Local opens Mercantile for holiday season

HARRINGTON - Julie Jacobsen was four months old when her family moved into a farmhouse in the area.

"I was just four months old when we moved into the farmhouse we live in now," Jacobsen said. "I went to grade school up until Junior High, but I graduated from Davenport."

She said AG Swag started with one hat she made for her sons as a Christmas present.

"AG Swag was started with one hat," Jacobsen said, " A cattle tag with 509 on it."

She said she had been looking for gift ideas on Etsy but could not find one.

"I created the logo," Jacobsen said. "I just made it and set it on my kitchen counter."

Jacobsen said she didn't tell her kids who made it as they were teenagers and might not have liked it as much.

"The first one I made, I set it on the kitchen counter," Jacobsen said. "I didn't tell my sons I made it."

She said they were impressed with the hat and the rest is history.

"We quickly realized we could change the number," Jacobsen said. "The number could change to 406 for Montana, 605 for South Dakota."

Jacobsen said the first year was a lot of pop-up events like church bazaars, fairs and rodeos.

"We did like 32 the first year," Jacobsen said. "The next year, we started to pick our favorites."

Jacobsen said after COVID happened, they traveled to Southern Idaho as it was still open. She said they found a tremendous demographic down there.

AG Swag has been exclusively online for the last four years.

Jacobsen married her husband, Dirk Jacobsen in 1996; they have three children together. They moved back to the area in 2003.

She has a cattle ranch with her family in the same house she grew up in.

Karen and Jerry Allen own the building where the Mercantile will hold up shop.

Karen Allen called Jacobsen two years ago and asked Jacobsen if she had ever thought of having a physical store.

"I called her back," Jacobsen said. " I said I'm in."

Jacobsen, the Allens have done all the renovations to the area the shop will be in.

"We stayed here until two 'o clock in the morning," Jacobsen said. "These girls and I."

Jacobsen credited her co-workers Lea Roth and Jessica VanBelle.

She said this was a test run and the actual shop will look different for the grand opening. They opened during the holiday season as a test trial.