Wild Horse Mercantile opens in Plains

It's an old place with old things at a new location and a new name and it commemorated its grand opening last Tuesday by treating customers to finger foods, coffee and hot apple cider. The Wild Horse Mercantile also celebrated its opening with a special ribbon cutting ritual with Plains Mayor Dan Rowan using a pair of old garden clippers to cut the ceremonial ribbon.

"We were trying to come up with a new name that incorporated our community and the type of business. We were no longer housed in a Grainry, so a new name was needed in our new building. One of our vendor's daughter had this suggestion and we all liked it," said Plains resident Michele McGuigan, who has two spaces with her mother, Sandy Newman.

Ten of the 15 vendors had space at "The Grainry Gallery," which is being converted to a private residence. The business, now under the name Wild Horse Mercantile, opened its doors in August, but the group wanted to have a formal open house to let the community know of their presence and new name.

McGuigan said the group had only a short time to get the new site, the old Ford building, ready for business. Vendors and family members spent a week to build walls, paint the inside and power wash the exterior, then another week to move their entire stock from the Grainry. Nevertheless, the move was worth it, according to vendor Valerie Borgmann, who had space at the Grainry. "I loved the gallery for the history of the building, but I like this better. It's more customer friendly and brighter," said Borgmann.

"It was pretty impressive to see everyone working together," said McGuigan, who had been at the Grainry for 14 years and is the group's bookkeeper. "Pickups, cars and trailers were filled and shuttled back and forth. Everyone pitched in and helped each other. We have such a great group of vendors," she said.

The group leases the building from owner Amber Szafryk. Several businesses have occupied the building since Ford moved out. Newman said it needed some work and cleaning, mainly the large room in the back, which had been used as a tire business. Vendor Mac Hall constructed wooden walls to use as dividers. Bob Quackenbush, who has a booth with his wife, Shelly, and Jim Newman, Sandy's husband, helped put the walls in place. At the new site, Bob Quackenbush positioned his 1929 Ford Model AA truck in the parking lot to attract customers. Quackenbush said it's possible that the truck might have been on the lot as a new truck when the place was a Ford dealership in the 1920s.

Like the former site, the business is run as a co-op. The group has monthly meetings to discuss issues and vote on pending business. Each vendor has to man the shop at least two days a month, but most are there several days a month. The vendors hail from Plains, Thompson Falls, Hot Springs, Big Arm and Superior. Each one rents by the square foot and has different size booths, said McGuigan, who has been a Thompson Falls teacher for 20 years and is presently the school librarian. She and her mother have two booths, selling western jewelry and décor, vintage and collectible dishware and furniture, along with Montana souvenir T-shirts and sweatshirts.

McGuigan said there's a wide variety of items throughout the building: vintage jewelry, old tools, paintings, drawings, automotive collectibles, hand sewn aprons, bags, potholders, candles, greeting cards, soap and more.

Belle Demeny, one of the newest members of the co-op, has an assortment of collectibles, but also carries semi custom made children's old-fashioned rocking chairs, complete with upholstery and springs made by her and her husband, John.

"There are some antique farm implements that were ingenious at the time they were created, made of steel and bent wood. The tools are functional artwork," said McGuigan, who believes the new location offers them better visibility. "And we like being able to contribute to a vibrant main street, which we feel is good for the whole community."

Hall, who thinks there is a little more space than at the former place, believes the customers at the new location has tripled simply because it has better visibility. Hall, who had been at the Grainry for two years, carries mostly "guy stuff," such as work tools and prospecting gear. He said he plans to change it around throughout the year with different themes.