Lorrie Hamilton, left, owner of Mayville Mercantile inside the former Mayville Monitor newspaper building, sells a cast iron star to Doug Fox of Mayville, right. Hamilton’s assistant, Darlene Johnson, is in the background. The store plans a major expansion into a vacant building abutting it in downtown Mayville, population 950.
By Tom Gilchrist
Staff Writer
MAYVILLE — Lorrie Hamilton likes to repurpose things, and she’s planning a new use for a significant portion of downtown Mayville.
Hamilton, owner of Mayville Mercantile which opened in 2014 inside the former Mayville Monitor newspaper building at 6071 Fulton St., has purchased a former auction business next door that had been vacant for several years.
Mayville Mercantile — billing itself as a seller of “antiques, collectibles, creative handiworks, primitives and candy” — is in a 1,000-square-foot building. The building next door, however, provides an additional 4,700 square feet.
“Possibly we could set up a farmers’ market or a flea market type of thing,” said Hamilton, of Lapeer County’s Rich Township.
“We’ve gotten a lot of people who are interested in setting up in there and selling items,” added Darlene Johnson of Lapeer County’s Elba Township, Hamilton’s mother and assistant operator of Mayville Mercantile.
Since its opening, Mayville Mercantile has brought new visitors to Mayville, population 950, which has seen a number of new businesses open in recent months.
“We have people coming from Lansing and Sterling Heights,” said Hamilton, standing on the wooden floor in her building, constructed in 1896, the number cut into the exterior brick above the front door.
Workers removed drywall and an artificial ceiling from inside the building to give it an authentic feel. On a Saturday in early March, Doug Fox of Mayville bought a cast iron star — once part of the building’s exterior — from Hamilton, who tries to spot new uses for ordinary items, such as tractor parts.
“It’s funny what people like,” Hamilton said. “I found some old gears from a machine in the basement of this place, and I put them on Facebook as candle-holding devices, and they sold like crazy.”
Mayville Mercantile is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
When not at work, Hamilton and Johnson travel together to seek out items for the Mayville store.
“The business hasn’t stopped me from going to the estate sales, garage sales, flea markets and auctions,” Johnson said. “We try to buy low and sell at a medium price, so that if the buyer wants to go and make some money off it, they can.”
The mother-and-daughter team also try to offer uniquely fashionable merchandise, such as decorative rhinestone belts, featuring various themes, and purchased from a Chicago supplier.
Mayville Mercantile also features a variety of local creations: Debbie Sue’s hand-milled goat’s milk soap made near Mayville, honey products from Circle T Apiary outside of town, bracelets and chimes fashioned from used silverware by artist Lin Hilborn of Silverwood, and the book “Rustlers and the Texas Trail: Book One of the Christian Cowgirl Adventure Series” by Silverwood author Lauren K. Lotter.
“We had one lady from California who bought three jugs of maple syrup because it had ‘Mayville’ on the label,” Hamilton said. “She also bought six bottles of honey.”
The goat’s milk soap — in scents including carrot cake, orange satsuna and vanilla/maple pecan — proved popular as Christmas gifts, according to Johnson.
“A lot of people were coming in during the winter for the soap because they had dry skin,” Hamilton said.
Johnson describes Mayville Mercantile’s merchandise as “Heinz variety — it’s jewelry, glass, furniture, old, new, vintage.” Mayville Mercantile has its own Facebook page, and when the store expands into the former auction house next door, the business could attract even more attention.
“We’ll get this town going,” Johnson said.
“A lot of people were, like, ‘Why do you want to open a store in Mayville?’” Hamilton added. “But I say ‘Why not?’ I think the town’s going to take off.”