Two very unique and interesting places are just minutes apart about 15 miles east of Wooster, Ohio. Lehman's Hardware, in Kidron, Ohio and Simply Smuckers, the specialty store for Smuckers jelly and jams.Kidron, Ohio is not on any major thoroughfare, but it is only about 5 miles south of U.S. 30 that runs from Canton through Wooster on its way to, and beyond, Mansfield. Not even a stoplight in town, Kidron is also a crossroads for the sizeable Amish population of north-central Ohio.
Lehman's is a unique hardware store (see picture above and right, click to enlarge), and you will be able to find many items you either never have imagined or long-since thought obsolete. A walk through the iron stove section yields both antiques and current stoves for your heating needs (see picture below-left, click to enlarge). Another room boasts what is an unimaginable number of bells, traditionally used for your cow but here for a range of uses (see picture below-right, click to enlarge).
The building has been built on to over time and it has changed quite a bit since I last visited about five or six years ago. A clearance section in a loft area looks over the unique toy selection. The loft gives a great vantage point for the toy train running among the rafters (see picture below-left, click to enlarge). Relatively new is a cafe in the middle of the store. A bit pricey, but capitalizing on the tourism, the cafe has wraps and grilled lunch fare that is worth the cost. Best is the ability for a family of four to dine in "prison" -- an iron jail cell that appears authentic, down to the slot for pushing food through (see picture below-right, click to enlarge).
One of the display areas has the largest (from size, if not quantity) collection of copper kettles (see picture below-left, click to enlarge). I cannot imagine the price tags and didn't even look. Every where you look there are all sorts of antique and unique items displayed on the walls (see picture below-right, click to enlarge).
But make no mistake that this is a working hardware store as much as it is a tourist stop. On a Saturday you bound to find a constant stream of Mennonite and Amish folk shopping in and around the store. It won't take long to see an Amish buggy (see pictures below, click to enlarge).
If you run back north to US 30, then head east for to the next stop light, turn right on Ohio Rt. 57 and about one-quarter mile on your right is Simply Smuckers. While heavily advertised on local radio as a tourist destination, it is probably best coupled with other tourist stops in the area.
The street view and first impressions are striking (see above, click to enlarge). A bright white and well decorated barn greets you (see right, click to enlarge). Inside you can see signage that indicates the "green" approach of the property and how it meshes with the local environment efficiently.The interior looks like a large barn, complete with exposed rafters. When you step inside you see clearly the different branding associated now with Smuckers (Jif, Hungry Jack, Pillsbury, etc.) in banners hanging high off the walls (see below-left, click to enlarge).
The back wall of the store is a tremendous display of colored jelly jars complete with a "strawberry" made of jelly jars hanging from
the ceiling as a type of fruity chandelier (see right, click to enlarge).Architecturally, this is a cool place to look around. But for the specialty-ness of it as a store, it doesn't really score big. Most of what you find in the store you can find on your local grocery store shelves. The uniqueness of this tourist stop is in minor ways. You can sample different jellies at one station. The cafe has some wonderful bakery items and I was tempted to try a "grilled PB&J" sandwich. Never thought of that twist before.
Since this was after Thanksgiving and in the home stretch for Christmas, there were plenty of little stocking stuffers, such as sampler gift boxes complete with unique plates and 1 and 2 ounce jellies. A good idea for those lesser-tried jellies, such as Orange Marmalade. It would take me decades to work though a regular jar of it, but a 1-ounce jar might just fit the bill.
There is a make-shift museum, which entails walking behind the back "jelly wall" of the store to view a view multi-media blurbs of the legacy of Smuckers and a timeline wall tracing the history of the company and its recent acquisitions. As a history teacher, it was a bit odd to see a timeline go from right to left chronologically (see right, click to enlarge). Exiting the museum section, there are Smithsonian type displays of costumes and skates of the Smuckers sponsored Stars on Ice series with many well known figure skaters.Simply Smuckers is well worth the stop if you are in the area. Despite its top-notch radio marketing, it may leave you disappointed if this is your only intended destination of the day. Built about the same time as the Longaberger Homestead series of shops, you have to wonder if Smuckers was trying to capitalize on that market niche (thankfully no giant jelly jar akin to the giant basket at Longaberer).
Since they're dealing in jellies and not kitschy baskets, hopefully there will be some long-term success (the building has been open about 10 years now). With Amish country so near, and "a name like Smuckers," chances are the visitors will be "sticking" around.- J.
