Marblemount Mercantile

General Store Offers Wealth of Goods, whether Busy Summer or Dead of Winter by Janet O’Mara

For 27 years, Gary Stewart has owned and managed the Marblemount Mercantile — an exceptional variety store that serves this small community and tourists year around. “In all those years, we’ve never been closed a single day,” he notes. He and his family also own and operate the Marblemount drive-in just down the road.

Stewart’s gentle smile, easy manner and friendly conversation apply to all customers — there are no strangers at the Marblemount Mercantile. The building is made of rustic logs and has a concrete floor. It’s been enlarged over the years and merchandise added. Refrigerators in the front, with wooden doors, hold yogurt and milk; beer coolers in back also have wooden doors with hand-carved handles, each carved by a different person many years ago.

“Back then, the only customers were ‘hippies’ and we were known locally as the ‘hippie store,’ Stewart recalls. That didn’t last long — the Marblemount Mercantile remained a community fixture. Stewart, his wife Sallie, their 10 children and manager Sandy Sopher have kept the store going, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the winter, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (“sometimes 10 — you don’t close when there are customers”) in the summer.

It’s a small, but well-stocked country store and a tourist stop with charm. Community announcements line the bulletin board and there’s abundant merchandise: Fresh produce, dairy products, fishing and camping supplies, meat, canned goods, picnic food, treats for the kids, fresh cinnamon rolls and raisin walnut bread, videos to rent, used books for 50 cents, toys, wine and beer, free coffee next to the ATM machine, and guppies for sale for $4.95.

Business in Upriver Skagit County is cyclical. The North Cascades Highway closes in the winter and tourism drops, except for special events such as the Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival in late January or early February. Many area businesses close in the winter. Stewart himself loses about $10,000 per month from November to March, he says, but then makes at least $15,000 per week the rest of the year. “The banker and I are really tight,” he says with a wry smile. His banker is good about loaning him the money in the winter to survive, he says, and then he pays it back quickly in the summer. “You starve all winter,” he says. “It’s hard to make ends meet.” His persistence and success were recently recognized when he was named the community’s “Business Person of the Year” last May.

 

Escaping city life

Stewart moved to this area nearly 30 years ago from San Diego, where he owned a string of tropical fish stores. “One day, I woke up listening to the din of the traffic,” he remembers, “and a week later, I left, turning the stores over to my mother to manage.” His brother lived in Rockport and that’s why he ended up in this area, but he fell in love with it, initially working on logging projects until he bought the Marblemount store.

For him and Sallie, their businesses and their family, working for a living and living a quality life are all entwined — it’s impossible to separate one from the other. They have raised their children here, all home schooled. There are still nine at home; the youngest is 8 years old. The oldest daughter, 26, works in Seattle.

Stewart is one business owner who enjoys his life and his work. His enthusiasm for his family and the way of life they’ve chosen is obvious when he talks about them. “When they’re being educated and when they’re working, it’s a trip to be with them,” he declares.

About two years ago, the Stewarts purchased the drive-in restaurant, known locally as “Good Food” Drive-in because of the two words that appear on the large, sandwich-board sign along Highway 20. The entire family owns and operates it together. “We were afraid all the kids would have to move out of this area to make a living, so we bought the drive-in and all (the children) agreed to work for no wages in exchange for equal partnership,” he says.

“When we went into it, we knew nothing,” he admits. “Now people tell us it’s one of the best-known places in the state for burgers.” The menu developed as they went along, all selections based on “just good home cooking.”

One well-known offering is “Joan’s Polish Soup,” based on a recipe from a Marblemount resident’s grandmother. Stewart tried it, he liked it, they incorporated it into the menu. “There’s a couple who regularly come all the way from Vancouver, B.C., just for that soup,” he reports with a smile.

“Our whole menu was developed that way,” he says, “just food that we know is good.” And there’s plenty of it. “You don’t ever say, ‘where’s the beef?’ about our burgers,” he chuckles.