Diana Reed: Harper G! Mercantile

“My store, Harper G! Mercantile, is named after my grandbaby, Harper Gloria, who is almost 2 years old. My husband and I had been thinking about opening a mercantile store for a while, and when my daughter told me she was going to name her daughter Harper Gloria, I thought … ‘Wow, that’s the name of my store.’ When kids come in named Harper G! we put them up on the counter, with our logo showing behind them, and families take pictures of their kids. I’d like to start a Harper G picture board.

“I have two shops – Harper G! Mercantile and Finery & Finishes – plus I do wholesale clothing sales. I have three full-time jobs.

“I’m a traveling sales rep … my husband used to be a traveling sales rep with me. We traveled across the Midwest selling women’s clothing to boutique stores. A while back, while we were on our way to a store in Wisconsin and saw a shop for rent, I told my husband we should stop on the way back because he had been bugging me to do a brick and mortar store. On the way back we stopped. I have always been a lover of architecture, and instantly the building was speaking to me. We called the owner and before you know it, he’s giving us the keys, telling us to think about it. We’ve been in that location now for almost five years.

“Both of my stores are selling little to nothing right now. But two weeks ago, I got a shipment of puzzles in. They’re the only thing that keeps me going in. I had initially bought an order of 15 and within 24 hours I sold out of them, so I ordered 200 more and I’m hoping and praying people still want them. We’ve sold six today. People are hungry for entertainment.

“Unfortunately, my shops were shut down because we’re not essential. I don’t know how they justify what’s essential and what’s not essential. This business is essential to me.

“I see a lot of people supporting the bars and restaurants to help keep the small-town businesses alive, and I’m happy for them. But they forget about people like us. I’m not getting promotion from anyone but myself.

“My wholesale business has been tricky and costly, too. You invest a lot of money in the shows and being on the road visiting stores, and of course the people who own boutiques are all freaking out and worried. They’re canceling or postponing orders. I completely understand and don’t blame them, because I’m in that ship, too. I’ve invested a lot of money in my wholesale work so far this year and may not get any return at all.

“Here in Richmond we’ve had ups and downs since I’ve been here with businesses opening and closing, people retiring. And that’s part of the reason I came here. I want Richmond to be alive. I want it to be more appealing for people to come here and shop and dine and hang out. But if the shutdown lasts too much longer, I don’t know how it’s going to go. I take up two spaces right on the main street, on the main corner of town. And if my shops don’t survive, it will be a pretty sad looking little corner again. Richmond needs everything it can get to bring people back here again. I hear that back in the day it was quite the spot to go to.

“I have girls excited and wanting to come back to work. I’m excited to have them back. There’s nothing else like Harper G! around here. You can find just about anything you’re looking for, for just about anyone. You could find a racecar for a kid or a pair of pants for your husband or a coffee cup or plants. I buy anything weird, unique, funky, trendy … and I can just build my whole eclectic business around it and anything goes.

“At Finery & Finishes, my favorite part is that if someone comes in and they’re looking for an outfit for an event, I get to play dress up with them and help them find a look that makes them feel better than they felt when they came in.

“I really love doing this and I would be really sad to give it up.”

Diana Reed
Owner, Finery and Finishes and Harper G! Mercantile
Richmond, Illinois