May 2020
CINNAMON ROLLS FOR THE KIDS
Last week we had the great pleasure of donating 300 of our FRESH BAKED CINNAMON ROLLS to the Buddy Pack Program for the Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success and Hannibal Public School District #60. The Buddy Pack Program feeds tons of kids everyday throughout the Hannibal, Missouri area and is very much needed, especially in times like these. There are many programs like it throughout the country. Probably a few in your neck of the woods, too.
During these crazy times we really need to focus on doing what we can for each other – big or small – everything (and everyone) can make a difference. There is no limit on how much we should “love thy neighbor” and we try to live by that rule everyday at Dutch Country General Store. What so many of us take for granted is the ability to eat a decent meal. (If you have had the privilege of eating my wife’s cooking it’s always a great meal!) But, so many kids out there don’t always get a good meal, let alone a treat like a homemade style cinnamon roll. You probably know that we are almost famous for our selection of fresh baked items in our stores – pies, cinnamon rolls, cookies, breads, and more. We know the joy a happy, full belly can bring to folks and we wanted to share some of that joy with the kids.
I encourage you, now and always, count your blessings and see what you can do for your neighbors. Lend an ear, lend a hand, lend a dollar, or even a loaf of bread. It doesn’t take much to make a big impact.
Hope to see you real soon!
March 2020
A Note From Levi Regarding the Coronavirus Outbreak
Dear Friends,
With news of the Coronavirus, we, at Dutch Country General Store would like to let you know that we are implementing some enhanced measures to ensure your safety, and the safety of our team, while still providing the service and products you have come to know us for.
With that in mind, we wanted to update you on the actions we have taken in response to the outbreak.
Here’s what we’re doing:
• We’ve enhanced our already robust cleaning techniques of all areas, including not only customer areas, but also our warehouse, packaging room, ice cream and coffee area, and deli areas. We are also cleaning our facilities frequently with recommended sanitizing products and encouraging all employees to have increased vigilance about frequent hand washing.
• While we are known for our wide variety of free food samples in store, we are suspending this practice until further notice. Unfortunately this also includes our free popcorn, however we are still offering free ice cream cones and free coffee, as always.
• In addition, we are taking steps to ensure the welfare of our team. This includes instructing employees who feel ill to stay home and consult their healthcare providers.
Rest assured, we look forward to seeing you and want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to promote a safe and pleasant shopping experience. As always, if you would rather shop by phone or online and have your order shipped to you, we are here to help. Please call us at 641.722.3678 or visit www.dutchcountrygeneralstore.
Take care and keep the faith,
December 2019
GRATEFUL FOR GROWTH: DUTCH COUNTRY GENERAL STORE TO OPEN LOCATION IN HANNIBAL, MISSOURI
2019 has been an exciting year, and this final month on the calendar is proving to be the icing on the cake. Not only do we get to celebrate the birth of Christ, but we also get to announce that a second location for Dutch Country General Store will be opening in “America’s Hometown”, Hannibal, Missouri in Spring 2020.
If you haven’t been to Hannibal, Missouri I highly suggest you take your family (or your pretty girl) down there for a visit! We looked all around the midwest for places to open another store, and I’ve got to tell you that Hannibal stood out loud and proud. We will be located in the historic downtown, but in all honesty, the whole town is pretty historic.
Being the home of Mark Twain (who is almost as funny as me) is what they are most famous for down there. You know, he’s the guy that wrote the stories about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn? Turns out those stories and characters are all based on people and places in Hannibal and the adventures Mark Twain had when he was growing up there along the banks of the Mississippi! Back then his name was Samuel Clemens. Someday I’ll tell you how he decided to change his name, but that’s for another day. Anyway… they also have caves, riverboats, haunted historic mansions and more. And in Spring 2020 they will have their very own Dutch Country General Store!
We have been very blessed to continue to grow and expand this year. Our new cooking show, Dutch Country Kitchen, has become very popular. Looks like my wife, Erica, and her friend and co-host Diana Upton-Hill, may be back in 2020 with more recipes. Our website continues to grow as we have added many, many new products that all have my stamp of approval! We are shipping products all over the place to every state you can imagine! We also made the INC5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies again this year! And now we have announced a new store coming soon. There is just so much to thank God for.
And I want to thank you, all our great new friends (and the old ones, too) that we meet in-store and online every day! You are a blessing to us and we are thankful for your business. We look forward to seeing you again in 2020 online or in our stores in Bloomfield, Iowa and Hannibal, Missouri! Stop by and see us real soon!
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
LEVI
Ok ok… they also asked me to include the “official press release”. Here it is… (click the image below)
September 2019
7th Anniversary & Fall Festival
We hope you'll celebrate our 7th Anniversary & Fall Festival with us at Dutch Country General Store!
Dutch Country Kitchen live in-store event – “Make It With Pumpkin” Baking Contest
Saturday, Oct. 5
Entries due by 9 am
Judging behind closed doors at 9
Display & winners announced at 10:30
Prizes! (Gift cards $25, $50, $100)
Pumpkin painting – for the kids!
10:30-3:30 Saturdays, Oct. 5 & 12
Just $1 make & take per pumpkin
Coloring contest
Ages 12 & under
Great prizes!
Pick up your coloring sheet in-store, or print online
HUGE SALES
27% off ALL TOYS
27% off cast iron cookware
27% off Poly Lawn Furniture
Buy 2 jars of salsa, get 1 bag of chips FREE
Live music
Oct. 12, Noon-2pm
Fiddle stylings of Jaden Birkner
And MUCH MORE!!!
September 2018
Hard Work and Persistence Really Does Pay
Dutch Country Living Lands Spot on Inc. Magazine’s List of Fastest-Growing Private Companies – the Inc. 5000
By Levi Good, Proprietor, Dutch Country
A couple months back I got an email that was humbling and also exciting. It was from the editor of INC Magazine, letting us know that we had been selected to be on their 2018 list of the 5,000 fastest growing companies in the United States. There is only 1 other retail company in Iowa on the list. I was blown away! So many great companies have been on the list in the past including Microsoft, Dell, Domino’s Pizza, Timberland, Yelp, to name a few.
Many people don’t know that Dutch Country Living is the parent company that runs Dutch Country General Store, Amish Made Poly & Poly Furniture USA, and is headquartered right here in rural Davis County, Iowa. My wife, Erica, and I run the company with the help of our amazing team including managers Brenda and Jack.
In 2012, when I was all of 21(and a little crazy… ok I still am) I took over the reins at Dutch Country General Store, which was in some rough territory at the time. Since then, we’ve been able to grow the retail location about 250% or so. It’s a huge blessing to be able to do what we do. Trust me when I say I never thought, growing up on my dad’s dairy farm in Virginia, that I’d end up an entrepreneur. We focus on delivering a great experience through all our brands, both in the store and online, and delivering authentic Mennonite and Amish made products throughout. That’s what makes us special, I think.
Our store, just outside of Bloomfield, Iowa, is a popular tourist stop. On any given day about 75% of the cars in our parking lot are from out of town, and many out of state. People seem to love our Amish wood furniture, bulk foods, candy, candles, heirloom quilts, fabrics, wooden toys, jar goods, and more. They come back over and over and they shop online at the website from wherever they live. We ship orders all over the country every week!
In 2016 we started Amish Made Poly, a poly furniture company. Right away we experienced huge growth and it continues to double in size every year. Still, we try so hard to remain true to authentic Amish roots. Our poly furniture (adirondack chairs, rockers, gliders, swings, etc) is not made in a big factory somewhere; it’s made in small shops on Amish farms using the same traditions of quality building that they’ve been using for hundreds of years. Sure, the material is now recycled poly, rather than wood, but the tradition of fine craftsmanship remains the same.
All in all we are so thankful to our customers, to YOU, for all your support and love of our products. We try our very hardest everyday to deliver great service and quality items we can stand behind. Without you we could have never made the Inc.5000 list for 2018, so THANK YOU!
Levi
July 2018
Summer 2018
Good day to you and yours,
Sunday afternoon took me to the couch looking through my old photo album when I was a pipsqueak. Ah yes, the joys of Summer as a child… As you can see in the photo, even at a young age I was an accomplished cherry pitter. My oldest sister, Heidi, was sorting them, I was pitting them, and I think Mom was acting as the inspector/supervisor. My other sister, Elizabeth, is probably hiding behind the couch in the living room reading a book. 😉 (But don’t worry, I’m sure I found and made her wash all the dishes.)
After pitting the cherries we would lay them on cookie sheets and freeze them so they wouldn’t all stick together in one big clump. After they are frozen we would then put them in pint or quart bags. We could then enjoy them all summer long in smoothies, with mixed fruit, or in cherry cobbler.
We had two cherry trees behind the calf barn, and it was always my job to protect them from the blackbirds, which I always thought was counterproductive because for each cherry the birds ate, that was one less that we had to work up…
Photo taken June 2006. I was 15, Elizabeth on the right was 16, and Heidi on the left was 17.
I also ran across this photo which was taken a few years later in the summer kitchen. We were still doing cherries and, yes, it looks like we found Elizabeth (the one with the towel on her head) and made her help this time. 🙂 It also looks like mom must have fully trained us and no longer needed to supervise the work. You’ll note we were still using the same cherry pitter all those years.
Now comes the great responsibility of teaching my own children the value of hard work, along with the concept that by working now, one can then enjoy the fruits of one’s labor later. There really is nothing like eating food that you prepared and put up yourself, especially when you get to work as a family.
I also swindled my mother out of her amazing cherry cobbler recipe 🙂 (Yes, that is her actual recipe card; some people still use those…)
I hope you have an amazing summer, filled with the joys which God’s creation affords. Don’t eat too much cherry cobbler and be sure to share some with your neighbors.
Hope to see you real soon!
Levi Good
March 2018
Easter
Hello folks,
Well winter is almost over, and boy am i glad. The ice on the ponds is melting and the ice houses are about full and will hopefully last till the ponds freeze over again next winter, so now we can get back to building chairs and taking care of our customers in the store. Before we know it it will be Easter and the flowers and lilies will be coming on. One of my favorite memories of Easter is when i was growing up in Virginia we would all drive across the mountain into West Virginia to go to Uncle Jimmy’s Place for Sunday lunch. After we were all fat and full, in the afternoon, we would all go outside for an Easter egg hunt. Uncle Jimmy would always hide the eggs and some of them would have candy in them and some would have $1 bills and some $5 bills. Now that’s great but what no one realized was that he always hid them in the same place, and there was always one hid on the far side of the property in an old fence post hole. This one was extra special – it had a $10 bill in it. Jackpot!!! Every time !!!
Now that I am a little bit older and don’t get too many thrills out of hunting Easter eggs, one of my favorite things about Easter is Communion and foot washing on Good Friday. I know a lot of you have probably never even heard about foot washing but it is still a common practice in our circles, and one of my favorite ceremonies. It’s a time where we are reminded that no matter what our walk in life – no matter what our position in family or church or business – we are to be like Christ and serve Him by serving others. It’s a real special thing that means a lot and has a great message. No matter what you are doing this Easter, take some time to remember what it’s all about.
Levi Good, Proprietor
Dutch Country General Store
October 2017
5th Anniversary & Fall Festival
The weather is startin’ to change which can only mean one thing — fall is upon us! And that also means we are celebrating our 5 year anniversary of owning Dutch Country General Store. My wife, Erica, and I bought this place believing that we could help our family (and yours!) by providing great products and that old-fashioned kind of service we don’t see much anymore. It’s been a long journey — and we still have a ways to go — but we always enjoy seeing you all at the store, talking to you on the telephone, or even emailing through our website. (The website part isn’t that old fashioned…we know.)
To celebrate the arrival of fall and our 5th anniversary we are offering 25% off everything in our online store for the entire month of October! (Except our Amish Made Poly Furniture — you’ll have to call me and try to talk me into that!) But, hey, they say it’s never too early to start your Christmas shopping so get a start on it now! The kids will love finding some Melissa & Doug toys under the tree this December. It’s all 25% off when you use the code ‘5YRS‘ at checkout. Of course, we’ve also got our best selling Amish jar goods, bulk items, old-fashioned candy, and more so take a look. We appreciate your support and we look forward to serving you for another 5 years and beyond. Many blessings to you!
