A parking-lot pop-up two years ago is now a full storefront with a now-famous 11-foot Amish blow-up greeting visitors at the door. On this Valley Business Today edition of The Valley Today, host Janet Michael sits down at the Front Royal-Warren County Chamber with Chamber Director Niki Foster and Zach Burke, owner of Lancaster County Connection, to talk about how the business grew from a single TLC parking-lot weekend into a home base inside the Loose Cow Mercantile — and what it really takes to run a quality-first, hand-picked retail business as a side hustle.

Zach walks through what makes his lineup different: Amish-made wood crafts hand-selected monthly from two friends' farms in Lancaster County, paint that holds up for seven years, clean-burning Crossroads candles he discovered after his own pets got sick from chemical scents, and Lancaster County Coffee Roasters beans that don't get roasted until you order them. The conversation also gets into the realities of small-business retail — pricing your work without apologizing for it, ordering Christmas inventory in July, and competing on a timeline the big-box stores set. Plus: Niki previews Coffee & Conversation with the new Warren County Schools superintendent, and a Chamber rebrand and new website on the horizon.

VISIT INFO — LANCASTER COUNTY CONNECTION (inside the Loose Cow Mercantile) 18 High Street, Front Royal (the old Happy Creek Coffee Company, behind Bungalow, across from the gazebo — look for the building with the butterflies painted on the wall) Hours: 12–6 daily (closed Tuesdays) • Saturday 10–6 • Sunday 10–6 (aligned with the Main Street farmers market) What you'll find: hand-selected Amish wood crafts, Crossroads candles, Primitives by Kathy, custom-order Amish furniture (~4–6 week lead time), customized mailboxes, freshly roasted Lancaster County Coffee Roasters coffee (taste a sample on the weekends), and a seasonal rotation that goes hard on every holiday. Custom pieces and pre-orders welcome — ask in the shop or via social media

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Lancaster County Connection on Facebook and Instagram (and soon TikTok)

Front Royal-Warren County Chamber of Commerce: frontroyalchamber.com (a rebrand and new site coming soon)

ALSO MENTIONED

• Coffee & Conversation — Friday, June 5 • 9 AM at On Cue • Free, open to anyone (not just Chamber members) • Featuring Dr. Troy Wright, Superintendent of Warren County Public Schools

THE VALLEY TODAY with Janet Michael — A decade of conversations.

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