10 / matters magazine / fall 2017 Three’s a Charm A trio of women realize a shared vision to create Maplewood Mercantile BY CINDY POTTERS PHOTOS BY JOY YAGID T here is strength in numbers, and for the women of Maplewood Mercantile three is definitely better than one. This spring Amy Hughes, Mar- ichelle Hills and Julia Briggs joined forces to yoke their respective specialty businesses together under one roof at 145 Dunnell Avenue. Their new collaborative ven- ture, Maplewood Mercantile, is across the street from Memorial Park, next to Nelson’s Automotive and a stone’s throw from the Maplewood train station. The space was formerly occupied by L’Entrepot antiques, which relocated to Springfield Avenue last year. Rumors surrounding who would be the new tenant ran the gamut. A church, numerous restau- rants and a bowling alley were all in the running. Maplewood Mercantile got the coveted lease, in part, because it is a retail establishment, making the change seamless – and because the women agreed to update the vast 3,000-square-foot space themselves. Creating a stylish store for their wares was no easy task, however, and required 40 gallons of white paint and three rounds of power washing the floors to remove the smell of gasoline from the days when Nelson’s was the building’s sole occupant. Mercan- tile opened its doors on May 25. Says Hughes, “Salvage Style had plateaued on Baker Street” at the 300-square-foot store she for- merly had in the village. While popular with locals for her assortment of Mid-Century Modern, Hol- lywood Regency and Art Deco furnishings as well as rustic farmhouse finds, bold art and colorful hand- made rugs, Hughes lacked the footprint she needed to take her business to the next level. When she heard about the lease opening up on the other side of the tracks she jumped at the op- portunity. She contacted Julia Briggs of Ma/Da and online business entrepreneur Marichelle Hills, founder and owner of Meusshop.com, to see if they would team with her. Without hesitation, both said yes. “I wanted a brick and mortar store for years,” says Hills, adding that she felt Mercantile would be a distinctive addition to Maplewood. As a former producer on the A&E network, she left her corpo- rate career to have a family, and to blog full-time,