Lehman’s, the iconic mega general store/low-tech superstore in the Wayne County village of Kidron, is among the companies showcased in a new virtual exhibit of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.
Stories in the exhibit, “America’s Mailing Industry,” tell the story of the partnership between the U.S. Postal Service and private industry, according to museum publicity.
What’s Lehman’s connection with the postal service? Lehman’s calls itself a “multi-channel,” retailer, selling items at its store, online and through its mail order catalog.
Products include wood stoves, gas refrigerators, oil lamps, housewares and hand tools.
Glenda Lehman Ervin, vice president of marketing for Lehman’s noted the catalog and online business is larger than the retail business. The catalog helps to drive online sales she pointed out.
The Lehman’s portion of the virtual exhibit notes the company produced its first mail order catalog, “which was just a bundle of Xeroxed papers with hand written prices on them” in the late 1970s.
To see the exhibit, go to http://postalmuseum.si.edu/americasmailingindustry/Lehmans.html.
Future plans include an on-site physical America’s Mailing Industry exhibit at the museum.