The Detroit Mercantile Company is one of my favorite shops in the city. Located in Eastern Market, it’s perfect for my standard welcome to Detroit tour but I often stop in myself to check out their goods. In addition to being a shop, it’s also a rental venue and Chris and Emily had a beautiful wedding reception there a couple years ago. If you’re ever having a big event, it’s worth checking out.
The reason for our latest visit was to get Lucas his first present. They have a wonderful Detroit-with-vintage-flare collection that perfectly matches our nursery plans. They also have a variety of wooden blocks that fit my minimalist standards. The ones we picked couldn’t be more perfect: they match our color scheme and are educational. Each letter block includes Morse Code, the phonetic alphabet, knot examples and flags.
Danny and I stopped in during lunch last week and I couldn’t resist asking the clerk a couple of questions (it’s been a long time since I did an impromptu interview). Friendly Detroit didn’t let me down and Julia was a willing participant.
Do you live in Detroit?
No
What do you like about the city?
It’s hard to explain. I love the people here. There’s an energy here and so much to do. On a week by week basis there’s a lot going on.
What would you like to see change in Detroit?
I’d like to see it cleaned up more. For there to be less crime but other than that I like it for how it is. I don’t want it to get too big because it can be unfortunate when that happens. I see it more and more every day – it’s getting bigger and bigger.
What are you looking forward to happening in the city?
I want to see what happens next – that’s the fun of a small city getting bigger every day. There’s always something new – new artist coming. It’s like when they did Eastern Market After Dark and the Detroit Design Festival, it was so amazing. I had no clue what exactly what they were doing but it was incredible to see all the murals they put up in the Market.
CarrieDaway 