MEEKER | With 2020 being, well, 2020, it is an especially daunting time to be a small business owner. Despite this year’s run of collective global bad luck, there are still many happy opportunities to be found.
Jason and Brenda Purkey found just such an opportunity and signed the papers that made them the proud new owners of Meeker General Mercantile on Nov. 16, 2020. The business was never listed publicly. The sale came about through a series of fortunate events.
“We were looking for a business opportunity for a relative, and Jason was in talking with Becky [Dunham] one day and she said she was looking at selling. It’s just a series of circumstances where we were given this opportunity,” Brenda said.
The store, originally a co-op, has been a cornerstone in the community for more than 30 years and was most recently owned by the Dunham family, who bought the outfit in 1996. The store offers animal feed and livestock products, clothing, accessories, shoes, gifts, household goods and much more, and will continue to do so. The greenhouse will be back in the spring, and the Purkeys also want to build on “community recommendations” and would love suggestions for any new products you’d like to see.
During our interview, the store was consistently busy with customers — one woman looking for a bag of dog food she described as “orange, with a Lab on it,” another picking up pet food samples and several more surveying the new changes.
Brenda previously worked as the Deputy Treasurer for Rio Blanco County for six years, but the political uncertainty of the office made her re-examine her career goals, although she enjoyed the job. (Term limits for the treasurer’s office narrowly passed in last month’s election.)
“This opportunity allowed us to be more family-oriented on a career path that better fits with our life plans.” Those plans include time with daughters Madee, age 4 and Lexi, 11 months, as well as managing not just one, but four other businesses. Those include the family-owned Purkey Packing Plant, White River Loomix (liquid feed for cattle), Big Blue Trucking, and Purkey Livestock, which are mostly managed by Jason. MGM is more Brenda’s venture, with brother-in-law Travis Stout as co-manager.
Once the ink was dry on the contract, Brenda dug into reorganizing and recreating an inventory system in the store. The building is a patchwork of add-ons, closets, and hidden nooks, and it took a solid two weeks (with the exception of Thanksgiving and one Sunday) to clean out and rearrange a good chunk of the store’s floor space. She’s not quite done with the revamp, but hopes to be finished by spring 2021 for a grand reopening celebration.
There are plenty of new and newly discovered inventory items in the space (fashionable flannels, anyone?) and Brenda hopes to bring more vendors online in the near future with competitive pricing and, of course, the added benefit of dollars staying local. Brands you may find in the near future include Cinch, Wrangler, Hooey, Carhartt and possibly even Levi’s. You can also browse farmhouse chic home decor, children’s toys and more, with a special focus on items from independently-owned American companies. And of course, all of the feed and livestock items MGM has offered for years.
Stop by and check out Meeker General Mercantile at 990 Market St., and follow them on Facebook!
There is a $5 off coupon for MGM on page 6A in the Shop@Home section. Take your newspaper in (or buy one at MGM) for $5 off any purchase, and enter to win $50 Holiday Bucks in our Shop@Home sweepstakes while you’re there.
By CAITLIN WALKER | [email protected]
