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PROVO — A local Amish grocery store called Apple Creek Bulk Food Co. recently opened its second location in Utah at 1331 S. State Street.
Store owner Greg Arlint opened the first store at 875 N. Main Street in Willard in 2012, and Utahns “absolutely love it,” he said.
“Some people who either served a mission or grew up back East, they walk in and they instantly recognize it for what it is,” Arlint, a Montana resident, said. “It’s kind of old-fashioned and just good, quality stuff that Utahns really like.”
Apple Creek offers jarred goods, jams, jellies, a variety of pickled foods, old-fashioned candy, a variety of butters, deli meats and cheeses, grains, beans, dried fruits, nuts and several gluten-free options like pancake mix and pasta. It also sells rustic Amish furniture, Arlint said.
Arlint, whose father and grandfather have both owned grocery stores, has a background in grocery management and grew up with Amish neighbors in Montana.
One of his neighbors currently runs a store similar to Apple Creek in Montana, so Arlint decided to start one in an area that wouldn’t take business away from his neighbor. Although he lives in Montana, he travels to Utah every two weeks to check up on the business.
“We have what’s in the Amish stores back East,” Arlint said. “It’s friendly and low-key; we don’t even have music playing. It’s more like country-ish, and people like that.”
All the products at Apple Creek are shipped from Pennsylvania or Ohio and are either produced by Amish people, through Amish suppliers, or are the types of food the Amish like, Arlint said.
“Most people want to come because we have birch beer, which is harder to get out here,” Arlint said. “The people who grew up back East love the Lebanon bologna; that’s a big seller.”
To learn more about Apple Creek, visit its website or Facebook page.
