Changing with the times while staying true to their roots
Lehman’s offers customers a chance to live simply in a high-tech world
Lehman’s has been catering to those looking to lead the simple life since 1955. Photos by EMILY CANNING-DEAN
DALTON – When Jay Lehman first opened Lehman’s on Kidron Road in 1955, it was just a small, one-room shop.
“Dad started this company because we wanted to make sure the Amish people, who he respects greatly, had access to products they need. His goal was to help them preserve their way of life,” Glenda Lehman Ervin, vice president, said.
More than 60 years and multiple additions later, the majority of Lehman’s customer base is not Amish, but the store still helps them to preserve their way of life.
“We have many Amish-made items in the store,” Ervin said. “In the Amish community it is very important to work and live at home. For example, we have these hickory rockers here that are very popular. The gentleman who makes them has taught his son and then his nephews how to make them. It keeps us connected with our roots.”
Just as they did in the beginning, Lehman’s offers virtually everything an individual would need to live without electricity such as water pumps, wooden stoves and butter churns. These are still some of the most popular products, but the 35,000-square-foot store also includes a variety of food and kitchen ware, lamps and lighting, home and décor, gardening supplies and tools, health and wellness products and toys, books and games.
“At the core we are about living a simpler life,” Ervin said. “Not all of our customers are people who live off the grid. For some people they just want to do things for themselves like have a garden or raise chickens. In this busy, high-tech world we live in we can still do things in old fashioned and fulfilling ways.”
Ervin said Lehman’s works on the basis of four pillars. The first is to live a satisfying life.
“I don’t need to garden or bake,” Ervin said. “I could go buy what I need at the store, but there is something about doing this with my daughter and creating special memories.”
The second pillar is to be understandable. If an iPhone breaks, the owner of the phone needs to go to the Apple store to get it fixed, but a basic push mower like the ones sold at Lehman’s are more understandable and the owner could repair them on their own much easier.
The third pillar is staying sustainable.
“We are borrowing the future for our children,” Ervin said. “We want to make sure to live in the present without taking that from our children.”
The fourth pillar is all about relationships, like eating meals together as a family and enjoying old-fashioned board games together with family and friends.
While staying true to these roots is important to the Lehman family, they also realize the importance of changing with the times.
“By the late 1970s big box stores like Walmart or Home Depot were popping up,” Ervin said. “We couldn’t compete with things they sold like paint, which used to be something we sold a lot of, but by the time the energy crisis of the '70s was happening other people had stopped selling things like wood stoves, so people started coming to my dad. We were getting people in from the local area, but also started seeing customers coming in from Cleveland or Pittsburgh or even farther out.”
Mail order also became popular in the 1970s, so Lehman started offering a catalogue which helped to get the word out nationally. By the mid-1990s the company started its website.
“Someone once asked my dad why he was using high-tech to sell low-tech and he explained, ‘That’s where the people are,’” Ervin said.
As the popularity grew, the company expanded. Lehman’s doubled in size by 2007 and a loop through the store is now a quarter-mile. A café has been included and provides a spot for shoppers to take a break and enjoy some coffee.
Besides selling a multitude of items – many U.S.A.-made or even locally made – Lehman’s also puts a big focus on education.
“Now we have a room where we can do classes,” Ervin said. “Education is a big piece. The 'what' is the butter churn, but the 'how' is showing how to use it, and then there is the 'why.' Why does it taste better? Why is it better for you?”
With more than 300 varieties of soda and 70 varieties of root beer available, one class is set up for a root beer tasting.
“It is done kind of like a wine tasting,” Ervin said.
Anyone interested in learning more about the many items, events and classes Lehman’s has to offer should log on to Lehmans.com.
Ervin said the website will also let customers know store, outlet and café hours, as they change with the season.
“Dad started this company because we wanted to make sure the Amish people, who he respects greatly, had access to products they need. His goal was to help them preserve their way of life,” Glenda Lehman Ervin, vice president, said.
More than 60 years and multiple additions later, the majority of Lehman’s customer base is not Amish, but the store still helps them to preserve their way of life.
“We have many Amish-made items in the store,” Ervin said. “In the Amish community it is very important to work and live at home. For example, we have these hickory rockers here that are very popular. The gentleman who makes them has taught his son and then his nephews how to make them. It keeps us connected with our roots.”
Just as they did in the beginning, Lehman’s offers virtually everything an individual would need to live without electricity such as water pumps, wooden stoves and butter churns. These are still some of the most popular products, but the 35,000-square-foot store also includes a variety of food and kitchen ware, lamps and lighting, home and décor, gardening supplies and tools, health and wellness products and toys, books and games.
“At the core we are about living a simpler life,” Ervin said. “Not all of our customers are people who live off the grid. For some people they just want to do things for themselves like have a garden or raise chickens. In this busy, high-tech world we live in we can still do things in old fashioned and fulfilling ways.”
Ervin said Lehman’s works on the basis of four pillars. The first is to live a satisfying life.
“I don’t need to garden or bake,” Ervin said. “I could go buy what I need at the store, but there is something about doing this with my daughter and creating special memories.”
The second pillar is to be understandable. If an iPhone breaks, the owner of the phone needs to go to the Apple store to get it fixed, but a basic push mower like the ones sold at Lehman’s are more understandable and the owner could repair them on their own much easier.
The third pillar is staying sustainable.
“We are borrowing the future for our children,” Ervin said. “We want to make sure to live in the present without taking that from our children.”
The fourth pillar is all about relationships, like eating meals together as a family and enjoying old-fashioned board games together with family and friends.
While staying true to these roots is important to the Lehman family, they also realize the importance of changing with the times.
“By the late 1970s big box stores like Walmart or Home Depot were popping up,” Ervin said. “We couldn’t compete with things they sold like paint, which used to be something we sold a lot of, but by the time the energy crisis of the '70s was happening other people had stopped selling things like wood stoves, so people started coming to my dad. We were getting people in from the local area, but also started seeing customers coming in from Cleveland or Pittsburgh or even farther out.”
Mail order also became popular in the 1970s, so Lehman started offering a catalogue which helped to get the word out nationally. By the mid-1990s the company started its website.
“Someone once asked my dad why he was using high-tech to sell low-tech and he explained, ‘That’s where the people are,’” Ervin said.
As the popularity grew, the company expanded. Lehman’s doubled in size by 2007 and a loop through the store is now a quarter-mile. A café has been included and provides a spot for shoppers to take a break and enjoy some coffee.
Besides selling a multitude of items – many U.S.A.-made or even locally made – Lehman’s also puts a big focus on education.
“Now we have a room where we can do classes,” Ervin said. “Education is a big piece. The 'what' is the butter churn, but the 'how' is showing how to use it, and then there is the 'why.' Why does it taste better? Why is it better for you?”
With more than 300 varieties of soda and 70 varieties of root beer available, one class is set up for a root beer tasting.
“It is done kind of like a wine tasting,” Ervin said.
Anyone interested in learning more about the many items, events and classes Lehman’s has to offer should log on to Lehmans.com.
Ervin said the website will also let customers know store, outlet and café hours, as they change with the season.