Sometimes the Darrenkamp brothers flip a coin to make a decision. This time, they just listened to their customers.

It seems that they didn't have much choice. The rumors that they were going to open a market at the former Redner's on Ridgeview Road, Elizabethtown, were flying. Redner's closed in December of last year.

Customers at their Mount Joy store, which opened in 1997, kept asking about the new venture. The brothers even heard there was a sign on the window of the empty Ridgeview Road store announcing that they were hiring. Not true.

Finally, Larry, 53, Dave, 52, and Joe, 48, decided the customers must have been on to something.

They bought the 8½-acre tract with a 43,000-square-foot building about three weeks ago. They expect the new store to open in August or September.

Along with their Willow Valley store near Willow Street, which they took over in 1998, the brothers now have three stores.

"One for each of us, so we won't fight," said Dave.

Celebrating their 75th year in business, the Darrenkamp family holds the distinction of being one of the oldest of the county's family-owned grocery retailers, joining 75-year-old Stauffers of Kissel Hill and 79-year-old Musser's Markets, which are still owned by the families that originated the businesses.

George and Catherine Darrenkamp started the family business in 1932 at 719 Union St., when they opened a general store on the first floor of a row home. They lived next door at 717 and on the second floor of 719, where they they raised eight children, seven boys and a girl. One of the sons was Jerry Darrenkamp, now 79, the father of Larry, Dave and Joe.

In 1948, George and Catherine built a 3,000-square-foot store at 713 Union St., adjacent to their home. That original market was closed in 1999.

In 1985, Larry, Dave and Joe bought the former Dagen's Market at 2842 Willow Street Pike, Willow Street, which they named Darrenkamp's Country Market. It closed in fall 2004.

Now Jerry and his wife, Jane, 75, are retired, but they still help with the business. Jane stuffs more than 600 paychecks every Thursday morning, and Jerry travels the southern end of the county in an old step van two to three days a week, peddling food to about 150 Amish families. "He just loves it," said Larry.

With his door to door route, Jerry is taking the family business full circle, with a sort of modern replication of the wagon his grandfather drove through Lancaster. Harry Darrenkamp drove a horse-drawn wagon and sold oysters, fish and fruit in the city.

The step van Jerry drives gets dirty from going to and from Amish farms, but that dust lends itself to a new form of low-tech communication the family calls Amish e-mail. At one farm, someone might write, "Sadie says hi" to send a greeting to the family at the next farm.

Jerry's route might be seen as an extension of the personal service the Darrenkamps have been known for over the years in their grocery stores.

The personal touch seems to be a large part of what has made customers so loyal.

Not-so-patiently waiting
Samuel Mimm of 113 Sherfield Court, Elizabethtown, stood in the parking lot on Ridgeview Road Wednesday watching as the brothers put up a banner. He was just one of about half a dozen who stopped, blew the horn, waved and gave a thumbs-up in about an hour as they stood outside the deserted building.

Mimm, who goes to the Willow Street or Mount Joy stores several times a week, likes the personal attention he gets from Larry or others in the meat department. "I've been waiting for this," he said.

The personal attention is part of what makes him go out of the way, when he could more easily shop at supermarkets miles closer.

A postal carrier named Vera, who drove up to deliver mail, said, "We're very excited you're coming to town."

The brothers bought the store from Dave Sweigart of Ridgeview Dairy, who owns the 200 acres surrounding the supermarket site.

"They should do a good job here. The people of Elizabethtown are excited about them coming," he said. Of the three stores, the Elizabethtown market is the only one they own. They lease the other two.

Although Larry said that the customers talked them into opening the Elizabethtown store through the excitement they generated, it is obvious that the brothers themselves don't need much encouragement to get excited.

The ribbed each other and joked with anyone within earshot. They ran to chat with folks who were driving by, talked business for a moment, and then just as quickly grabbed a camera and scooted a few feet away to take a few photos as they preserved the milestone of their newest supermarket.

Like three stand-up comedians who have had years to work on their act, the brothers share well-worn tales, poking gentle fun at each other.

"Larry is the oldest, and he got the brains," one of them will say. "Joe is the baby, and he got all the looks," another will add. "Dave, he thinks he got it all," the last will finish. Their sister, Lynn Boyer, 50, also works in the business, as an assistant manager off Jane's Café in Mount Joy. Jane's Café is part of Darrenkamp's supermarkets.

More than managing
Sue Guare, 48, of Lititz, who will be store manager of the new supermarket, takes it all in stride, but also tries to keep the band of boisterous brothers on track. Once she even resorted to "writing up" Dave for not staying on task at the Mount Joy store. She will manage 120 people at the new store.

Guare might be the first female supermarket manager in Lancaster County, but the Sunday News could not confirm that late last week. A representative from the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association said she doesn't meet many female supermarket managers at grand openings she attends, but said her organization doesn't have those statistics.

Guare is the grocery supervisor at the Mount Joy store and has worked for Darrenkamp's for seven years. She has been in the grocery business for three decades.

"The respect she has from her peers is remarkable," said Dave.

The new store will include six gas pumps, with a rewards program that will be tied to grocery purchases. It will also include a pharmacy. The brothers will spend more than $2 million to renovate the store, which will include new flooring, ceiling, fixtures, systems and cases. Hogg Construction of York is in charge of the renovation. Hogg renovated the Willow Street and Mount Joy stores, too.

The brothers also promise a "knock-out" produce section, a deli, a bakery, a seafood section, and a Jane's Café; they are hoping to provide a section of organic and natural foods. The Elizabethtown store's hours will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Something customers probably won't find at other grocery stores in the county are owners acting as parking lot attendants or valets.

But the Darrenkamp brothers, particularly Joe and Dave, are famous for working the parking lot.

Helping customers get in and out of parking spaces quickly is one of their specialties. They even offer impromptu valet service sometimes when it is raining. They'll take a customer's keys and bring the car to the door.

Once Joe found himself in the front seat of a new Prius hybrid car without a clue about how to start the vehicle.

Joking aside, Joe, who is president of the company, emphasized the family's 620 employees. "It's not just me, Larry and Dave," he said.

"Everyone says customers are No. 1. We make employees No. 1, and in turn, our employees make our customers No. 1."

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Maria Coole is a staff writer for the Sunday News.  Her e-mail address is mcoole@lnpnews.com.