About us
Hello, my name is David. My wife Nancy and I have been married coming up on the 23 year mark. We make our home at Austin Lake in Portage, where we have lived our whole married life. In fact, Nancy has spent her whole life on Austin Lake.
We have two children, both graduates of Vicksburg High School. Mary, our daughter is 21 years old. Mary was enrolled at WMU her freshman year as Spanish major. She was also a member of Bronco Band. Mary decided she really did not want to spend the rest of her life in the language field. In September 2010 she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of Michigan in Muskegon and is working to become a Chef. She will graduate this fall (2012). she aspires to be an event planner working in the catering industry. Our son, Mitch, who is 19 graduated Salutatorian from Vicksburg High in 2010 and is enrolled at Lee Honors College at WMU and is also in the engineering program studying Mechanical Engineering. Mitch will be entering his Junior year this year at WMU. We’re very proud of both of them, and you can on occasion catch Mary helping out at the store during term breaks from school.
What got us in this predicament: In the spring of 2006 I started selling items from my brother’s estate on ebay. I caught the selling bug so bad, I decided to seek other products to buy and sell on ebay. I started by purchasing about $2000.00 worth of door locks from a local store that was going out of business. I then purchased a pallet of kitchen faucets from a liquidation company.
I wanted to have a product that was fun to sell, yet top quality. I had remembered what a great product the Tervis Tumbler was, as well as how hard they were to find. I contacted the Tervis Tumbler Company from Ospry Florida and began purchasing insulated drink ware from them to sell on ebay, and eventually on my own website called “Lakeside Mercantile”. Things were moving just fine until I mentioned the word ebay to my Tervis contact. “David, we do NOT allow Tervis Tumbler sales on eBay” was what I was told (that’s funny; they still sell them there today, everyone except me). I was not told any of this prior to filling up our double car garage with about $12,000.00 (wholesale) worth of Tervis Tumblers.
Well, to try and make a long story short. Tervis changed the way they allowed the marketing of their product. If I was going to sell them on the internet anywhere, I would have to comply with their new sales policy. Part of the new sales policy was to have a Brick and Mortar store location. Wow! This is supposed to be a part time venture, to keep me occupied and add a little coin in my pocket!
I worked at a local Mechanical Contractor at the time managing a pipe welding fabrication shop. Nancy was a school bus driver for Vicksburg Schools.
In my early life I had worked retail for several years and loved it. I knew if I stayed in it I would have had very little time with my family. I had always wanted to own a hardware store. In Nancy’s early life she worked in her family’s glass business, so we both had some previous retail experience. Anyway, Nancy and I started to talk, and the more we talked, the more serious we became about opening a small store. Our original focus was to be on the casual living lifestyle of lake living. The more we researched the more we leaned toward specialty kitchen. And that folks, in a nutshell is how we ended up in the retail specialty kitchen business.
We have two children, both graduates of Vicksburg High School. Mary, our daughter is 21 years old. Mary was enrolled at WMU her freshman year as Spanish major. She was also a member of Bronco Band. Mary decided she really did not want to spend the rest of her life in the language field. In September 2010 she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of Michigan in Muskegon and is working to become a Chef. She will graduate this fall (2012). she aspires to be an event planner working in the catering industry. Our son, Mitch, who is 19 graduated Salutatorian from Vicksburg High in 2010 and is enrolled at Lee Honors College at WMU and is also in the engineering program studying Mechanical Engineering. Mitch will be entering his Junior year this year at WMU. We’re very proud of both of them, and you can on occasion catch Mary helping out at the store during term breaks from school.
What got us in this predicament: In the spring of 2006 I started selling items from my brother’s estate on ebay. I caught the selling bug so bad, I decided to seek other products to buy and sell on ebay. I started by purchasing about $2000.00 worth of door locks from a local store that was going out of business. I then purchased a pallet of kitchen faucets from a liquidation company.
I wanted to have a product that was fun to sell, yet top quality. I had remembered what a great product the Tervis Tumbler was, as well as how hard they were to find. I contacted the Tervis Tumbler Company from Ospry Florida and began purchasing insulated drink ware from them to sell on ebay, and eventually on my own website called “Lakeside Mercantile”. Things were moving just fine until I mentioned the word ebay to my Tervis contact. “David, we do NOT allow Tervis Tumbler sales on eBay” was what I was told (that’s funny; they still sell them there today, everyone except me). I was not told any of this prior to filling up our double car garage with about $12,000.00 (wholesale) worth of Tervis Tumblers.
Well, to try and make a long story short. Tervis changed the way they allowed the marketing of their product. If I was going to sell them on the internet anywhere, I would have to comply with their new sales policy. Part of the new sales policy was to have a Brick and Mortar store location. Wow! This is supposed to be a part time venture, to keep me occupied and add a little coin in my pocket!
I worked at a local Mechanical Contractor at the time managing a pipe welding fabrication shop. Nancy was a school bus driver for Vicksburg Schools.
In my early life I had worked retail for several years and loved it. I knew if I stayed in it I would have had very little time with my family. I had always wanted to own a hardware store. In Nancy’s early life she worked in her family’s glass business, so we both had some previous retail experience. Anyway, Nancy and I started to talk, and the more we talked, the more serious we became about opening a small store. Our original focus was to be on the casual living lifestyle of lake living. The more we researched the more we leaned toward specialty kitchen. And that folks, in a nutshell is how we ended up in the retail specialty kitchen business.
Fast forward to 2010
In August of 2010 we relocated our store from Portage Road in South Portage near the lakes to the Oakwood Plaza in the heart of Kalamazoo. The Mercantile Kitchenware and Gift is located at the corner of Whites Road and Oakland Drive in a nice sized shopping plaza with lots of activity. This is a perfect fit for us! We have as close business neighbors; Sawall Health Food Store, Bacchus Wine Liquor and Specialty Food, Pacific Rim Asian Food Store, and the best D & W Grocery Store in the chain. We also have several restaurant choices nearby including; Fletcher’s Pub and Oakwood Bistro right here in the plaza, and Martel’s just a short distance away.
We had about 3200 sq ft in Portage and here in Oakwood we have just over 5000 sq ft
We had about 3200 sq ft in Portage and here in Oakwood we have just over 5000 sq ft