Merid Mercantile will feature locally crafted products

By Joan Janzen

Keith and Katherine Warrington were very excited to have their “Merid Mercantile” building arrive on the occasion of their 32nd wedding anniversary on October 12th. Their newest addition is located on their farm yard just a short distance from their Merid and Magna schools. When you’re driving between Alsask and Marengo, you’ll see their sign for the Merid & Magna Historic Retreat. The new 400 sq ft building will house local products from neighbouring farms and ranches, as well as their own refinished items.

Keith and Katherine Warrington stand in front of their new “Merid Mercantile”, a welcome addition to their Merid & Magna Historic Retreat. PHOTO SUBMITTED

“The original design was actually a horse barn that we converted into a store with one big area,” Katherine said. “This is one of the ways we’re supporting our neighbours by selling something for them. You don’t know how much that means to them.”

The mercantile will provide access to locally made products for the people who stay at the couple’s Air B&B. “It provides something a little extra for the people who come here, and they really want to shop locally,” she noted. However her guests are known to also be recipients of fresh produce from her garden and homemade baking. There are plenty of extra’s to enjoy at their prairie schools.

Which is why the number of people coming to their country hide-away is increasing. Their October calendar is pretty much booked, and Keith and Katherine are looking forward to hosting their youngest son’s wedding in two weeks time.

“The schools have been very busy, and really picked up momentum,” Katherine said. They recently added a hot tub to the smaller school which has increased interest for people who come from cities to relax and enjoy the country lifestyle. A lot of those people have expressed an interest in local history.

“We’re one of the few places in this area that has a tourism twist. People were going through my old shed and quonset looking for treasures,” she admitted. The idea for the Merid Mercantile grew from their guests requesting access to locally made products.

“There’s a lot of really talented artists in our community, and they don’t have many places where they can showcase their work,” Katherine said. It will also feature the many refinished and restored antique items that the couple have worked on in their “Tattered Treasures” venture.

“We’ll be digging out pieces that we have, refinish them and put them in the mercantile,” she said. “We needed a place on the farm where we can curate some of those pieces and display them.”

“We really can’t imagine living anywhere else,” Katherine confessed. “So we created a life that allows us to stay here. There’s an old saying ‘If you build it, they will come’, and they are coming.”

The addition of the Merid Mercantile is the Warrington’s way of helping to support small businesses in their community. Once their little store is up and running, you can look forward to finding all sorts of treasures.