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Honest Slate
Behind the Scenes with Mercantile From colanders to calendars, pottery to puzzles, Honest Weight’s Mercantile Department procures dozens of housewares, gifts, and everyday functional and decorative items. by Carol Ostrow
Ever wonder where our woolens
and washable water bottles come from? Housewares and gifts grace our shelves thanks to Mercantile—a department operated by a single employee who is also a longtime Member-Owner (MO). No stranger to the ways of Honest Weight, Emily Collins has belonged to HWFC and attended Membership Meetings since 2001. Initially investing time in Grocery and Bulk, she also served as a cashier and Front End floor manager at our Central Ave. location.
Our triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit demands that we consider our mission when merchandising. Expressing appreciation for the Co-op’s ideology, Emily spoke about balancing the needs of our business with the desires of our community, particularly in response to recent customer requests favoring more locally sourced, handmade merchandise. “I would love to carry more local artisans,” she told Honest Slate. “My priority is to carry local and fair trade products... when that is not possible I bring in other [items].” Surprisingly, it turns out that it is not easy to procure and sell handcrafted items made in the Capital Region at prices both fair to artisans and feasible to stock. Selling wholesale is key. To earn a fair price for their time and handiwork, crafters must be informed about—and be willing to practice—wholesaling to have their wares carried in-store. For example, Emily met with one longtime MO who was a potter. The store would have to pay the crafter $28 per mug, then mark up that price substantially just to break even on the transaction. While the profit margin can be lower for the sake of having local wares on the shelves, the numbers need to work out to everyone’s benefit.
“While I encourage people to buy all their gifts at Honest Weight of course, buying directly from makers [at a craft fair, for instance] is better for the makers, many of whom are struggling right now,” she said. Next, display brings a certain set of risks and benefits, most obviously breakage—which, Emily noted, happens daily as objects are accidentally knocked over and broken. Coupled with shrinkage (the retail trade’s euphemism for acquiring goods without payment), this can leave both vendor and store at a loss. Finally, there is geography and sustainability to consider. Many HWFC products are sourced nationwide and globally, causing some customers to express discomfort, but it is not that simple.
Pottery is more easily sold from crafter to consumer. One reader recommended
visiting local craft fairs in person to source pottery, fiber arts, woodwork, candles, and more. A Slate team member responded that in-store employee work precludes spending much time in the field (“We need to realize that Emily [already] has a job!”). Other solutions? With the right publicity, oversight, and support, would an outdoor pop-up craft show work at our Co-op? HWFC has sponsored such activity in the past with mixed results. But it is within the realm of possibility to revive an occasional direct maker’s market event &or welcome artisans to our annual Homegrown Happening once we can gather safely again. “I am a one-person department. While I do not…wait for new vendors to find me, I also encourage vendors to contact me if they want to sell at the Co-op,” stated Emily, who scouts products year-round via specialized websites, trade show attendance, and overtures from small businesses.
March 2021 • Copper water bottles are now arriving. • Cards are the fastest-moving category. • Look for “buildable stuff” & sustainably made, family-oriented toys “to combat screen time.” Mercantile strives for eco-friendly wares (see beeswax and silicone food containers available in aisle 4); Emily recently ordered new ceramics handmade in the U.S. Customers can currently find CSF Ceramics from Virginia and Rowe Pottery, made in Wisconsin, among our aisles, with more on the way from vendors such as Clay Path Studio (Pennsylvania), Mosquito Mud Pottery (Connecticut), and Alley Cat Ceramics (Indiana).
Artisan tips • be willing to wholesale • find, fill in, & submit HWFC’s vendor application • offer goods at feasible prices. HWFC’s Director of Operations, Stephen Quickenton, weighed in as well. “Emily is a one-woman show, who with minimal support has truly done an amazing job building up…Mercantile at Honest Weight,” he stated. “[She] researches, negotiates, and communicates with all vendors; and orders and stocks all of her product,” assisted by two Member-Owners who help receive, unpack, and price goods. Notably, Stephen shared data revealing that recent Mercantile sales growth easily dispels any misperceptions about the marketability of housewares and gifts: Mercantile sales over the past five years have grown more than 120%; moreover, that percentage is “more than double the next best performing sub department (Plants, showing 52% growth over the same time period).”
Mercantile now outsells our entire Bakery Department! “I hope there is room in Honest Slate’s article to highlight what an amazing job Emily has done and how grateful we are to have such a talented person on our team, who truly has had a very positive impact on HWFC’s financials,” Stephen concluded.
Mercantile provides: Baskets, brushes, bags • Bottles, books, baby items • Candles, cards • Calendars, containers • Coffee accessories • Colanders, cleaning tools • Garden gloves, gifts • Puzzles, potholders, planters, paper products • Tea balls, toys • Salt lamps, sponges, socks • And all things holiday-related.
Honest Weight Food Co-op • 100 Watervliet Ave. Albany, NY 12206 • 518-482-2667 • https://www.honestweight.coop/ • honestslate@honestweight.coop
