New Freeport shop sells everything from produce to ammunition

A new shop in Freeport is selling a wide variety of products — many of which are locally produced — ranging from fresh produce to small furniture.

Brandi and Alan Kepple of South Buffalo Township opened The Mercantile last weekend. The store sells “a little bit of everything,” Brandi said.

The couple purchased the building on Fifth Street last October and made some cosmetic repairs before opening the shop. They renovated a space upstairs into an apartment, which they’ve rented to a family.

“It was a beautiful building,” Brandi Kepple said of the location, which once housed the town’s grocery store.

About 90% of the products sold in the store come from businesses. The store sells items from at least a dozen local vendors — including Creekside Kettle Corn and JD CNC, a Lower Burrell company that crafts metal signs.

“Hopefully it’s an outlet to let some of those people prosper,” Alan Kepple said, adding that many small businesses struggled throughout the pandemic.

The shop also sells fresh, locally grown produce from Pat’s Perfect Produce, including potatoes, corn and peaches. Produce offerings, Brandi Kepple said, will be updated seasonally.

“We want to do something to help our community,” Brandi Kepple said. “In Freeport, there’s nowhere to buy produce — now there is.”

She also plans to add eggs and beef.

“It’s going to morph as we see what the community needs and wants,” she said.

The Kepples said Freeport doesn’t have many businesses, so their goal is to provide an array of items that people in Freeport need but can’t buy in town.

“It’s a little bit of everything, which is important for this town,” Brandi Kepple said. “We have something for all types of people.”

Offerings at the store range from Freeport T-shirts and home decor to tables and ammunition. They also sell lottery tickets.

“I just want everybody to be able to shop here,” Brandi Kepple said, explaining they have items for men, women, children and pets.

Prices vary from 99-cent toys for kids and $2 bath bombs to $100 wooden flags and small furniture items priced at over $100. The variety, Kepple said, was important to ensure there was something for everyone.

“I really want to do unique stuff that you can’t walk into every store and get,” she said.

The community has already shown more support for the store than the couple expected. People were waiting outside before they opened last weekend, Alan Kepple said.

“There aren’t a lot of businesses in Freeport now,” he said. “If we can give the community things they need, they’ll show up.”