Sisters Mercantile marks milestone

Sisters Mercantile is celebrating 25 years in business. photo by Jim Cornelius

Kay McLaren, owner of Sisters Mercantile, will be the first to tell you that surviving in Sisters is not easy for any business owner.

It takes creativity, smarts, luck and persistence to make it through the winters and to build a customer base that will sustain a small business over the years.

McLaren and Sisters Mercantile manager Pam Creason have now joined the handful of Sisters businesses that can boast 25 years of operation in Sisters.

McLaren opened her venerable men's and women's clothing store on April 29, 1979, in partnership with her husband John and parents Dan and Mary Shoop.

"We opened in the smallest space in (landlord) John Wilbur's new Gallery Annex," McLaren said. "We were the first tenant and the smallest."

McLaren eventually bought out her parents and moved the business to its current location in Barclay Square, across from the Rainbow Connection.

What's the secret of success in Sisters?

"It's finding the right mix of merchandise and the right people to work... and determination," McLaren said.

Pam Creason has been critical to the store's success, McLaren said. Creason operates and manages the store now that McLaren has moved back to Portland. The store owner visits several times a year and is always in town to work the week of the quilt show.

Small business success is never certain in Sisters, even for established businesses.

"Having a business in Sisters is a challenge every single year to make it through the winter," she said.

But the struggle is worth it.

"We worked for many years for nothing or almost nothing," McLaren said. But "when I look back on those years it was the most exciting time of my life."

McLaren credited her loyal customers, both locals and regular visitors to Sisters, and noted how much she appreciates the relationships built over the years. Many people make a conscious effort to support favorite small businesses in an increasingly price-competitive world.

There will be a small celebration in the store on Thursday, April 29, to mark the anniversary and a 25 percent off sale through Saturday.

McLaren looks back fondly on her years in Sisters.

"We escaped from the city, we saw the best of Sisters, it was a great place to raise our children and I have no regrets."