I’m sitting outside with my laptop after completing the morning walk to school with my kids. We’ve been sleeping with the windows open this week, which I love in part. I don’t love it in the middle of the night when I wake up to the sound of sirens or loud trucks rumbling past or raccoons on the roof who can’t figure out how to get down.(Ok, that one is pretty funny.) Anyway, I wanted to know if you smelled it too this week? The way the air changed? Even with the temperatures still climbing into the 80s in the middle of the day, the air changed this week, and I already almost feel sad knowing fall will be over soon even as it’s just getting started.

When I was younger I used to try to wear sweaters in August, would put up my Christmas tree in October, would start wearing cropped pants in March even if it was snowing. I was always ready for the next season to go ahead and start already. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more practiced in looking forward to a new season without trying to rush it in. One, because time just moves faster and faster the older you get. That really does a lot of the work of patience for you. But, two, because you finally realize after years of trying that it’s just not satisfying to drink a pumpkin spiced latte in 90 degree weather. Wearing a sweater in August is a bad idea. The cute cropped pants are not worth the snow on your ankles. 

I think most of us feel that pressure to rush the coming of the next season. And nowhere is that pressure harder to resist than in retail. Big box stores (and lots of small, local shops too) love to put out Halloween decorations in August, Christmas stuff in October. And every year at Des Moines Mercantile, Mallory and I have the same discussion, do we put out the fall inventory in August because all the other stores are doing it? Are we behind? Will we miss out on sales if we wait?

And every year we come back around to the same decision: we’d rather take our cues from nature, from the seasons themselves, than succumb to the weird seasonal calendar of retail. 

It’s  hard to resist what it feels like everyone else is doing or what feels like is the expectation, especially when that might be tied to the loss of some potential sales for a small business. But it’s even harder because… we REALLY love fall. Decorating this little shop for the holidays is the most fun. Mallory loves to switch up the decorations every year, always coming up with a new window display idea (she’s already working on a new Christmas theme), moving things around, creating cute little vignettes in the shop’s corners.

All this to say, though the Starbucks PSL has been out for weeks, our time is finally coming. We’ve been accumulating our fall inventory steadily, ramping up to Pumpkin Day – Saturday, September 14th. This will be our official kickoff into fall this year. Although I personally am very sad to miss the pumpkin auction where we have sourced our pumpkins in years past, the pumpkins we’ll have in the shop this year will be all the more special because they’ve been grown by Brian Peterson (a.k.a. Mallory’s dad). Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head! They’ll come in a variety of sizes and colors just like in previous years. We’ll also have some cozy, warm drinks to sip on, and the first 50 customers of the day will get a free cookie from Schoolhouse Sweets. 

We often get asked, “What will you be getting in for fall?” Or Christmas or Easter, etc. And that’s a hard question to answer sometimes because, while we do bring in a varied inventory for specific holidays and times of year, our goal is never to turn the entire shop into a holiday theme. The products we carry and the makers we partner with are always chosen with care and thoughtfulness, and our staple products will always remain the focus at Des Moines Mercantile. 

So, what CAN you expect? You can expect all your favorites with lots of fall twists. 

Locust Grove Farm soaps in Orange Clove, Pumpkin Cider and Cozy Chai. 

Renn’s Syrups in flavors like Apple Pie, Pumpkin Spice and Salted Caramel.

Red Thread Upcycles stained glass pieces – bats, pumpkins, ghosts, acorns, oh my!

Neat and Navy Blue fall-scented soaps, room sprays and perfume rollers.

Fall books, puzzles and stationery.

And, of course, starting September 14th, pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

Until then, please enjoy this blissful, beautiful transition time with me. Cool, cloudy mornings and sweaty, sunny afternoons. Get your PSLs if you must but don’t go putting on any sweaters yet. Trust me, you’ll regret it by 3pm.