Double R Grocery Offers a Variety of Everyday Products and Specialty Items
Photographer / Jubilee Edgell
Millersburg is a small town by anyone’s estimation – easily fitting inside 2.5 square miles – and home to less than 1,000 people. For some time, the only grocery store in town was a discount canned food store. Three years ago Richard and Rose Mast, Amish locals, purchased the store and decided to inject some new life into it, creating Double R Grocery.
“We thought the community down here needed a mini E&S store,” Richard says. “There’s another Bent and Dent down in Millersburg. I’m like, ‘Why have two stores doing the same thing? Why not have one with bulk foods and fresh vegetables?’”
From the moment they purchased the store, the Masts’ vision was to open a bulk food store with an in-shop bakery, taking inspiration not only from E&S Sales in Shipshewana but also Rise & Roll Bakery.
“We do bakery stuff to order, but we also do some bread, rolls and cookies that we put out on the shelf,” Richard says.
Although the idea for Double R Grocery was based on well-established businesses in the area, it has most certainly taken on a personality of its own. Many who come to the store comment about the spaciousness and orderliness of the place, and most first-timers become returning customers. Richard says the best part of the job has been “seeing a satisfied customer walk out the door, talking to the local people, and having happy customers that come back again.”
The 12,800-square-foot establishment is filled with everything a kitchen could need. Among the products are meats and cheeses provided by Yoder’s Meat & Cheese Company in Shipshewana, a wide range of fresh produce, spices and seasonings, bulk candy and other sweets, a wide variety of noodles, and bakeware like popcorn poppers and canning equipment as well as everyday kitchenware utensils. For the health-conscious, the store carries essential oils as well as gluten-free and organic foods.
Double R carries more than the basics. The store also carries many unique items including Dot’s Pretzels and Red Rooster vanilla extract, which are difficult to find in Indiana. Other items that the store carries are handmade by local craftsmen, such as crocheted baby items, barn quilts, stained glass and musical wall clocks.
“I kind of look at the other local community store,” Richard says. “If they don’t have it in their store, then I want to put it in my store so that it’s available locally.”
The shop even has a butchering line for customers.
“A lot of the local Amish here do their own butchering,” Richard says. “They need bags to put their meat in, they need seasonings – a lot of them make their own jerky. I have jerky seasonings.”
Double R Grocery is located at 65730 State Road 13 in Millersburg. For more info, call 574-642-4399 and visit doublergrocery.com.
