Megan White is all about supporting local and female-owned businesses. To help elevate them and introduce others to the products women create, she opened Mercantile on Main.
This brick-and-mortar gift shop features home goods, jewelry, bags, SisFlips candles, and many handmade items by 11 local artists.
“I was inspired to open this store because I wanted to find a way to support as many local female artists and vendors as possible” explains White. “The majority of the items in the store are made by females in the United States, are faire trade, and a we even carry a small section of retail items.”
The goal at Mercantile on Main is to keep as much small shops and local boutiques in business as she can, while they all support each other as women.
“It’s not a competition,” she says. “There is room for all of us to succeed.”
“There is room for all of us to succeed,” she says. “It’s not a competition.”
Amid the impending holiday rush, White reminds customers that the inventory in her shop isn’t stuck on cargo ships. “Our inventory comes from the hands of women makers from their homes to our shop,” she says. “And nothing makes me happier.”
She enjoys working with these women-owned businesses, who send a handwritten “thank you” card for her support. “It’s a ‘thank you’ for supporting their small business or at-home business and giving them a platform to also succeed,” says White. “That is what I’m most proud of – paying it forward the same way other women did for me and my small candle ‘side hustle.'”
When you visit Mercantile on Main, you’ll find that the inventory is always changing. The shop has vegan and non-vegan leather bags, jewelry, pillows, throws, hats, scarves, soaps, candles, tea towels, string art, wreaths, homemade signs, and cards.
“You can find a gift for anyone here,” adds White.
White is looking forward to transforming the store into a Winter Wonderland as we head into the holiday season.
Mercantile on Main is located at 6869 Main Street in Newtown, Ohio. White says it’s a 5-10 minute drive from Anderson, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Madeira, Mariemont, Indian Hill, and Eastgate.
You can follow along with Mercantile on Main on Facebook and Instagram, where she posts new inventory daily.
