With much of the country’s bricks-and-mortar economy shut down, e-commerce has been thriving. Ohio-based Lehman’s – specializing in off-the-grid and old-fashioned items – is one business that has seen its sales spike.
The Wooster Daily Record looks at Lehman’s experience over the past couple months. Some products have been in especially high demand. So what are people buying? The first item mentioned doesn’t surprise me at all:
KIDRON — Lehman’s sold a total of 20 Wahl Hair Clipper Sets in 2019. Over the last two months, it has sold more than 900.
“We had to take it off the website due to the limited supply from the vendor,” said Glenda Lehman Ervin, Lehman’s vice president of marketing, who added the item is also on backorder.
People have had to become their own haircutters in this unusual time. This is what the Amish do normally, and now the English do too.
Three product categories have been most popular: “essential items, comforting items and planning ahead items.”
The essential items allow customers to heat, feed, light and replenish the water supply in their homes, nearly all without electricity. Popular items include shelf-stable food such as canned and freeze-dried meats, water pumps, oil lamps and other non-electric lighting options.
The comforting items range from books to baking supplies, puzzles to board games. Sales of outdoor items also are starting to spike due to the warmer weather, more than usual at this time.
Some other examples of products that have seen a huge spike. Kerosene cookers:
The store also has sold 48 Alpaca Kerosene Cookers over the last two months compared to the one it sold over this time last year.
And to fight off boredom, good old-fashioned jigsaw puzzles:
Lehman’s sold 786 copies of its most popular jigsaw puzzle, “Things I Ate As A Kid,” in March and April. Over the same time last year, the store sold only three. The store can’t replenish its stock because the factory had to shut down during the pandemic.
“Things I Ate As A Kid.” That could be an interesting topic.
Image: Lehman’s
A warehouse worker says the volume is twice what they see in the Christmas season. The company has also joined in to help out with masks and other needs:
The store also is selling thousands of masks made by local Amish seamstresses. Lehman’s was donating a free mask for every mask kit it sold, but found there were more pressing needs, such as general medical care and food supplies. So it is now donating money, food and other items in an amount that exceeds the value of the masks.
Read more on Lehman’s here.
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Would like to see your merchandise. Thank you!
Lehman’s Catalog is Online.
Sue,
Just a week or two ago, I went to the Lehman’s website, and downloaded a current Lehman’s catalog.
Go to the URL below to download a digital version of Lehman’s catalog.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.lehmans.com/downloads/catalog/Spring20P1.pdf
USA Made
Lehman’s has many good products, including many Amish Made and other USA Made items. I’ve been a customer of theirs for many years.
We really like Lehmans! We’ve been getting things from them for years, and have always found them good products and great customer service. We even visited their store once and spent a whole day there. It was great! Makes sense that people are getting back to basics through them. Happy for Lehmans
Love Lehman's!
I’ve had their site bookmarked for a few years now, & love them for the occasional hard to find item from my childhood that’s still so useful in today’s world. As much as I like having a paper catalog to flip through, I try to be mindful of the waste they cause, so paperless it is.
Same As It Ever Was
Some things don’t change – in light of modern day tech ‘glitches’ and problems, I would imagine that most things in the life of an Off Grid family are ‘regular’ instilling a great sense of security and confidence in communities that are self-reliable and independent.
I think it is a Golden Rule for Self, Community and Country; To be Self Sufficient and Efficient (don’t wait for others to do it, do it yourself and Teach at the same time ((as well as learning!)) ). Spreading Love and Light into the Darkest Lonely Corners, My Best wishes to you all.