BROWNSBURG, Ind.– When Sarah Simon stepped away from her high-octane public relations job for drag racers Courtney and Brittany Force of John Force Racing, she opted to take things in a completely different direction.

“I originally wanted to open a wedding barn in the area and have like a farm-to-table store and a farm-to-table restaurant. And I couldn’t really get the land that I wanted in the area that I wanted,” she recalled. “So, my husband suggested that I just open the farm-to-table store now.”

She officially opened The Hayloft in Brownsburg over four years ago.   

Located right off Main Street, The Hayloft is a gourmet-based grocery store that she describes as “an indoor, year-round flea market and small bakery” all under one roof.   

We’re headed to Brownsburg for a taste of Indiana’s finest gourmet goodies on this trip In Your Neighborhood.         

“I pretty much looked at what the area needed and I thought Brownsburg really would like somewhere that you can come get gourmet treats… a lot of local things,” Simon explained.

The Hayloft offers a huge variety of gourmet food items like local honey, jams and preserves, sauces, plus goods like candles and much more.   

In all, they stock items from more than 50 local and regional vendors.  

“We have about 85-90% Indiana [vendors] at this point,” she said. “But we have had people request things from like Michigan or Illinois, Ohio so we have kind of become more regional, but we try to stay true to the Indiana products.”  

Customers also love shopping for fresh eggs, cheese, and meat.   

“We use Fischer Farms from Jasper, Indiana… Then we use a poultry farm from Bradford, Ohio, and it is the best chicken you will ever have,” Simon added. “I do not buy meat from the grocery store anymore at all. We only have Fischer Farms and Kings Poultry at home.”

If you’re a coffee lover, the shop’s selection is truly unique… starting with their signature blend.

“We actually have a Hayloft blend because we have a Hayloft cupcake that is a white cupcake with peanut butter icing and then chocolate and caramel sauce on top. Then, we did that in a coffee flavor, and it has been really popular,” she said.

The shop also offers coffee flavors like wedding cake, blueberry pie, chocolate raspberry, sugar cookies, mint chocolate chip and snickerdoodle.  

“We use Julian Coffee and it’s private labeled for us so we kind of pick out flavors and a lot of flavors are based on what our cupcake flavors are,” said Simon.

The bakery case is packed with sweet treats like iced cookies, lemon bars, cheesecakes, and their best-selling cupcakes.  

“We have over 90 flavors of cupcakes now and we just do different ones every day. So, you may come in here on Monday and it’s a whole case of flavors and if you come in the next day and they are all completely different,” Simon noted.  

When it comes to holiday gifting, The Hayloft has been a hit for gift baskets, whether you’re creating them on your own, or opting for something specially assembled in-store.  

“We definitely get people that are like I don’t know what to buy, I want Indiana products. And I can put them in the direction of our best sellers and things that could be a good gift,” she said. “We get a lot of people that send goodie boxes and goodie bags to people in the military and family out of state.”

Four Things You Need to Know about The Hayloft:

• The Hayloft is located at 1016 E Main Street in Brownsburg. The shop is open Monday Friday from 10 am-7pm, Saturdays from 10am-5pm and closed on Sundays.   
•  Owner Sarah Simon describes the gourmet-based grocery store as a “year-round indoor farmers market.” They specialize in carrying locally made products and currently feature about 50 local vendors.
• The shop also has a bakery case full of delectable house-made cookies, lemon bars, cheesecakes, cupcakes and other treats. The shop also partners with Julian Coffee Roasters for their own line of coffee inspired by their wide array of cupcake flavors.
• When it comes to grabbing those special baked goods or special items in time for the holidays, it’s always good to call ahead if you can to place your order, especially if you want one of their charcuterie boxes (called “grazing boxes”) which are all special-order right now. However, if you want to just grab some last-minute cookies or cupcakes, you can just come on in and shop the bakery case.   

For more information about The Hayloft, check out the website by clicking here. For more photos and reviews by local Yelpers, check out their Yelp profile. You can also connect on social media via Facebook and Instagram.

While in Brownsburg, check out these other locally owned favorites:

·         Best Friends Coffee & Bagels

·         Rockstar Pizza

·         Press Play Gaming Lounge

·         Gizmo’s Galleria