Mentone Welcomes A New Grocery Store
April 19, 2019 at 10:26 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Raber’s Kountry Store LLC opened its second discount grocery store at 105 S. Morgan St. on March 1, 17 years after the Amish family-owned company opened its grocery store in Macy in 2002.
It’s co-owned by Larry Raber, Elmer Schwartz and Cletus Raber.
“There was a high demand for us to open up another location, and this building came up for sale and we just decided the time was right,” Larry Raber said. “And obviously there was no more grocery in town since Allen’s went out.”
Rita Price Simpson, Mentone Chamber of Commerce, said the Dollar General Store that was at 105 S. Morgan St. moved to a building on Ind. 25 and then the Rabers bought former Dollar General building. The town’s other grocery store, Allen’s Country Market, closed its doors at 201 E. Main St. about two years ago. That building is now occupied by Krystal Lybarger’s Deli N Dough, she said.
Raber’s Kountry Store is “discounted groceries as a whole – close dated, outdated, some outdated, frozen foods, cheeses,” he said. “It’s kind of unique, it’s kind of its own little thing.”
“I like to call it Raber’s Super Center,” Schwartz said.
Raber said it’s comparable to Aldi, “but our prices are half price or better as a whole on most of our items.”
He said about 90 percent of the store’s products are name brands.
“We have our ‘sell by (dates)’ that we go by. Obviously, people often ask if this food is good, but we’re not going to sell something that isn’t good,” he said.
The store has some fresh-sliced meats like ribeyes and pork chops “that we slice at our own store and bring up here,” Raber said.
They also have produce.
“That was another thing people were asking for,” he said.
He said reaction to the discount grocery has been very good.
“The town was really excited for us to be here,” Schwartz said.
“It’s been quite a while since they had a grocery. They were pretty glad to see us,” Raber said.
Customers aren’t just from Mentone though, as Bill Knisely and his wife from Kokomo were there shopping Wednesday.
“We shopped the Rabers in (Macy) down the road, and when they built this one here, we stopped there first and then we came up here to see if there were more or different bargains, and there were. We come up here and every two to three weeks,” Knisely said.
The store is about 5,000 square feet and has five or six employees. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
The store is an extension of a dream the family had when they moved to Indiana.
“We originated from Missouri to Indiana in 2002 and that’s when we opened the grocery store (in Macy),” Raber said. “We had family living out here in this area so we moved out, and the dream was to open a store once we moved out here.”
Schwartz said, “It means a lot to me.”
Raber said the town of Mentone welcomed them with open arms.
“They offered to help us with anything we need, obviously, and they did a good job of accommodating,” he said.
Schwartz said, “They’ve been supporting us and we appreciate that.”
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Raber’s Kountry Store LLC opened its second discount grocery store at 105 S. Morgan St. on March 1, 17 years after the Amish family-owned company opened its grocery store in Macy in 2002.
It’s co-owned by Larry Raber, Elmer Schwartz and Cletus Raber.
“There was a high demand for us to open up another location, and this building came up for sale and we just decided the time was right,” Larry Raber said. “And obviously there was no more grocery in town since Allen’s went out.”
Rita Price Simpson, Mentone Chamber of Commerce, said the Dollar General Store that was at 105 S. Morgan St. moved to a building on Ind. 25 and then the Rabers bought former Dollar General building. The town’s other grocery store, Allen’s Country Market, closed its doors at 201 E. Main St. about two years ago. That building is now occupied by Krystal Lybarger’s Deli N Dough, she said.
Raber’s Kountry Store is “discounted groceries as a whole – close dated, outdated, some outdated, frozen foods, cheeses,” he said. “It’s kind of unique, it’s kind of its own little thing.”
“I like to call it Raber’s Super Center,” Schwartz said.
Raber said it’s comparable to Aldi, “but our prices are half price or better as a whole on most of our items.”
He said about 90 percent of the store’s products are name brands.
“We have our ‘sell by (dates)’ that we go by. Obviously, people often ask if this food is good, but we’re not going to sell something that isn’t good,” he said.
The store has some fresh-sliced meats like ribeyes and pork chops “that we slice at our own store and bring up here,” Raber said.
They also have produce.
“That was another thing people were asking for,” he said.
He said reaction to the discount grocery has been very good.
“The town was really excited for us to be here,” Schwartz said.
“It’s been quite a while since they had a grocery. They were pretty glad to see us,” Raber said.
Customers aren’t just from Mentone though, as Bill Knisely and his wife from Kokomo were there shopping Wednesday.
“We shopped the Rabers in (Macy) down the road, and when they built this one here, we stopped there first and then we came up here to see if there were more or different bargains, and there were. We come up here and every two to three weeks,” Knisely said.
The store is about 5,000 square feet and has five or six employees. It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays.
The store is an extension of a dream the family had when they moved to Indiana.
“We originated from Missouri to Indiana in 2002 and that’s when we opened the grocery store (in Macy),” Raber said. “We had family living out here in this area so we moved out, and the dream was to open a store once we moved out here.”
Schwartz said, “It means a lot to me.”
Raber said the town of Mentone welcomed them with open arms.
“They offered to help us with anything we need, obviously, and they did a good job of accommodating,” he said.
Schwartz said, “They’ve been supporting us and we appreciate that.”
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