Porter Creek Mercantile Offers Homemade & Homegrown
Story and photos by Craig Reed
With a little imagination, Porter Creek Mercantile takes visitors back in time. The dark, vertical-slatted wood building with a wood shingle roof off Highway 42 between Winston and Tenmile is a reminder of the general store buildings seen during the development of the Western United States in the 1800s.
Hundreds of products—homemade or homegrown by about 70 vendors—are displayed in pails, baskets, barrels, wooden boxes, and on wooden shelves. There are in-season vegetables, milk, eggs, meat products, spices, soaps, coffee, tea, metal art, wood carvings, candy, and much more, most of them offered by Douglas County residents. There’s even tanned coyote hide.
“This way of shopping—both buying and selling—is a thing of the past for a lot of people,” says Charlene Henrikson, 1 of the store coordinators. “We’ve brought it back to life here.”
Charlene, Erin Saylor, Kerri Stookey, and Jessica Richcreek—all residents of the rural area— share the responsibilities of working at the business, taking orders, stocking shelves, vetting product suggestions, and helping customers.
They each also have products for sale in the store: Erin offers lamb, pork, eggs, soap, and elderberry syrup; Charlene sells beef, eggs, and honey; Jessica sells meals and baked goods; and Kerri provides meals and milk from local dairies.
“It’s unique,” Erin says. “There’s no other store around here like this. We work together to make it work. It’s a really cool place.”
“We get the best in the store of what people make and grow,” Kerri says. “Everybody brings something different.”
Stephanie Randolph, an Upper Olalla resident, is a regular customer at the mercantile.
“This is a treasure because it brings together local, high-quality products in an environment that has an old-fashioned feeling to it,” she says. “The mercantile supports the local community and what the people make and grow. There are unique products. It’s a shopping experience we can’t find anywhere else.”
Stephanie says she loves the store’s variety, knowing every time she shops there will be something new.
“Of course, we’re building relationships every time we come in, seeing neighbors and having a chance to visit,” she says.
The mercantile grew out of a need created by COVID-19. When markets shut down during the pandemic, residents had a surplus of produce from their gardens and fields. Erin and Kerri created a business called 42 Connect Farm Market to help them reach consumers.
Sellers took orders in advance through Facebook. Customers drove to the mercantile’s parking lot and stayed in their cars as the produce and goods they ordered were placed in their trunks. The payment was quickly exchanged, and the buyers and sellers were happy.
The original idea was to schedule 2 or 3 Saturday pickup days, but the market was quickly popular. Hundreds of people responded, causing a traffic hazard on nearby Highway 42.
“We didn’t know it would be that popular,” Erin says. “We had more vendors who wanted to be a part of it.”
After some brainstorming, it was decided to go indoors and open the mercantile. Opening day was July 3, 2020.
Kerri and her husband, Kurt, had owned the building for several years with the idea of opening a general store. They decided to offer the space for the mercantile.
“Kurt and Kerri Stookey were very kind and generous to provide the building,” Charlene says. “This would not have happened without them.”
Initially, all vendors represented in the mercantile were from Douglas County. As customers requested different products, the inventory was expanded to include a few Oregon-based companies.
“We’re pretty picky about what we take in now,” Charlene says. “We have to think about space, the product has to be a fit for the store, and we don’t want anything others are already selling.”
Vendors have an agreement with the mercantile: They don’t pay the store a percentage of their sales until a sale is made.
“You can have your product in here, but if you don’t sell, you don’t pay,” Kerri says. “We hope that if you come in for 1 thing, you’ll see everything else we have to offer. If we didn’t have all the items here, it wouldn’t work for anybody.”
The 4 organizers say the mercantile has become a hub and gathering place for the community.
“I love this place for the relationships that are built here,” Jessica says. “Everybody who comes in is instantly your friend. A lot of older people are coming in and making connections with each other through the store. It’s a fun and lighthearted place that people love.”