Our History

Four stores and 70 years ago, our grandfather started selling produce door–to–door as a “huxter” in the Cabbage Hill area of Lancaster, PA. He set up a permanent store in 1932 in the front room of their home on Union Street. We called it the “General Store.” Out of that store, he and Grandma raised a family of 8 (seven boys and one girl), one of which was our Dad.

In 1948, they built a new 3,000 square foot store next to their home, operating as George Darrenkamp & Sons. The Darrenkamp family has been doing business for over 50 years from within these four walls.

1985 brought the second Darrenkamp's store into the business. We purchased Dagen's Market in the Willow Street area of Lancaster County. This 15,000 square foot store operates as Darrenkamp's Country Market.

Then in November of 1997, our Mount Joy operation opened for business, a 35,000 square foot store operating as Darrenkamp's Mount Joy.

In September of 1998, we purchased Willow Valley Market in Lancaster. This 30,000 square foot store has undergone renovations and has become a 50,000 square foot, state–of–the–art store, complete with a food court area. This store is known as Darrenkamp's Market at Willow Valley.

Sadly, we closed our Union Street Store on July 31, 1999. Although we are sad to see it go, we look forward to serving our loyal customers at one of our other locations.

It's easy to see how the Darrenkamp family business has grown over time. But the one thing we haven't grown out of is our dedication to our customers. “What separates true customer service from mere lip service is the willingness to put the customer first in everything we do!”