This Amish owned craft store is really the only one that's operated in the Amish settlement of Reistville, PA . Since the Amish woman who owns this store along with her husband was so friendly, i thought id give their business a mention in Amish Stories. I had been inside of this store about 6 months ago and gave everything a quick look, so i thought since i was in the area taking pictures i might as well stop in and see if i could talk with someone. The first thing that i noticed while walking inside is all those gas lamps were now gone, replaced with conventional light bulbs. I was greeted pretty much at the door by a Amish woman id say in her early 40s, and i was pleasantly surprised at how open and friendly that she was. She told me that she's been in the craft business for over 20 years, and a lot of the wood products seen in these pictures were made by her husband. Her home and woodshop are only up the road from where this store is located, and i think its in a very good location mostly because it sticks out like sore thumb among Amish homes and farm pasture. I wanted to know if she had ever given advertising on the internet any thoughts because of the increasing Amish shops that are now starting to do that. And from what i got from our conversation is that she would be open to the idea of having a internet web page, but her husband is very old school and sees no need for the internet for there business. In addition to being a retail business, this store also sells wholesale to other craft stores mostly located in Lancaster county. I asked if her business has slowed down a little in this sluggish economy and was told yes, mostly from her wholesale orders being down from a few years ago. As i was about to ask her another question, her phone rang. I smiled and said "you have a phone also". The phone is her life line to other craft stores who order wholesale items from her, so its one of the compromises that are made for her business to survive in these tough and competitive times. I told her that i had a blog on the internet and that at some point i would be posting these images along with her story. So if your ever in Lebanon county and would like to see explore its Amish settlement, you owe it to yourself to stop by this Amish craft store and say hello. Of course buying something would be very nice, and i think you might because the prices are i think very fair. Richard from Amish Stories.
