Home Antioch G St. Mercantile Antique Store Celebrates with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

G St. Mercantile Antique Store Celebrates with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

by ECT

The revitalization of downtown Antioch continues after the G St. Mercantile celebrated its store with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday with the Antioch Chamber of Commerce.

Formally known as the “G Street Flea”, new owners Michael Gabrielson and Brandon Woods hosted members of the community for the special ribbon cutting event which showcased the stores offerings which includes furniture, home decor, antiques, vintage finds, gifts and much more.

During the event, guests had the pleasure of wine being poured by Oak Ridge Winery out of Lodi and food was catered by Nature’s Bounty Café of Antioch.

Antioch Mayor Wade Harper praised the store for coming to the downtown Antioch area.

“I am so glad the G St. Mercantile are here. We are all in and supporting you guys and we know they are going to be successful,” said Mayor Harper.

Gabrielson called Antioch’s downtown a hidden gem and was thankful for all the support.

Brandon Woods & Michael Gabrielson

Brandon Woods & Michael Gabrielson

“A big part of why we wanted to be in downtown Antioch was because of the history and that we feel downtown Antioch is a hidden gem,” explained Gabrielson. “We feel like we are really a part of something special down and we are really excited about our future here. We are really thankful for the support of the other Rivertown businesses; it’s a really great business community and have been welcomed with open arms. We have twenty vendors in our store and they are a big part of our success.”

Gabrielson and Woods took over the store after the owner of “The G Street Flea” relocated out of state. The opportunity came up to purchase it and neither of them could pass it up.

They believe since the purchase, the transition has been smooth and tweaks that have been made have only made the customer experience better.

“It was a nice transition because the G Street Flea was a nice concept that just need a few tweaks. They had limited days and hours and there was not enough consistency. So that created a huge problem for customers. For us, we had a vision of taking that concept and expanding it into full-time,” explained Gabrielson. “We have new vendors, expanded spaces, and made some small changes that I think benefits everyone. It gives a really nice mix of what is available.”

The concept of the store is straight forward that when an item is sold, a newly created item comes in to replace it.

“We are constantly bringing new things in which keeps it diverse,” said Gabrielson.

g-st-mercantile-3Woods admits that although they kind of stumbled into the industry several years ago after focusing on real estate. The would use their talents to fix up homes and create furniture for clients to help with home decor and help stage a home that was being sold.

“I’ve always done art and tinkering with things to create something new whether it’s painting or fixing something,” explained Woods. “In the beginning, I would create something, Michael and his sister would sell it and it was awesome. We then ramped up from there. We got a little following and would sell more stuff and then our house was full of furniture so we needed a bigger space. This opportunity came up at the perfect time.”

The antique store offers a variety of items with more than 20-vendors contributing. The idea of the store is to showcase peoples creative talents and turn old into new.

According to Woods, the G St. Mercantile is not just an antique store, but a place where people can interact and be creative about home décor and all the possibilities to improving ones home with a new look or feel.

In February, the store will even have paint demonstrations using chalk paint.

“We will go over how to use the chalk paint to achieve all the aged looks that we do on our furniture,” said Woods. “Although it may be a new piece, we can make it look old and dated or give something new life with a new coat of paint. You can paint glass, plastic, wood and it will all stick.”

g-st-mercantile-6The classes will be between 30-minutes depending on the demo to a full on paint session that could last several hours. The classes are also designed to allow folks to create a style that fits their home.

As for the store, what is important to both Gabrielson and Woods is ensuring there is a nice mix and something for everyone. The goal is to allow those who patronize the store to discover new things during each visit and uncover the unexpected.

“You don’t want to go into an antique shop and all you see is the same thing,” says Woods.

Gabrielson added that with their store and others, the downtown is becoming revitalized with many complimentary stores and shops.

g-st-mercantile-5“With us coming to the downtown, other stores have been able to expand their hours which helps everyone,” said Gabrielson. “If it was just us, it would be more of a destination store. With the other stores, there is more of a pull downtown such as us, Oddly Unique, Urban Jumble and the Veterans Thrift Store; it’s an afternoon of treasure hunting. There is now a draw downtown and hope to drive more traffic.”

Wood’s believes Antioch has gone through its transition of culture change and is ready to bring traffic downtown which he admits is somewhat a sleepy area, but says more people are rediscovering what the old downtown used to be like.

“People do not know all the little shops down here and they are just starting to realize just how much is down here versus driving straight through and missing everything. There are so many little gems and so much history,” explained Woods. “There are a lot of complimentary stores helping one another become successful. A customer could buy a piece of furniture from us, but may find decorations they like next door at Oddly Unique or visa-versa.”

g-st-mercantile-4Both Gabrielson and Woods believe that people can now spend an afternoon in downtown Antioch treasure hunting various stores and always uncover something new because the community has a variety of options to fit ones personality and style on home decor.

“Most people who shop the store each week are not bored because new items that come in every day. They are not walking around and seeing the same things,” said Gabrielson. “If someone shops the store once a month, it’s going to seem like a completely different store.”

To visit
G St. Mercantile
205 G Street, Antioch, CA. 94509
925-732-3877
Web: www.gstmercantile.com
Store Hours: Wednesday – Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Facebook: Click here.

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1 comment

Jim Simmons Jan 17, 2016 - 8:43 am

This is a fantastic store if you not yet visited. They are right, you can spend hours down there between the multiple little shops. Things may not be improving from a crime standpoint, but the shops down there are the best they have had in years.

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