Ditterich’s Mercantile
By Missy Hermes
Step into Ditterich’s Mercantile in Vergas and return to a time when the general store was the heart of a community. A steady flow of customers pop in through the doors as families pick up groceries for supper, bikers stop in or a snack and curious visitors driving through the area at peak leaf peeper season find a unique variety of cold drinks.
Duwayne Ditterich greets everyone coming into this brand new store, an idea built from a gentleman’s agreement and a handshake into a thriving superette. What’s a superette? It’s not a convenience store with gas pumps and not a supermarket, but it has everything.
The store carries fresh produce, dairy, frozen foods, pet and paper products, plus locally grown or produced items like honey, syrup, beef jerky, snacks, and nuts. The Mercantile has fresh cotton candy on the weekends as well as a variety of flavored gourmet popcorn. My own bag of “mercantile mix” barely made it home!
Ditterich proudly points out unique items throughout the store, evidence he supports local farmers or entrepreneurs like himself. The family farm started out raising cattle, supplying beef to area restaurants. Today, buyers can find Ditterich products at the Mercantile meat counter ground beef, ribs, steaks are brought in on Fridays ready for weekend cookouts.
When the city’s only grocery store closed, developers saw an opportunity. They constructed a new multi-use building on a prime half city block. Businesses opened at the street level.
A fitness center and pastry shop now operate on one side of the building. In addition, mother-daughter team JoAnne Knutilla and Kari Heisler have opened A Step Up Thrift Boutique. The store has, “a boutique style with thrift store prices,” selling clothing and accessories for women, children and men.