‘Believing in the dream’

With an emphasis on home grown products of all kinds, Zach and Kendra Daniels, owners of Greenfield Mercantile, were ecstatic to reach the finish line on the opening of their new small business awhile back.

The fruit of their labor along the way was finally realized Saturday with a grand opening and ribbon cutting. They’re located at 226 Public Square, a building most recently home to J’s Variety.

Zach and Kendra, both 32, each work other full-time jobs — Zach as a diesel mechanic and Kendra at a conservation service — and moved to the Greenfield area seven years ago.

Zach enlisted in the Air Force in 2011 as a fire truck and refueling mechanic. Stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, South Dakota, he eventually was stationed in Ramstein, Germany. While in Germany, he met Kendra.

“His friends from high school were my friends from college,” Kendra said. “With our birthdays just hours apart from one another, he came home to celebrate his birthday, and the rest is history.”

Zach is now in the Air National Guard with the 185th Air Refueling Wing, based in Sioux City.

Looking for a side hustle, they began a large garden on their acreage east of town and purchased a freeze dryer.

“I was bringing it up to the farmers market every week and was taking it to some other vendor shows,” Kendra said. “Lugging everything back and forth every time is not fun. I wanted to be able to put my stuff in a store somewhere.”

The couple sat back on the notion and kept their eyes open. Kendra observed other spots around the area that were similar to what she was thinking of and stored up what she was soaking in. That’s when she saw the “store closing” sign in the window at J’s Variety.

Kendra went in one day and networked with Jenice Wallace and Jane Ahnen, owners of J’s, who were closing after about a decade in business.

Kendra fights back emotion when talking about Elaine Hess, who passed away in January. Hess helped Kendra get a job as a bartender at Bloodline Irish Pub when she and Zach took a chance by moving to a small town from Des Moines. It is connections like these that helped fuel the Danieles to follow their dream and purchase both buildings July 12 that were occupied by J’s.

“I told [the realtor] I’m not a numbers person and I need to talk to my husband,” Kendra said. “Next thing I know we had bought the buildings. There’s currently nothing next door. It still needs a little TLC. I’m hoping this can motivate another entrepreneur to bring some more retail onto the square.”

Greenfield Mercantile has about 2,400 square feet of space for vendors to sell their goods. That includes a flex space the business hosts monthly crafting days in. On another day each month, they hope to have a skills trade class where people can learn new skills such as building a chicken tractor, making sourdough or elderberry products.

“Our grandparents and great-grandparents used to have skills [that they could use to better themselves and others]. They maybe taught their kids but their kids taught less to their kids,” Kendra said. “Now we’re in the generation where our parents maybe never made sourdough. We’re trying to get back to the last generation and carry on the legacy that’s been there forever.”

Kendra said the growth of Greenfield Mercantile has been driven by other vendors “believing in the dream” she and Zach had. Their first big event was Pink Friday last November, where 250 people visited to see 15 vendors who set up. A very similar response was experienced Saturday after vendor registrations were accepted beginning at the beginning of the year.

“By mid-February, we had most of the spots claimed. All of a sudden, last weekend on opening day, I had messages of people asking if we still had spots available,” Kendra said. She wonders if any other small businesses around Greenfield might have space available for a vendor or two as time goes by.

“A year ago, I didn’t think I’d be doing this. I drove by and thought this was a really beautiful store with all the built-in shelves,” Kendra said. “The tornado struck, and how many people have needed extra income if you or any of your family are trying to rebuild? You want to help out as much as you can. I’ve never seen a community come together as much as we did after the tornado.”

Historical significance

As the former home of not only J’s Variety, but Crook’s Clothing, Greenfield Mercantile opening keeps a historic building on the Greenfield Public Square alive and put to good use.

According to the 2001 Adair County history book, Crook’s Clothing’s history dates to 1882 when a men’s clothing store opened in town. It wouldn’t officially become named Crook’s Clothing until 1917, when it was completely owned by Hugh Crooks.

Clifford Welcher came on board and had full interest in the store by 1976, four decades after he started as a part-time employee.

Shirley Meisenheimer owned the business starting in 1990, sold it in 2006 and the store closed in 2009. At that time, it was considered to be the longest-running men’s clothing store in Iowa. When he was ripping up carpet in one part of the building, Zach discovered a suit and dress, presumably left from Crook’s.

Two of Welcher’s three daughters — Cynthia Welcher Sherman, of Grinnell, and Susan Welcher Baker, of Des Moines — attended Saturday’s Greenfield Mercantile grand opening. Baker’s father-in-law was Dr. Joseph Baker, a longtime physician here.

“Our father started here when he was 13 shining shoes, then all through high school, until he bought it from Hugh Crooks,” the sisters said. “He also announced all the Greenfield football games.”

The Welcher sisters appreciated how the Daniels care so much about the historical value this building they admire so much.

“It’s really important. Our dad would be excited that this is continuing,” Sherman said. “He loved this building, this business and this town. I worked here and helped him inventory every year. We grew up in the house right down this alley. I learned to roller skate in this building.”

The J’s owners rented the buildings from Zach and Kendra until last fall, when work began to spruce up one of the buildings. Zach sought help from Kendra in redoing the flooring, while the iconic display cabinets on each side of the main showroom were left “as is.”

The Daniels inherited all three tenants of upstairs two-bedroom apartments, knowing Ahnen is a landlord who can recognize a quality tenant when she sees one.

“They have the most beautiful views of the square [from those apartments],” Kendra said. “We looked through the apartments before we bought the buildings to see what we were getting into as landlords. Those three tenants are so easy to work with.”

Keeping small towns alive

Kendra graduated from Urbandale and Zach from West Des Moines Valley, where their graduating classes were much larger than all of Nodaway Valley High School.

The couple enjoys the camaraderie of the local business community. Mary Long, who owns Long’s Market with her husband Loren, has been a champion of what the Danielses have done in recent months. Greenfield Mercantile also plans to piggy back off of efforts of other small businesses, such as the coffee shop, nutrition shake shop, movie theater and more.

“It seems a lot of the business owners of the generation before us are really excited to see the younger ones coming in and buying,” Kendra said. “I haven’t seen anything but support from the older business owners. They’re excited the next generation is here and they can stay in business a little longer, too, because we’re bringing more people to the square, trying to [point them toward the other businesses].”