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The Made in America Store
A new store in the tiny town of Elma, NY has turned the town into a tour bus destination. The store: Made in America, where everything is manufactured in the United States of America.
Shop owner Mark Andol climbs aboard a bus and tells the riders that shopping here is a patriotic act.
“When you walk through them doors, I guarantee when you’re shopping — the homework’s been done — it’s 100 percent made-in-America products. Made in this country by American workers, and the money stays in our economy. So, enjoy yourself,” he says.
Customers pour into the spacious building, which used to be a Ford dealership. American flags and patriotic quotes adorn the walls.
Gloria Giesa of Vaselboro, Maine, says she always looks for “Made in the USA” labels when shopping. But this store saves her the trouble.
Read the rest of this report from NPR.
More from the store’s website, saveourcountryfirst.com:
Mark Andol has one requirement for the products he stocks at his retail store: They have to be made in America – 100 percent, from product to packaging.
So not only is the maple syrup tapped from U.S. trees, but it’s also bottled in U.S.-made containers. Toys are shrink-wrapped in American-made plastic, clothing and American flags stitched with homegrown thread.
Everything is displayed on American-made hangers and shelving in a converted, closed Ford dealership.
“It’s what I’ve always believed in,” said Andol, whose Made in America Store in a Buffalo suburb drew 800 customers on opening day two months ago, including war veterans eager to shake his hand.
The idea has caught on so quickly that Andol is already in franchising discussions, with visions of having a store in every state.
This is one of the best ideas I’ve heard all year!
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Denise on June 23rd, 2011 3:10 pm
When my children were younger, I wanted to open a Childrens clothing/toy store where every piece of every product was made with American materials, by Americans on American soil, sold to Americans who had a desire to see our country succeed. I am so happy to see that this has now been done. I hope it catches on and that there are hundreds of franchises sold and that they all prosper. Its time that we put the money back into American pockets where it belongs!
Peggy Farabaugh on June 23rd, 2011 7:46 pm
Congratulations to Mark Andol and we wish him all the very best in this important endeavor. So happy to see it’s catching on like wildfire too.
Valerie Pfenniger on July 17th, 2011 6:05 am
I am an American citizen ‘transplanted’ to Canada due to difficult circumstances, as a child. The daughter of an American Father, a Canadian Mother, myself born in The United States of America.
I have always felt a longing to return to The United States, but having married a Swiss-Canadian, whose work was here in Canada, that didn’t look like it was possible.
Our children are now grown, and things seem to be shaping up so that we may very well be going to live in The United States in a few months.
I STRONGLY believe in the idea of MADE IN AMERICA and supporting the U.S. economy one person at a time. I don’t know about others, but here in Canada, on my way to work, I am, sometimes, stopped and having to wait for a very long train, and I note that most of the containers that train is pulling have a Chinese logo on them, with products Canadians are purchasing every day. As well, here in British Columbia, one of our primary industries, which was logging, is literally dying. Partly due to infestations by the PINE BEETLE, but long before that, due to government deals to sell whole logs to China. We, then, as consumers, are purchasing finished products of those very same logs, that are done in China, whether it be 2 x 4′s; 2 x 6′s, plywood, or finished wood products. There is something drastically WRONG with that picture, when there are people in this nation with the skills to do all that preparation work, but are having to use their skills in other ways or are out of work, or retrained to do other jobs, because such jobs are unavailable to them, but they still have families to provide for. In Canada, we are fast becoming a nation that relies on tourism, or having a job in a fast-food business, with a few having more ‘elitist’ jobs in the medical or law professions. I am not sure if the same holds true for many of the good people in The United States, but I know that I am old enough to have noticed VAST changes in the economy surrounding me…and feel that it is more than HIGH time that the citizenry woke up and TOOK BACK THEIR COUNTRY. Good on you for promoting that in The U.S.A., through your business.
I hope that you might also consider the practice of LICENSING your business, and not only the practice of selling Franchises. It would allow more people to own your business model, and to promote it more quickly, as licensing is usually less expensive. If you WANT people who are DEVOTED to America to open your stores, then the price point to do so also has to be within a manageable range, or you will only attract those who already have money in their pockets. Most of them probably have that money in their pockets through investments that did NOT, earlier on, encourage keeping the money IN AMERICA, and promoting the American economy to begin with. There is a difference between the two, as a Licensee has a bit more freedom to add other items for sale within their store, whereas a Franchisee would have to adhere to their store being a complete ‘carbon copy’ of your original store, so you need to be aware of that, but you can stipulate in contractual obligations for a licensee that if they add other product lines or partner with another business, that all product sold through their outlet be 100% American product.
If you would like me to expand on that please contact me via my email address, and I will write you personally and give you some thoughts and ideas on compatible partnerstyle business that would work with a LICENSE arrangement of your store.
betty l harris on December 24th, 2011 1:17 pm
i congratulate you on your fine store and accomplishment.
while we haven’t been out that direction to visit, i’d like to
know if this is a franchise business and if i might get information
on doing a small item store here on grand island. (maybe a sub-business
of yours, who knows)
please contact me after the holidays……………..
i currently own metro town center realty inc., and i’m an
affiliate for homesforheroes.com –
if you wish call me: 716-472-3739
betty l harris on December 24th, 2011 1:19 pm
i congratulate you on your fine store and accomplishment.
betty l harris on December 24th, 2011 1:20 pm
please let me know how i might
contact you …
716-472-3739
Frank Maestas on December 31st, 2011 2:20 pm
I would like to open an American Made Store in Colorado Springs, Co.
Do you have any ideas?
How might contact you?
brmaestas@myway.com
Sandi Rogala on May 13th, 2012 9:50 am
I’m interested in doing a franchise please give me some insight.
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