Amish Business Names and a "Hidden" Bulk Food Store!

By Kevin Williams

One interesting aspect of some Amish communities is their business names.  In some Amish settlements there seems to be a very deliberate decision to not put surnames in a business name  For instance, in some Amish communities (Arthur, Illinois is one) seeing store names like Yoder's Fabrics or Beachy Bulk Foods is not uncommon at all.  But in other Amish communities, you never see that.   The Amish in Wayne County, Indiana are hewing close to the tradition of not calling attention to one's self.  So here you see business names like "Fountain Acre Foods."  And a produce stand operated by the Zook family has the name "Eastbrook Produce."   And the other day I discovered a bulk food store called Indian Hill Bulk Foods and a greenhouse cheerily named "Sunny Smile."  These Amish don't need to hire advertising pros, they are creative enough on their own to come up with different names!

Fun business names are common in Wayne County, Indiana a "daughter community" of Lancaster, PA's Amish

The Wayne County, Indiana Amish community is known for the bustling bulk food store, Fountain Acre Foods.  But I discovered another one on 1150 West in Wayne County : Indian Hill Bulk Food Store.  There's not much signage, nor much store space, but it's a neat place.  In fact, as much as I love Fountain Acre Foods, there is a quaintness about these small home-based Amish businesses that I enjoy more than a bigger store. Visiting them is like a treasure hunt. This little bulk food store consists of a single, long aisle with shelves on both sides. Fully, fully stocked shelves, plus a produce cooler in the back.  I carried Aster into the bulk food store and we walked into the cooler and Brrrrrrrr.  "My legs are cold!" Aster exclaimed.

The tiny trailer behind the big barn is the "bulk food store"...it looks like nothing from the outside, but the inside is full of bulk food treasures

A small wooden walkway leads to the store....if you are in the Wayne County area or passing by on I-70, this place is worth checking out!

Despite having just a single aisle, the store was stocked with pastas, produce, candy, Amish sundries, hard-to-find stuff like Therma-Flo (a thickener many Amish cooks use).  This store likely caters heavily to Amish living nearby.

We picked out a few fresh peaches from the cooler to take home since we were about out of fruit (Aster loves fruit) and then it was on the neighboring farm for some melon.  More about that tomorrow.