Look at all the flowers! This was my first thought when we entered the long driveway to the tidy country store located on 13312 Schwartz Road, Grabill, Indiana, 46741. The perfectly trimmed grass and white fences make you curious to see just what an Amish country store has to offer.
Large pots of pink petunias are everywhere, decorating the shop’s porch and the grounds around it. You can see a perfect vegetable garden off to the side of the house – flourishing plants with not a weed in sight. Large out buildings and a big house are also nearby.
Inside, you’ll be met by a peg-board wall with several beautifully delicate Amish capes and hats on display. Made of fine white gauze, these are clearly special-occasion clothes, not your everyday work wear. You’ll also see some plastic containers at kid height filled with tiny dice and other trinkets that small ones would like to explore.
Katie’s Kountry Korner is something of a general goods store. Behind the counter is a large room filled with bolts of cloth and other sewing materials. This shop specializes in making Amish quilts – although you can also purchase other sewing supplies, too. One woman was buying a number of zippers and ordering more things as I walked in. The cashier was friendly and straightforward – she explained how they put together their quilts and demonstrated the versatility of the fabrics they used for making useful yet lovely products.
There is also a great deal of Amish-made furniture in the back of the shop. Large bedroom sets, shelves, and other great-sized pieces of wooden furniture gleamed in the dim light of the back room. This being an Amish store, they use non-grid power for the lights and other appliances. You can sometimes hear the carpentry shop at work in the background, turning out another piece of good craftsmanship.
While this shop has carried a variety of goods in years past – wooden toys, coloring books, canned food items, painted lamps, etc. – what caught my eye this visit was the painted china clock. It was a square white plate carefully done with purple blossoms and green leaves. Hung above the cashier’s desk, it peacefully counted away the minutes while a small baby woke up in his bassinette behind the counter. The cashier picked him up and continued on with her work, unfazed. The baby seemed to like being where the action was, too.
If you’d like to experience a little bit of Amish culture, I highly recommend that you check out Katie’s Kountry Korner. It’s so country, yet so near.
