Inside an Amish Grocery Store

There is a common misconception that the Amish don’t use canned goods or other packaged foods, but they do. At “bent-n-dent” stores in Amish communities the grocery items are often close to their “best by” date and are sold at an economical price. One thing that the Amish are well known for is their frugality as their everyday lives revolve around farming, family, and worship rather than shopping.

Inside an Amish store like this you won’t only find food items, but also some household goods – not unlike general stores and dry good shops around the country that have a smattering of products for a variety of needs.

The Amish are a group that have a belief system based on community, faith, and abstaining from modern diversions. They also value self-sufficiency, which in itself reduces their interactions with the outside world. As such many Amish communities largely keep to themselves. But, that doesn’t mean they don’t have stores and you can go to them even if you’re not Amish. The owner of Miller’s Country Store in Kentucky says more “English” (non-Amish) shop their than Amish so it just goes to show that they do business with the general public, not just their own community members.

This does make a certain sense since most English households have a car and might stop in on a whim on their many travels. There is also a huge curiosity about the Amish which one can imagine draws in the wider public to find out what’s for sale inside an Amish store.

The really interesting thing about this store is that, unlike most groceries, there’s no electricity or refrigerators: the heating and lighting are done the old fashioned way. You won’t find the bright, fluorescent lights of the supermarket here. So how do they manage as the sun goes down without lights? You can watch as Erik (of the Amish America channel) visits one of these stores and talks with the owner about how the shop is run, heated, and maintained. It’s fascinating stuff!

See inside this quaint Amish grocery in the video below.