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Hometown Tourist: Vintage Mercantile

A cottage built in 1905, set in Walloon Lake, serves as a destination spot for vintage shopping and consignment, where you’ll find great finds of local wares from decades gone by as well as local artists’ handiwork.

We take you there for this week’s Hometown Tourist.

“What you’ll find when you come in to is a little mix of everything really. We’ve got brand new items, we’ve got old items and we’ve got super-duper old items,” said owner Katy Ross. “I have probably a dozen local artisans, painters and knitters, jewelry makers, so I really enjoy featuring local artists.”

It’s a perfect backdrop for consignment and antique shopping: a cottage that is repurposed too. It used to serve as a rental through the last century on the south shore of Walloon Lake

“It was in the same family for over 100 years, and towards the end of the time that they owned it they used it for rentals,” explained Katy. “We have lots of people that come in and tell their stories about how they, you know, what their favorite hiding spots were upstairs. They bring their kids in to show them the cottage they spent so many of their summers at throughout their childhood.”

In that same vein, you feel at home here. There are so many items to peruse, you could spend hours peeking through all the different themes. Upstairs, there’s rooms for every age: a kids room with old toys and trains to a man cave and a ladies section.

“I have a man cave that has lots of cool items for men and boys and man caves, which is fishing items, military items, sporting goods. “In the ladies room, you’ll find vintage accessories, old hats, lots of awesome jewelry, really nice used clothing,” said Katy.

Katy loves everything to do with the process, from picking items to the research and meeting new people along the way that bring consignment items and turn into friends.

“I do think that people that shop in vintage stores,” said Katy. “It’s a nice, warm feeling of their childhood, something they’ll find from their grandma’s house. I have a lot of people that joke around about not being as old as an antique, how can I remember these items I’m not that old, but here they are in an antique store.”

In the end, it’s about reminiscing and bringing something into your home to mix in with the new and serve as a reminder of the good days gone by.

“There’s just a lot of reminiscing going on and memories of your childhood and whatnot, school days,” explained Katy.