McPherson Local, 105 N. Ann Arbor, Saline, MI (2026)

04/26/2024

Hey it’s me Jen, checking in one month after closing our doors. A lot of people have asked how I’m doing and if I’m relaxing. Um, no. I have worked since I was 15 years old and now I just wander around my house wondering what to do but unable to really do anything. I used to talk to people every day - either in person or by text (or through memes if you’re Ellery) and now I just talk to my dogs and that’s a fairly one sided convo. It went from 100 to 0 real quick and it’s pretty f #%cking abrupt if you ask me. I have cried every day for 2 1/2 months.

For seven years I was working on something with everything that I had. I was building relationships and connections. I was brain storming and having meetings and sampling chocolates and gushing over art. I was laying on the floor with Ellery, having a beer at the end of a long day. More recently, I was laying on my closet floor in the fetal position, wiping snot on my shirt sleeve while I sob apologized to Zack for the millionth time for being a lifeless pile of misery and then asked for boxed Mac and Cheese to ease my ongoing broken heart.

There’s a radio silence that I wasn’t anticipating. The lack of talking. The end of the text messages. The emptiness of the inbox. You feel everything you know grinding to a halt in real time and yet it also feels like you’re dreaming. Somewhere between there and here you’re watching everything change and you’re aware that it’s you and your world that’s changing but you’re also weirdly removed from it. Is this what an out of body experience feels like? If you’ve had one, weigh in. All I know is my brain kicks my ass every day and it’s brutal.

But two days ago, Zack said “Hey! You didn’t cry today.” I had made it a whole day without having some sort of breakdown. Not a whole day without being sad or lost or bitter (c’mon now, baby steps) but a whole day without crying. Letting go is excruciating and this is way harder than I ever imagined it could be. I guess I’m climbing off of the closet floor and wiping my face with a proper tissue. Maybe I can eat my Goodles without using tears for salt.

And maybe that grip that I had held on with so tightly is slowly…relaxing.

04/25/2024

Oh hey there - it’s been a minute, huh? I’m done laying in the fetal position crying so I’ll see you with a post tomorrow about life on the other side.

In the meantime - CHECK THIS OUT. Our friends at Tee See Tee have re-opened our Communitees sale and have added hoodies!! Orders are accepted through 4/30! I am enthusiastically encouraging you to purchase a shirt or a hoodie if you missed the chance earlier. Remember, your purchase supports two small businesses and shows your support for alllll the others out there.

https://www.teeseetee.com/collections/communi-tees?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABpnmpG1ngCsEZ2osa0WJMZyb1fImjQqcCpsVOw4HPE0zLGShsGPTaDoyB4g_aem_ATljLRN6_lgxxAuzF9Rek5jXIrpLH67XkjRk0nDsLHuop2UFqV6oM1i3Gzds3gs5pO8

04/05/2024

Hey it’s me Jen, checking in from (you know it) the floor. There isn’t much left to do here except load up the last remaining odds and ends, scrape the paint off the center window, and mop the floors one last time.

Last Saturday, after we closed and floor beers were had and friends had gone, Ellery and I sat and cried as we shared the last beer. We lamented and laughed and stared out of these windows as the world kept going but ours came to a very slow stop. And I thought to myself how I would never forget how that moment felt.

This floor has been my weird solace in this crazy adventure. I have no problem laying on it at any point in the day. I lay here to cry, to dream, and to have the feeling of a huge hug from a slightly haunted 1917 library. Some buildings are just space. This building is a soul.

What’s next for us is everyone’s favorite question so here we go: Ellery has accepted a position at a gallery and I am taking a break. A-much-needed-regulate-my-nervous-system-find-the-person-I -was break. Or the person I will be. In any case, I can’t be this person anymore, she’s been through it.

We will still be using our social media to promote and highlight makers and other small businesses. That’s always been the point of this and just because I don’t have a store doesn’t mean that I don’t want makers to succeed. Please continue to follow us and support local. I’ll also be writing on on Instagram. And yes, I’ll work on the book.

For now, I get two more days of my floor and this view and these walls and those big ideas. Then I’ll get up and mop and start dreaming again.

04/03/2024

Hey it’s us, Jen & Zack, representing small business with our shirts from Tee See Tee!

We are enthusiastically advocating for you to purchase a shirt! We have until 11:59pm Friday, April 5th to do so. Beau is graciously donating a portion of each shirt to our shop to help us with the cost of closing down. By purchasing a shirt you are supporting two small businesses and at the same time you’ll be standing with them all.

As I’ve said before, it’s too late for us but save the rest.

https://www.teeseetee.com/collections/communi-tees

04/01/2024

Tee See Tee has graciously extended our time to order Communitees until Friday April 5th!

We are at 173! Can we get to 200 by Friday? Beau and I think we can. So let’s do this.

Order your tee here, support two small businesses and proudly help remind the world that shopping small is what makes a community thrive.

https://www.teeseetee.com/collections/communi-tees

03/31/2024

Friends. We have until 3/31 at 11:59pm to push this tee shirt total up as much as we can. We are sitting at 150 right now. Can we get to 200!?

Each shirt helps two small businesses AND helps share the reminder that small business IS community. Small Businesses are needed and necessary.

https://www.teeseetee.com/collections/communi-tees

03/30/2024

My Dearest McPherson Local Family -

If you have been one of our loyal customers, you have become our friend. I wanted to tell the stories of the makers and you wanted to listen. Over the past seven years, you accepted my offer of a human connection with open arms and support. You showed up for us and while doing so, gave us the gift of being part of your lives. We have loved every second of getting to know you and your families, holding your babies, petting your dogs, and just being part of your routine. Thank you for being on this adventure.

If you have been one of our Makers, you have also become our friend. I wanted to highlight your work and tell your story to anyone that would look and listen. Over the past seven years, you have given us the incredible honor of being your storytellers and we have loved every second of it. It’s been a true gift to be surrounded by your dreams each day and not something we ever took lightly. Thank you for joining us.

Though it’s ending, I know it’s not for lack of trying. I also know the true success of this shop is all of the stories we told and the ones that we heard. It’s the humanness of it all and the fact that this store became more than just a store. I wanted a place for people - all people - and I got it. In these four walls, we came together to celebrate all of the things made in Michigan but ultimately, we came together to celebrate each other. As my friend Tanya said, “it’s more than just putting stuff on shelves. It’s being a space where people feel good and safe. And you did that like a mother f@!$er.” I’ll take that with pride.

We have loved the time we have spent in the community doing what we feel is so necessary and important. Please continue to support our makers and shop small whenever you can so that we can keep these vital human connections. Ellery and I will be using our social media to promote makers and I’ll be writing on Instagram

I’m starting a new story and while it’s sad to end this one - the new one has some kick ass friends written in thanks to this shop. Cheers to the sequel being as good as the first.

Love,
Jen

The Final Day. Save Small Business.

03/29/2024

This month has been so slow - punctuated by daily breakdowns, stomach aches, chest pains, and baked goods. It’s also been incredibly fast when I think about all of the faces I’ve seen, the conversations I’ve had and the snapshots I’ve taken in my brain.

This month has been HARD. Watching it go, piece by piece and saying goodbye. It’s also been easy, no orders to place or event planning to do. It’s been a month of courage - writing through it openly in hopes of saving the rest. It’s also been a month of fear - about what’s financially following me home and what’s to come.

This month is proof that two things can be true at the same time. You can be so sad that it physically debilitates you and yet so aware of the love around you that it fills your heart and makes you gasp. You can be so delighted in the moments and still get into your car and scream. You can feel defeated and validated. You can feel like the world is against you and also your oyster.

I’ve learned a lot in the last seven years. I’ve learned that Square has the worst customer service and that the majority of meetings are basically just to say there was a meeting. I’ve learned that no one has more to say about your woman owned small business than a man who has come in for the first time and has no plans on making a purchase. I’ve learned that social media makes us feel like we are not enough in every aspect of our business.

I’ve also learned that small business owners are the bravest, that social media is smoke and mirrors, and that we are all hanging on by one hand. I’ve learned that operating your business on honesty and kindness is not always the norm but definitely should be. I’ve learned that all small businesses were and continue to be impacted by a pandemic that changed the buying habits of a nation but that small retail has the potential to go extinct. I’ve learned that small business IS community.

Two things can be true: You can be sick from stress but elated from joy. You can be scared of what’s next and excited to try. You can be full of doubt but also solid in the choice. I’ve learned business owners walk this line everyday.

I’m walking it for two more.

Save Small Business.

03/27/2024

Okay Team! Four days left and here’s what we need to do:

Sell everything left in the store!
Sell as many shirts as possible!

We can do this with your help! Ellery and I would love to be able to tell our makers that they sold all of their items. Come on in and find a little something - maybe it’s for a birthday or to squirrel away for Christmas. Help us help them.

Next, buy a shirt! Or share the post for the shirts and enthusiastically advocate for your pals to get one. Who knows!? Maybe Aunt Joan loves small business and wants to order one for every person in her book club. We don’t know until we try!

https://www.teeseetee.com/collections/communi-tees

Don’t forget, several display pieces in the store are still looking for new homes.

We can do this! Four days left and the theme is Shop and Shirts! Let’s go team!

03/26/2024

Just me enthusiastically advocating for you to purchase a tee. You have until March 31 to place orders.

https://www.teeseetee.com/collections/communi-tees

03/26/2024

One of the first things we did was put up our logos on the windows. It was designed by a friend and I was so excited to let the world know that we were coming to town. The door went from Drowsy Parrot green to McPherson Local blue but the inside was going stay the same. Well, rehabbed and clean but the same in character - you understand.

So many people ask why I wanted this as our space and it’s simple, come inside and you’ll see. The old library. The loft upstairs. The shelves and soul. I drove by for years as it sat vacant and was terrified someone would rip it all out and turn it into a cell phone store. Every time I walk in this building, I smile at how cool it is and at how lucky I am to be its caretaker.

This building has housed not just us but hundreds of artists and makers. And along with them, their hard work, hopes, tears, and dreams. It’s held families and friends, Santa and his fans. It’s held events and classes, a paranormal team, and an alligator. It’s welcomed TV reporters and school fundraisers, hot cocoa drinkers and carolers. There have been story times and boa constrictors, tarot readers, and backyard Lucha. It’s been my home and my heart for all of these years. It’s been a place for us, a place for makers, and a place for you.

When we leave, the logos will be the only thing left of us there that you can see - but we will always be connected, this building and I. My hope is that whoever comes in next loves the old, creaky floors and the quirky coolness all around. I hope they dress in layers for the drafty windows and stay a little later to appreciate the glow from the setting sun through the stained glass window. I hope they choose their door color and delight in the experience of unlocking it for the first time.

And when the door goes from McPherson Local blue to the next color, my hope for you is that you’ll open that door and come in.

The final week. Save Small Business.

McPherson Local

04/26/2024

04/25/2024

04/05/2024

04/03/2024

04/01/2024

03/31/2024

03/30/2024

03/29/2024

03/27/2024

03/26/2024

03/26/2024

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