WAYMANSVILLE — Live bait, ice, beer and wine.
For decades, a weather-worn sign outside the former Waymansville Grocery advertised those four items for those heading off to nearby Lutheran Lake.
But that was before the store at State Road 58 and County Road 930 South closed its doors — and kept them locked for about five years.
However, several improvements began to take shape after the store in southwest Bartholomew County was purchased in October 2017 by Chris and Melissa “Mel” Lewis at a public auction.
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While the red brick exterior at 15693 E. State Road 58 retains the same general design, the interior of what is now called Mel’s Country Market has dramatically changed.
Facelift
Although Mel Lewis won’t say how much she and her husband paid for the building, the owner does say the couple has invested a five-figure sum and a year-and-a-half of time and energy into a complete renovation of the interior and exterior.
“We spent a lot of nights out here working past midnight,” said Chris Lewis, who works full-time at Primary Financial Inc. in Columbus while his wife runs the store. “We basically gutted the entire place.”
That involved pulling up six layers of old tiles covering a beautiful hardwood floor, ripping out a false ceiling, pulling down old plaster from the walls, adding insulation, installing new plumbing, putting in new electrical wiring and doing roof work, the husband said.
“We also sanded, stained and varnished every single board, as well as adding an extensive amount of trim work,” Mel Lewis added.
One of the most expensive renovations was reinstalling windows covered over several decades ago, Chris Lewis said. Since each of the windows were of a different size, every replacement window had to be custom-made, he said.
It was 15 months after the couple purchased the building that the renovations were far enough along that Mel’s County Market could finally open on Dec. 6, 2018.
But the work continues. In fact, the store was closed Aug. 12 and 13 for further upgrades, according to an online notice.
Tasteful and local
A top priority was to buy from local growers who can supply them with premium meats, fresh vegetables and other items, Mel Lewis said. The owner added that she was also able to secure the talents of trained chefs, such as Chelsie Tangman, who provided tasty recipes and innovative culinary creations.
“What I like about Mel’s is that they get foods fresher than what you typically find in a diner or restaurant setting,” Tangman said. “They also support local growers and farmers.”
The couple also recruited a 68-year-old retired executive chef to come in once or twice a week to trim loins, marinate them and hand-bread them into tenderloins with his own recipe, Mel Lewis said.
The menu, which changes daily, might include pizza, burgers and tenderloins on Saturday, only to offer chicken dinners with several choices of side dishes to the after-church crowd on Sunday.
Two top-selling food items are ham salad and chicken salad, which are both whipped up by Chris Lewis’ mother, Shirley Lewis.
And to top off the meals, there are unique desserts such as homemade chocolate mocha parfaits, cheesecake, multiple flavors of gelato and fresh fruit bowls.
Now that the store and restaurant appear to be thriving, the owner says her true goal is to convince restaurant entrepreneur Guy Fieri to feature Mel’s Country Market on his Food Network television program “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” within a year.
Serving the locals
In an effort to fill the needs once met by the former Waymansville grocery store, Mel’s Country Market does offer a full line of groceries. That’s important with homes continuing to be built nearby, including a new housing addition called Cedar Ridge, Chris Lewis said
“Right now, there are about 30 regulars who drop by the store every single day,” Mel Lewis said.
The fishermen haven’t been forgotten. There’s a new sign up outside the business that advertises Canadian crawlers, wigglers and wax worms.
But there are also several unique gifts such as items by local woodcarver and carpenter Lynn Hoeltke, and fine-crafted jewelry by another local artist, Megan Chasteen.
Other gifts include candles, drinking glasses, painted signs, gourmet popcorn, crocheted items and even Alpaca wool scarves in the winter.
Destination
Rather than create an old-fashioned mom-and-pop grocery store, Mel Lewis said she wanted to fashion a destination attraction that offers unique items unavailable elsewhere, her husband said.
On Friday, the couple was pulling in quite a crowd. For example, Lana Owen said she drove her father, Stan Owen, to Waymansville because she had heard many positive things about the new store and restaurant.
“I love the look inside,” Owen said. “It’s so cute and charming.”
Her father said he was impressed by the efforts undertaken by the owners to ensure that everything was just right.
For construction worker Chris Ratzburg, Friday was his first time to have lunch at Mel’s Country Market.
“It’s a lot better than the big stores and restaurants because it’s local and convenient,” Ratzburg said. “They also seem to be more concerned about quality.”
The buzz about Mel’s Country Market seems to be spreading beyond local borders. A few weeks ago, the store was visited by a New York City resident, as well as a man who lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, Chris Lewis said.
“Now, they were both here to visit local people, so they didn’t come just to see us” he said. “But, both said they specifically wanted to check out the store after hearing about it from others.”
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The origin of the first grocery store in Waymansville goes back to 1888, when German immigrant Louis VonStrohe (1846-1928) owned a general store west of what is now State Road 58 for 40 years before his death. He died just months after his store was destroyed by fire for the first time.
His daughter, Minnie VonStrohe Otte (1875-1962), and her husband, Bill Otte (1875-1940), began to help manage the store in 1923. After the first building burned, another was erected on the east side of the highway.
While the second building caught fire less than 10 years after it was completed, the current store opened as Otte’s General Store in 1936.
The store was managed for decades by Orville Otte – the son of Bill and Minnie Otte – until he retired in 1967. Orville Otte would later die at the age of 78 in 1979.
News accounts state the store, which was eventually called the Waymansville Grocery Store, has changed hands several times since Orville Otte’s retirement.
Current owners Chris and Melissa "Mel" Lewis say it had been closed for about five years when they purchased the property in late 2017.
Source: The Republic archives
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What: Mel’s Country Market
Location: 15693 E. State Road 58
Owners: Chris and Melissa "Mel" Lewis
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, closed Mondays
Menu: variety of deli and cooked sandwiches, pizza, chicken dinners, sides such as potato salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, fried potatoes, onion rings
Information: 812-374-4465; melscountrymarket.com
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