NORWICH – American Homesteader puts quality above all as the neighborhood store with everything needed to “do it yourself” naturally, selling fine Amish furniture, beer and wine-making kits, cheese and yogurt-making supplies, natural food, homeopathic remedies and herbal supplements.
Mike Posson had a vision to open a store for “country folks and other people who live off the land or make things for themselves.”
He did just that on February 27, 2010 when he opened the doors of American Homesteader located at 6167 State Highway 12 in Norwich.
“It started out as a homesteader type store. I wanted a store that sold homesteader-type goods and hard-to-find items. We also had natural foods, herbal remedies and other homeopathic items. Then we got into fine Amish furniture,” said Posson.
Posson said he was fortunate to have an Amish family friend who came from four generations of furniture builders. The family friend had owned his own furniture store and directed Posson in the retail furniture business.
“My Amish family friend made connections for me of what he considered the best of the Amish builders and put me in touch with them,” said Posson.
While Posson said the furniture is obviously beautiful and of good quality, he said it is the qualities you do not see that makes fine Amish furniture so valuable.
“It's the hand selection of the materials, the wood, and the finest and most modern finishes known to man. It's going to last longer. Their goal is to build heirloom stuff; it's supposed to last generations,” said Posson.
“It's a personal thing. It's a pride. They take pride it what they do,” he added.
Posson said along with selling fine Amish furniture, he wanted to peak the public's growing interest in taking care of their health naturally by selling herbal supplements, sports supplements, vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies, essential oils and natural oil tinctures.
The NOW product line is American Homesteaders lead product line in herbal products. The family-owned company was developed in 1967, lists more about what it puts in its products than the FDA requires and guarantees the types of ingredients and percentage of ingredients it puts in its products.
“I chose them because I consulted with a number of other health food stores about what product they would choose if they had to start again, and the NOW product line kept coming up. It's a superior and quality for a midway price is what other health food stores were teaching me. We've found in the last five years here it's true,” said Posson.
Along with fine Amish furniture and natural health items, American Homesteader has several do-it-yourself items like beer and wine-making kits, soda pop-making kits and cheese and yogurt making supplies.
“It's healthier for you, you can adjust your own sugar. Now you have the ability to put the quality of ingredients you want into your beverage. You have so many more options and styles of beer and wine. It's very easy to get started, because have complete equipment kits with step by step instructions,” said Posson.
“When it comes to cheese and yogurt making. If you can make a cup of coffee, you can make a cup of yogurt, and we can show you how,” said Posson.
Posson also collected a selection of books on homesteader type subjects like how to raise your meat, canning and freezing meets, natural medical remedies, cooking on a wood stove and several other types of similar topics.
American Homesteader does not just have books on how to cook but also the supplies to cook with like its selection of Lodge cast iron cookware, which is the last company left in the United States that makes cast iron products.
“Everything else moved to China. Cast iron cookware is making a real comeback. People are finding out the non-stick cookware we use is bad for your health. The company has very unique and old fashioned designs because they have been around for awhile,” said Posson.
American Homesteader even has natural ingredients and food items like bulk oatmeal or flour, a variety of spices, local honey and maple syrup, Pennsylvania beef jerky, high-end balsamic vinegars and olive oils people can sample and much more.
“We are getting more into natural food items. We put quality above all else. I hope to continue the growth in all the different areas that we cover. I like just what we are doing, and I just want to keep expanding it,” said Posson.
Posson said he has been blessed with wonderful employees who are knowledgeable and enjoy helping others including longtime employee Tim Brown and the recently-hired Briana Pepe.
“They make people comfortable and help them find what they need,” said Posson. “We hope people will come in and see what we have to offer.”
For more information, visit the American Homesteader Facebook page, call 334-9941 or visit stores.americanhomesteader.net.