How a daytime shopping show may have saved the Stowe Mercantile

A friendly bear guards the back entrance of Stowe Mercantile. Photo courtesy of Marc Sherman.

For the Stowe Mercantile, their story of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic included an unexpected boost that may have just saved the store.

As COVID-19 became a national concern early last year, the store decided to close a full week before Governor Scott declared a state of emergency in Vermont on March 13.

“We just wanted to keep everyone safe," said Store Manager Denise Earley.

When it was time to think about reopening, Owner and Founder Marc Sherman’s position as a former Chair of the Vermont Retail Association provided them with an early kickstart to COVID-era shopping.

Before stepping away to work on expansions to his business, Sherman could often be found testifying at the statehouse on a variety of small-business related issues. “I think it’s important for legislators to hear the small business perspective,” he said.

Because of his position at the VRA, he eventually became Chair of Government Relations for the National Retail Federation. As a result, the store became a contender for a “small business blast” program at QVC and HSN — programs that reach over 350 million homes around the world, according to a 2018 fact sheet. 

Featuring just 20 small businesses across the country, the program included four 3-minute radio blasts one afternoon, as well as a two-week business mentorship program.

“The first two segments were fine, but the third was with one of their post popular radio personalities,” Sherman said. “Before my three minutes were up, our website had crashed.”

On QVC’s internet forum, one user posted that the website was running very slow and may have been overloaded with orders.

“By the following night we had received more than 600 online orders, which is more than we would usually get in a whole year,” Earley said. “We don’t know what we would’ve done without this program.”

The store has now changed large parts of its operations because of this.

Beyond plexiglass shields and hand sanitizing stations scattered throughout the store, Sherman noted changes in the business’ entire sales model as well.

He said that he envisions the online aspect of the store’s sales taking off. As a result, the store hired a new floor manager to allow Earley to manage the Mercantile’s website and social media full time.

This opportunity allowed the store to “begin creating a more expansive shop-at-home experience for our customers,” according to their website.

Other posts on the same QVC forum show people eager to purchase Mercantile products, ranging from Cabot Cheese to pure Vermont maple syrup.   

In addition, Sherman was also excited to say that his youngest daughter, Abby, has helped to develop their own line of locally made crackers and baking mixes.

She transitioned from a career as a musician and runs this arm of the store with her partner, Sean, according to the Mercantile website.

Sherman said that he has pivoted a significant portion of his time to help his daughter grow this part of the Mercantile business. 

Now, nearly three decades later, these expansions have only continued. The Mercantile has grown into five stores, including a craft-furniture shop, as well as a newly added clothing boutique.

 The family also has a daughter, Leah, living in Yellowstone, Montana, who opened another clothing boutique modeled after the one in Stowe before COVID-19 hit, Sherman said.

Sherman has taken an unexpected path to running the now well-known country store. Starting as a Pre-Vet major in college, and transitioning to photography after that, he found himself starting the establishment after his dairy farmer aspirations fizzled out.

“In ’88 or ’89 I opened the first store. It was really just a collection of different crafts and a gallery that I opened in the depot building” Sherman said.

That same depot building has now become the home away from home for the Shermans, their customers, and employees, Earley said.

“We’re still here,” she said. “We’re not going to have everything we’ve worked so hard for disappear.”