The Mercantile – Northampton

The Mercantile is one of those eclectic shops much beloved in the Valley, and it’s a sterling example of the same. A family-​run business for decades (it runs back to the early 70s, and I admit to knowing a couple members of the aforementioned family, although they sold out a couple years ago), it has — as Anna F. says — tapestries, knickknacks, candles, Japanese pottery, jewelry and all manner of humorous novelties. You’ll see a number of 1960s counterculture aesthetic items: Indian print sheets and carpets, those particular candles to stick in wicker-​wrapped bottles and make colored melting spatters, peasant skirts, incense, windchimes, South American knit zippered pouches, books on Buddhism and paganism, the works. (Heck, I’ve seen black light lightbulbs for sale, a now-​uncommon counterculture icon for sure!)
The prices, especially compared to some of the Main Street establishments, are quite reasonable, although the selection of some items is limited by the store’s size, which is a good bit smaller than the flagship outlet in Amherst.
Yes, indeed, if the counterculture collegiate aesthetic isn’t to your liking, the Mercantile won’t be either. (In which case, don’t patronize it, the same way you oughtn’t go to tattoo parlors if you hate tattoos, tire shops if you don’t own a car, or tanning salons if you like the pale look.) I’m thinking, unlike another reviewer, that it really ought not come as a terrible surprise that the things the Mercantile sold ten years ago are much the same as they sell today. Who knew?

If faces was a dissapointment — and perhaps I just outgrew them, the mercantile is even moreso. The space is better lit than the old one, and easier to navigate, but the selection and the stuff was really a lot of the same old same old. Jewelrey, hippy stuff. Meh…

I used to LOVE this place when I was a student at UMASS years ago. Too bad they don’t have an online store…

Ahh, the Mercantile. Filled with so many wonderful, useless items! Tapestries, incense, hippy clothes, candles– it’s a college students’ paradise. It gets 5 stars because I’m a softy. I worked here for a year in college. It’s family run with two stores (amherst and Northampton) that is good to their employees (providing benefits for some as well as a substantial discount). They are one of a dying breed of small businesses that give the valley it’s character.