“More Than Just a Store”: Michigan Amish Grocery Burns To The Ground
An Amish-owned grocery store in Newaygo County, Michigan burned to the ground overnight — destroyed in a fire that broke out around midnight Thursday. This is From WOOD TV8:
GARFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — An Amish-owned grocery store west of Newaygo burned to the ground overnight.
The fire broke out around midnight Thursday at Brookside Discount Grocery on 72nd Street near Croswell Avenue in Garfield Township.
An employee of the store told News 8 that other employees were on site when the fire sparked, though no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
According to a part owner of the store, he spotted smoke rising into the air from his home about three miles away. The rural nature of the area presented the usual challenges in fighting the fire, with water having to be transported by tankers to the scene.
The one odd detail to my eyes is that employees were on site so late, but perhaps they live on site, or nearby. Perhaps there was a special situation that had them there late.
True to form, by late Thursday morning, Amish community members and an excavating company were already at the scene, working to clear the debris.
The Blue Lake Township Fire Department described the loss in a social media post Thursday afternoon:
“Brookside Grocery was more than just a store — it was an important part of the community and served many families throughout the area.”
What happens next for the store’s owners isn’t known at this point, but it would be surprising if they didn’t rebuild. That seems to be the default Amish response in these cases, assuming they want to stay in the same business.
Newaygo County is home to three separate Amish communities. One is near the town of Newaygo and the other near Fremont; this site of this store is just about in the middle of the two so it’s hard to say which specific community this is.
A Familiar Story
Fires at Amish-owned stores have made news more than once in recent years.
Back in February, we covered the fire that destroyed Baker Country Market in Lemhi County, Idaho — a popular destination for over a decade, resulting in a total loss estimated at $1.2 million.
Dozens showed up the next morning to help with cleanup, with owner Paul Miller saying the show of support meant a great deal: “Thank you seems so little to say to all of you.”
Another recent example is the Rustic Ridge Variety Store in Canton, Missouri, which burned down in April. Less than a week later, a new store had already been framed as dozens pitched in to help rebuild.
And before that, the Amish Community Market and Bakery in Unity, Maine burned down in January 2022 — a well-loved store known for its weekly Wednesday donut day. Cleanup there began within a day, and the store eventually reopened nine months later after help from both Amish and non-Amish neighbors.
Other Amish businesses burn down and are rebuilt with less fanfare and media coverage, of course, with communities quietly coming together to help a family get back on their feet. This “safety net” of community support – financial, labor, and emotional – is a hallmark of Amish society.
It’s worth mentioning that the communities who come together to rebuild benefit in their own ways as well.
That’s because Amish discount grocery stores like Brookside fulfill a real need for both local Amish and non-Amish patrons. For many rural residents, these stores, and others like variety stores, fill a practical gap that larger retailers don’t.
Besides just providing easily-accessible food and other needs, they’re also places for community message boards, a place to grab a bite for lunch if they have a sandwich deli (many of them do), and even meeting hubs to catch up on the news.
So you can understand why the fire department describes it as “more than just a store”. Hopefully we’ll see a follow-up story on this business being rebuilt sooner or later.
Update: “Major Loss”; Community Starts GoFundMe
Well that was quick, as well. The community (presumably non-Amish) have started a GoFundMe to help raise funds for the store.
And Paige Meyer of Fox 17 provides a follow-up report fleshing out the idea of Brookside as “more than a store” with some comments from locals, starting with a woman named Susan Price:
“I passed by it and I thought ‘oh my gosh, that’s Brookside going down’,” Price said.
She said the loss will be felt deeply by the community.
“It’s gonna be a major loss for some of these shoppers up here I can tell you that,” Price said.
Price described Brookside as a staple in the neighborhood.
“This was well trafficked, usually the parking lot would be full,” Price said. “It’s become a part of the shopping habits of a lot of the locals here, including myself.”
Another local named Lucille Meyers said that “It hurts to see this happen. I’m just thankful everyone is safe.”
The store’s owners said that the store would have about 300 customers on “a good day”. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
If you’d like to help, the link to the GoFundMe is here, or find it embedded below. Here is a little bit more, from the fundraiser text, on the Amish family who owned and ran the store:
For years, Brookside Discount Grocery has been a staple in our community, providing families with quality produce, baked goods, bulk foods, and groceries at prices we can all afford. The family was preparing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the store this year. It is run by a hardworking, kind Amish family who have served our community with dedication and humility.
And what the funds collected will be used for:
Because of their Amish faith and traditions, the family does not carry commercial property insurance. The financial burden of cleaning up the debris, sourcing new materials, and rebuilding the store from the ground up falls entirely on their shoulders.
I have spoken directly with the family, and with their humble permission, I have set up this GoFundMe to help them during this incredibly difficult time.
All funds raised here will go directly toward clearing the burned debris from the property, purchasing building materials to construct a new store, and replacing lost inventory, shelving, and essential store equipment.
Store Burns
I also found it odd that employees would be on site at such a late hour. Hhmmm ??
Midnight Hours
I don’t know what the size of this store was but it seems like it was well-known and prominent in the community.
I have Amish friends who work in similar large discount grocery stores and a second shift working past midnight is not unusual. They typically are sorting through the products and getting them ready for the shelves, more labor intensive than a regular grocery store because of the ever changing variety and diversity of the goods and the state they may be in.