Preface: Lancaster County business history – A famous venue in Lancaster County, Shady Maple provides a shopping and dining experience that is not soon to be forgotten. How did it all start, and what is it today? Continue reading….
Shady Maple
Shady Maple began with a roadside produce stand in East Earl, Lancaster County. In 1970 Marvin and Miriam Weaver built a 4,200 square foot store to sell produce, and included an IGA with a grocery department. The building included garage doors to keep the farm market feel, with a large porch for selling fresh Lancaster County produce. Since two cash registers and a few employees in the early days, Shady Maple has experienced huge success in 45 years.
With in two years of opening the IGA, Shady Maple Farm Market employed 25 people and made its first of sixteen building expansions. In six years Shady Maple Farm Market was at 45,000 square feet with ten cash registers and 130 employees. In September of 2000, the Weavers opened the new and nationally famous smorgasbord seating 1,200 people with space for special occasions and meetings. Today spacious banquet facilities accommodate larger groups and seats up to 1,000 people. The smorgasbord serves more than 1,000,000 guests a year. It’s the biggest smorgasbord you’ve ever seen. Highlights of this famous venue: a free meal on your birthday, they can serve 1,900 guests at one time, guests average 7 plates per visit, and the smorgasbord serves 1,000,000 doughnuts per year. That’s enough for 1 in every 300 Americans.
Marvin still believes in the time tested motto: Give the customer quality food and service and you will have a customer for life. Employing 800 employees today, we would need say this motto works.
Ancillary businesses at the Shady Maple Complex include Shady Maple Online Store, Shady Maple RV sales and rentals, and Country Home Furniture.