TheMercantileStore.com

Has it really been 20 years since The Mercantile opened?

That's what the calendar says - twenty years - since we opened on August 23, 1988.

We will be celebrating on Saturday, August 23rd beginning at 10:00 AM with a ribbon cutting by Pendleton Mayor (and former Mercantile employee) Carol Burdette.

What we started with:

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The store started out smaller than it is now - with the register off to the right as you came in, and a temporary back wall not far behind where the register island is now. That moved further back to just in front of the stamp area until 1998, when a tree through our roof hastened a planned expansion to what you see now, including our classroom and demonstration counter. The counter shifted to the middle, and our selection has evolved over the years. Can you believe that when we opened we did not even carry rubber stamps??? And when we first started carrying them Connie demonstrated embossing right at the register counter? And now we offer more than 200 different class titles in stamping, jewelery making and more. My how we have grown!

A Family Business:
Bill & Connie started the business, and were joined over the years full time by daughters Terri and Cindy, but the whole family has been involved in some way - youngest daughter Regina worked here while still a student at Clemson, grandson Bobby worked here while he was a student at Clemson, and son-in-law Matthew worked here, too. Other family members have assisted during holiday or Spring Jubilee weekends - and kids and grandkids alike love to offer Connie advice on what line of merchandise (or flavor of candy) she should order next!

We hope you can join us on the 23rd for our celebration.