Town’s fortunes have been reversed as community partnerships flourish

By Bridgett Hernandez | KPC News 

Grabill -

For a small community, a grocery store has the power to bring people together, but sometimes “you have to lose your grocery store or your gas station before you appreciate it,” said Wilmer Delagrange, Grabill Town Council president.

This was the situation Grabill found itself in, in 2005. Amish resident Elmer Lengacher said the town was headed in the wrong direction.

“Our grocery store left, the gas station closed up, businesses were closing up left and right in this town,” he said.

Concerned members of the community — both Amish and non-Amish — came together to discuss possible solutions for bringing a grocery store back to the community and getting the town back on the right track.

At one community meeting, the idea of pooling resources to create a co-op grocery store was proposed, Lengacher said. As a result, 86 families each put $5,000 forward to get the ball rolling. A year later, the investors opened a Save-A-Lot.

“This is where the Amish and the non-Amish — we call them ‘English’ — work together,” he said. “This community is strong on working with each other. We need each other.”

The Save-A-Lot in Grabill was the first in the chain to open under a co-op, Delagrange said. In talks with the chain, he said Save-A-Lot considers the Grabill location its most successful operation out of 1,200 stores.

“It’s turned our whole town around,” he said.

The venture was such a success, the same group of investors decided to invest in a second community grocery store, Grabill Country Sales, a bulk food retailer offering Amish-made foods and goods. The store is right next door to the Save-A-Lot.

“You would think that Grabill Country Sales would be in direct competition with the Save-A-Lot, but they’re not,” Lengacher said. “They feed off of one another.”

Save-A-Lot offers groceries at prices that allow it to compete with larger stores such as Walmart and Meijer, while Grabill Country Sales offers specialty items that are hard to find elsewhere.

Lengacher, who is on the board of directors that oversees both stores, said the success of the Save-A-Lot has opened doors for Amish and non-Amish people to find ways to work together. These partnerships have splintered off into other cooperative ventures.

Our Country Home, a non-Amish owned business that employs many Amish workers, is another example of community collaboration, Lengacher said. The company is the largest manufacturer in Grabill, making store fixtures for Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Bass Pro Shop, among others.

A busy man, Lengacher also owns OCH Manufacturing, a company that ties individual vendors into Our Country Home. These business partnerships have opened a world of friendship, he said.

“There’s new friendship and business entrepreneurs that I’ve met throughout this that’s unbelievable,” he said. “By opening up and not staying in our own condensed little world, it’s amazing what you will find.”

Lengacher is excited about Grabill’s future and the partnerships that have yet to be realized. A few ideas he’s hoping to make a reality include a restaurant and hotel “in the Amish fad,” as well as a concept he’s calling “dinner on wheels,” a horse-drawn buggy ride that tours the Grabill countryside while its riders dine.