In another sign that business is on the way back in Amish and other areas, Amish Acres is reopening following re-branding as The Barns at Nappanee:

They got a small taste of business by selling about 100 take home meals Saturday for Mother’s Day.

And plan to open the restaurant at 50 percent capacity next Friday with an expanded menu with a farm-to-table theme.

The owners say they are expanding on the Amish Acres brand and adding a few twists.

They bought the licensing and still hold tours of the property including the blacksmith, one-room schoolhouse And buggy rides.

The coronavirus significantly delayed the re-opening but the owners say they don’t mind, because they’ve made use of that time to do lots of maintenance, painting and revamping of the property.

Though non-Amish often run these attractions, Amish tourism sends money into Amish pockets as well. Visitors that come for an attraction like Amish Acres may patronize Amish-owned businesses as well. Amish people also work at places like PA Dutch-themed restaurants, as servers, cooks and more.

The new owners have re-hired some of the old workers:

The owners say they’re not sure how many people they’ll be hiring once it’s fully operational, but they’ve already re-hired several employees who know and love the property because they used to work at Amish Acres.

Good luck to the new owners on their venture. I know a lot of people were sad to hear that Amish Acres was closing last year, but looks like the attraction was too good for it to just shut down.

Nappanee Water Tower

In other Amish business news, last week we saw how Amish furniture manufacturers were ready to start production back up. In Ohio that happened, officially, last Monday. From tomorrow, retail stores will be open in the state.

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