates in our parking lots. Texas, California, Florida, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, of course Ohio, Washington, Montana — this was on one day, folks. The most interesting one was a lovely red BMW with Hawaii plates. I wish I had taken a picture of it. How did it get here? Plane? Boat? It certainly didn’t look like one of those hydrocars.

It’s all informal surveying, but after I check out the license plates (something, by the way, my Dad has elevated to a science) I take a moment to check out the guest book, that stands unassumedly in the lobby of our 1840s era barn. I also keep my ears open for comments that customers make. I thought you might find them interesting, too.

• This is where the new merges with the old and years hold many memories
• Mommy, is this a store or a museum?
• This is the Rolls Royce of hardware stores.
• Thanks for doing your part to save the earth
• You were green before green was in
• I’ve never seen anything like this!
• They could charge admission for this place (we don’t, by the way)
• There’s nothing like this in my country. (from a woman visiting from Japan)
• I make it a point to visit every year. (lives in Texas)
• My Dad [or uncle, or brother-in-law or insert other relative's name here] would love this place.
• Lehman’s hardware rocks (presumably from a teenage visitor, but who knows)
• Every member of our family, from grandpa to little Timmy, can find something they love at Lehman’s
• My husband was late to his own wedding because he couldn’t leave this store.
• I was on a missions trip in Eastern Europe and we found your catalog in a remote orphanage in Russia
• Thanks for your water filters, which we use to purify post-operative IV solutions (from a doctor in West Africa, via e-mail)
• Finally found the pieces to repair my grandmother’s oil lamp — now we can use it every day

Glenda

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Until now, Lehman’s has limited our exposure to radio and print ads, as well as web sites. We are now moving into television. We will be airing this video on Time Warner Cable in Northeast Ohio on channels like Home & Garden Televison, History Channel, The Travel Channel and more.

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As with anything new there is a period of time for discovery and learning. This is certainly a constant around Lehman’s and as such, it is also a constant with our newly lauched Country Life Blog. No matter how much testing is done, there is always something that crops up. I am pleased to announce that the feedback so far is extremely positive, and the problems few, most of them are my own oversights. One of the questions that has been asked through the stalls of Lehman’s barn (office) and in the loft, is the difference between a post and a comment. I thought I would address this question on Country Life for the world to see.
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There is nothing quite like the harvest time, but some fall seasons can bring an embarrassment of riches. Not so long ago, the neighborhood where I live was one of California’s premiere apple growing regions. Even though most of the old farms have given way to more lucrative wine grape cultivation, the months of October, November and December still bring thousands of pounds of fresh local apples to the marketplace.

The familiar popular varieties are all there – your Fuji, your Rome, your Delicious (red and golden), your Granny Smith – but who among us knows the delights of the Bellflower? Or the Star-king? Or the Hortley? In an apple growing region you can sample the lusty Stayman Winesap, the doughty Arkansas Black, the versatile Gravenstein, the stupendous Black Twig, or even the beguiling Sleeping Beauty, and buy of each in quantity.

True to the American commercial tradition, you can save a lot of money under the unit price if you purchase in bulk, so a whole box is always the best buy – and yet the iron that entered the soul when all those 50-pound crates of apples were purchased at the orchard tends to oxidize when those boxes are lugged into the kitchen and just sit there, waiting for you to DO something with them.

Three handy solutions are: DRY ‘EM, PIE ‘EM, AND BUTTER ‘EM.
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Recently Lehman’s was featured on WKSU, the local National Public Radio Station in Northeast Ohio. The report by WKSU’s reporter Karen Schaefer is about 4:34 minutes in length, and includes an interesting interview with Nik Sohar, our Kidron Store Manager. The report also talks about Lehman’s beginnings and successes. WKSU has posted the report on their web site along with some nice photographs of Lehman’s Kidron Store and surrounding area. You can listen to it in streaming audio using RealPlayer, Windows Media Player or download the MP3 and listen to it through any MP3 player.
Click here to listen and see the photographs.

Download the MP3 by Clicking Here

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