ABOUT
A walk through the aisles leads shoppers from everything to paint, light bulbs and mailboxes to brooms, a full line of caulk, contractor nails and tarps. Midlakes Metal Sales also makes keys and mixes paint, stocks DeWalt and Bostich tools, and sells solar panels. The Amish rely on such panels and inverters to charge their batteries. "Our store used to be huge, but now it’s filled," "We really need to expand it already." The store portion of the business is 2,400 square feet, with the two warehouse barns totaling 17,000 square feet.
Enos Swarey opened Midlakes Metal Sales in 2011. He employed three people at the time. The business originally catered to both the Amish and Mennonite communities, as well as contractors, primarily selling metal roofing and supplies, lumber and trusses. Today, the business is a limited liability company with 10 partners, said Christine Burke, who has been with Midlakes Metal Sales from the start and serves as its accountant. She said the company attracts "quite a few" general contractors from not just Seneca County, but also the nearby counties of Tompkins, Yates, Wayne and Ontario because of its prices and customer service. However, with the recent addition of a hardware-store component, the business is now gearing itself to homeowners, too. Midlakes Metal Sales assumed the inventory of the Ovid Hardware Store over the summer and expanded its lines, Burke said. It now offers plumbing, heating and electrical supplies in addition to the usual potpourri of hardware-store items.