Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was published in The Floyd Press on August 25, 2011

Kalinda Wycoff and Theresa Cook have been business partners for 20 years and friends for much longer than that.  In 1991  Wycoff, Cook and their co-partner for 18 years, Christine Byrd, opened the New Mountain Mercantile.  It was the first shop in Floyd with a primary goal of promoting regional arts and crafts and providing artists and artisans with a local venue.

“If you look at our original purpose, we’ve been very successful,” said Wycoff, referring to the number of art venues and galleries that exist in Floyd today.   Representing approximately 50 artists, the store carries a range of jewelry, pottery, candles, aromatherapy items, furniture, home and garden accessories, fabric art, wood craft, fine art and photography on a consignment basis.

“On any day we don’t know what kind of art is going to come through the door. That keeps it fresh for us,” said Wycoff, a Florida native whose mother was from Martinsville and whose great-grandfather was born in Floyd.   Along with handmade and handcrafted merchandise, the store also has a selection of boutique gift items, clothing, gemstones, beading supplies, books by regional authors and CD’s by local musicians.

Wycoff, a mother of six grown children, remembers the early days of the Mercantile when the Blue Ridge Restaurant was the only place to eat in town and when she made daily visits for snacks at the Harvest Moon, which was located across the street in the noteBooks and Black Water Loft building.

At that time, Action Video was located next door, where Republic of Floyd Emporium is now housed.  The Mercantile had a stockroom, office and workshop upstairs before it was remodeled into an apartment by the building’s owner, Peter Bartell.    As a business consisting of three families, they kept a crib upstairs for the youngest children.   All of Wycoff’s children have helped in the store at various times and most have had after-school jobs there.  “My kids grew up in this store,” she said.

Two years after the opening of the Floyd store, Wycoff, Cook and Byrd opened another New Mountain Mercantile in Roanoke’s Tanglewood Mall.  At the height of their expansion they owned three stores, including one on the Roanoke Market. The women also each ran businesses, apart from the Mercantile. Cook headed up OLIVUS, an artist’s collective of local arts and crafts that Cook took on the road.  Byrd, who left the Mercantile in 2009 to spend more time with her family and go to massage school, had her first aromatherapy business.  Wycoff owned and operated her own tie dye business called Color the World, which is still active today.

In 2000, as the economy began a downward spiral, the women closed the Roanoke stores, realizing that sales from the Floyd store were carrying all three stores.  To accommodate all the display fixtures and merchandise from the closed stores, the Floyd store took up the whole lower level of the downtown building.   Since then, the store has been downsized back into its original space, sans the upstairs office space.

Throughout the two decades of the Mercantile’s history, its owners have had many employees.  “The people who have worked for us have been like extended family,” said Cook, who was born in Norfolk into a Navy family.  “They are dear friends that we are still in touch with,” Wycoff said.

Today, Deb Smith, who has worked at the Mercantile for more than a decade, manages the store.  “We couldn’t make it without her,” Wycoff said.   Wycoff’s sister Katherine Wycoff Verity has also been a steady employee for more than a decade and is currently the shop’s back-up worker who fills in when needed and “makes it all work,” said Wycoff.

To celebrate the Mercantile’s 20^th year anniversary, special events are scheduled throughout the month of September, beginning with a balloon sale on Saturday morning, September 3rd. The first 50 customers to make a purchase will be invited to pop a balloon at the check-out counter for a chance to win shop discounts, gift certificates and gifts donated by consignment artists.

Also on Saturday from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Christine Byrd will be introducing The Botanical Apothecary, her new aromatherapy business.  She will be answering questions about aromatherapy, giving information about the safe use of essential oils and dispensing samples.

Charles Lytton, author of New River: bonnets, apple butter, and moonshine, will present a book signing and reading on Friday, September 9^th at 4 p.m.  Lytton’s book is part memoir, part history of the region, part cookbook and part country lore.

Meet the Artist events throughout the month will include one with award winning artist Shelley Koopmann and her husband and business partner husband Bill Koopmann on Sunday the 18^th from 12:00 to 2 p.m.  Koopmann, who lives in Smith Mountain Lake, works primarily in pastels. Her original art and prints are popular with Mercantile customers.

On Friday the 23^rd from 4 to 6 p.m. another Meet the Artist event will feature local potter Jayn Avery.  Avery is one of the Mercantile’s core artists and holds the honor of being the store’s top seller for the past 20 years. Refreshments will be served at all events and sales will be featured throughout the month.

As more and more people are making Floyd a destination, Wycoff and Cook say they are hopeful for the future of downtown and are proud of what the Mercantile has accomplished. “There are not a whole lot of businesses around here that have lasted 20 years,” said Cook.  “We just couldn’t sit by and watch the 20 year mark pass by without celebrating it. It’s huge,” added Wycoff.   Colleen Redman

Note: The Mercantile is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m during non-winter months, with extended hours till 8 p.m. on Fridays.  An anniversary picnic for past and current employees and current consigners will take place at Theresa Cook’s house on September 4^th.  Mercantile owners and staff can be reached at 745-4278 (4ART).