by TM Petaccia

It was a connection to “old-timey” service. An actual “milk man.” Weekly, sometimes semi-weekly, deliveries of milk (in glass bottles), eggs, juices, and other items to residents throughout Charlotte and surrounding areas. That era ends Friday. After 25 years, Lakeview Farms will cease delivery operations.

“We are closing due to steady decrease in customer base after COVID to the point we can no longer sustain weekly delivery operations,” says Beth Anderson, Lakeview general manager.

Based in Ft. Mill, Lakeview’s delivery radius extended to Charlotte and Waxhaw. Deliveries were made mostly in the pre-dawn hours to customers, placed in customized milk boxes reminiscent of scenes in old movies and television shows. It offered a range of milk products: whole, 2%, chocolate milk, half-and-half, and whipping cream — sourced from an all-natural dairy in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The cows were raised without growth or production hormones nor antibiotics in its feed. They were allowed to roam free range in grass pastures.

Currently, there are no other regularly scheduled milk delivery services in the area. Freshlist, which offers home delivery of produce and proteins from local farms, does offer milk products from Homeland Creamery, with orders available on Fridays through noon on Mondays.

South Mountain Creamery, based in Maryland, with delivery operations throughout the mid-Atlantic, is gauging interest for stepping in for Lakeview in the Charlotte area, but has not yet made a commitment.