OmahaNebraska.com with…
Ashley Evon, and I’m the owner of Marigold’s Mercantile.
Please tell us a little bit about how the idea got started and why you chose the name.
Yeah, the idea kind of came up just happenstance. I was picturing a place that had small local goods, provisions, everything you need for your pantry, and then with that, things like flour sack towels and kitchen supplies. Then it kind of spread to home goods. The more that I researched it and thought about it, the more it kind of resonated with the old school mercantiles and general stores that you used to see on every corner of every small town that had a little bit of everything. So, it kind of stemmed from that idea. I chose the name Marigold because it’s the flower for the month of October, which is my favorite month. My husband and I got married in October, and I love fall and celebrating, so it just made sense. I also thought that “Mercantile” was a good way to explain the business, and I also loved the alliteration of Marigold’s Mercantile. So, it kind of just came together that way. But yeah, I think it fits.
It’s a very lovely store. I haven’t seen anything like this in a really long time, and I haven’t seen anything like this in Nebraska yet.
Yeah, yeah. I actually was visiting a girlfriend in Nashville, Tennessee, and I ran into a mercantile that they have down there when I was still brainstorming the idea. I realized that we didn’t really have anything quite like that yet in Nebraska. There’s also another one, I believe it’s called Des Moines Mercantile, that I follow their social media. They have a really gorgeous social media account and they’ve been a big inspiration to me as well. I haven’t made it there yet, but they look amazing. I’ve been pulling inspiration from other places that have done it, for sure. It’s not just like I came up with the idea all on my own.
You have such a lovely selection and variety. What’s your thought process for that, and how do you find these amazing items?
A lot of things go into selecting the items. I definitely try to prioritize local merchandise, so I’m looking at Omaha, Nebraska makers first and foremost. With some other items we definitely branch out to Iowa, and we have products made in Kansas and in Chicago, Illinois. Any makers that are outside of our little Midwest heartland are still almost always owners of a small, locally owned business in their community, often women-owned. The only time when that isn’t true is with some of the larger brands that produce popular items like the Maldon Salt or Graza olive oil. Those are things that have been really popular lately, and we’ve brought those in because of that.
But to continue to answer your question, the process of choosing a product starts with where it’s from. Then I try the product. Is the product high-quality and a good price point? I think both of those considerations really factor in here. I want things here to feel affordable for people but still be quality, so that definitely factors into it. It also depends on their ordering process. Sometimes when you wholesale order, you can only order, like, 24 of something. I don’t have a lot of storage space, so that can factor in it as well. Some of the deciding factors could be cost or quantity. There are a lot of factors, but I would say ultimately it’s based on whether it’s local or who that business is, and then the quality of the product as well as the price point. And then I think about whether my customers would like it. What do I think they would be interested in?
How did you pick this location?
The way it happened is sort of funny. I was actually just driving through when I was kind of brainstorming the idea, and I saw the “For Lease” sticker in the window. I called the number that was on the sticker, and then I was in this space maybe about a week later to tour it, and a month or two after that, I signed the lease. So, it sort of just happened. It wasn’t necessarily planned. But as soon as I saw that this space was available, I thought, “Well, Aksarben doesn’t really have someplace where you can just grab a greeting card, something to say happy birthday to someone, on your way home from work or school or whatever. There are a lot of people who work here and live here in these apartments or in this neighborhood and a lot of students that go to school here. There are also a lot of events at Aksarben that bring people here.” So, it just seems to make sense. I also grew up right over in Dundee. My parents still live there. My brother lives in the apartments right back here, and my husband and I are five minutes away on Center Street, so the family’s all in the neighborhood. It’s where I grew up, and it sort of just makes sense to be here. But yeah, it was kind of an accident.
You get a lot of tourists here in Aksarben, I’ve noticed, as well.
Yeah, yeah, we do. I think there are three hotels right here in the area, so we get people that are staying here, maybe visiting family or students at the college or just Omaha in general. We also get a lot of people who are looking for fun little Nebraska trinkets or things like that to remember the town they visited.
Having traveled a little bit and lived in other places, I was surprised at the limited selection of those items.
Yes, that’s very true.
I think you’ve got a really great inventory here.
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
And then with all the variety of everything here, everyone should come.
Thank you, thank you. I think that the community here has been so welcoming. I get a lot of people that come in and say that they want me to do well too or ask me how I’m doing, which is always like fun. But everybody’s just been so kind about me being here, and they seem excited about it. So yeah, I feel good about it. I feel good being here.
Tell us what your website and social media are.
So my website is just www.marigoldsmercantile.com. All of my social media is pretty much at Marigolds Mercantile as well. So that would be my handle for Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, which are what I’m on right now.
Please tell us a little bit about your journey to become a business owner and what you did before.
My full-time job was in digital marketing. I had worked from home for about eight years. During that time, my husband and I and his sister and her husband all decided to open a retail store in Springfield, Nebraska, called Remain. Remain is still open and still a functioning business. You can visit there today. They sell vintage furniture as well as some other locally made goods. So that was my intro to owning a business, my intro to retail. I was able to work there very part time while I had a full-time job in digital marketing, so it was easy to ease into that. The Springfield community, being a smaller town, was a little bit more affordable, so it was easier to ease into it financially as well. And yeah, my husband and his sister are from Springfield and their parents still live in Springfield, so that was kind of the connection there. We started Remain almost four years ago now, and that was super fun and exciting. I wanted that, but I wanted it where I grew up, in a way. Also, I think it’s difficult to find and source vintage. It’s very competitive. It takes a lot of time and a lot of work. I still think it’s worth it. I still think it’s really fun. But I wasn’t necessarily trying to carry that over into a new business idea. It was sort of interesting too. I wasn’t necessarily looking to open a retail store and be a new business owner, but I was looking for something in digital marketing and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. Also, there were some twists and turns and bumps on the way. And then, next thing I knew, I toured the space and I was like, “Well, I have an idea that might work here,” and it just kind of happened. But yeah, I have had a little bit of business ownership and a little bit of retail experience previously.
I’m glad you’re here. And is there a question you would have liked me to ask or something you want to say or an item you want to promote?
Right now, I think something special that I want more people to know about Marigolds is that we offer complimentary gift wrapping, and if you want to package up items that you buy in our store in a cute box with a fun ribbon or a bag with tissue paper, we have everything here so you can literally walk in the door, grab a gift, get it wrapped, and go to your event. I think that’s really convenient for people, and I think it would be helpful if more people knew about that because it just makes things easier.
It sure does.
Yeah.
Especially last moment, and also not everyone is, pardon the pun, “gifted” at wrapping.
Yes, and we have different levels. We have cardboard boxes that we can make cute, and those are complimentary. Then we have other options. If you want a wicker basket, you can pay a couple of dollars for a wicker basket or a rope tie basket. Ultimately, you can come in and get complimentary gift wrap for anything that you purchase here for anyone.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, thank you.
Marigold’s Mercantile
2115 S 67th St.
Omaha, NE 68106
(402) 915-0767
https://www.marigoldsmercantile.com
https://www.facebook.com/marigoldsmercantile
https://www.instagram.com/marigoldsmercantile
