High Falls Mercantile

A Celebration In Photographs!

June 4, 2011 – 3:27 pm

Store Manager: Cait Finn, Bri, Owner: Larry Ruhl, Artist: Canace, Janet, Owner: Jeff Serouya

What a wonderful time we had celebrating seven years in business and showcasing our favorite local artist Canace.

Thank you everyone that was able to make it out for the festivities, and a big thank you to a fantastic local blogger Kitty Sheehan for a lovely write-up. Check out her blog for some more wonderful shots of Canace’s work.

Bri, Cait and Canace

Canace

Larry with our second youngest visitor

We can not wait to see what the next seven years has in store for us!

“It’s Better to Light a Candle than Curse the Darkness”

May 27, 2011 – 2:57 pm

My fascination with candles and candle light began at a fairly young age. My grandmother belonged to a Russian Orthodox Church and on occasion while visiting her I was forced to attend. The only upshot was all of the incense, holy water being thrown about, music, and of course all of those candles. I was determined to burn candles in my own bedroom as soon as I could get my hands on some. That didn’t take long and by 14 I was lighting incense, burning candles, and listening to early music in my bedroom.

When we started buying for High Falls Mercantile, finding the perfect candles was a top priority. We started with hand rolled beeswax candles from Perrin Mowen which we still carry today. The hand rolled honeycomb candles are perfect for antique candle sticks that have odd sized openings – you can compress them to fit or add a layer to make them fatter. They’re hand rolled using a 100% cotton wick and being made of renewable beeswax, with the highest melting point of any candle wax, have long burn times.

Our next step of course was adding scented candles. What a chore it was to get it all right…vessel, packaging, scent, price, and composition. Ultimately, after years of searching, we found a company that offered a soy base for our High Falls Mercantile scented candles which are currently available in 7 scents: Bergamot, Venetian Lime, Belgian Berry, Lemongrass, Jasmine, Persian Fig, and Anise. We have since added the small candle tins from Lafco which are fantastic with a book of matches attached to the lid of each tin.

For the past 6 years we’ve had what I thought was the perfect mix of candles until we walked the New York Gift Fair this past January. I’ll admit that I let out a soft shriek when I spotted pillars worthy of any elaborate church. Beautiful natural wax columns with multiple wicks, short thick pillars that burn for hours, and an assortment of sizes that had my head rambling with ideas. The packaging is simple in recycled corrugated cardboard but the product is extraordinary.

The night that I brought home a few to try out, I sat in the warm glow of candlelight and honored my grandmother for just another example of the imprint she left on me by the experiences we shared.

- Larry Ruhl

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Design On A Dime

May 19, 2011 – 3:21 pm

When I found out back in January that I would be creating a vignette for the 7th annual Design on a Dime event benefiting Housing Works, I was nothing but thrilled. It wasn’t until about mid March that my nerves started to kick in.

The challenge? Create a beautiful room of my choice in a 10X12 space. Everything would need to be donated and would be priced and sold at up to 70% off of retail. No sweat…or at least I thought.

I’ll admit that when I am passionate about a charity, I have no problem asking for donations. It’s true for my local work with Carve for a Cause and certainly true for Housing Works, an organization whose commitment to helping those living with HIV/AIDS is unprecedented. It’s one thing to ask for a monetary contribution. It’s a very different experience asking for furniture, artwork, rugs, accessories, and antiques. We had an edge with High Falls Mercantile to fall back on to fill in any gaps, but it was going to be a challenge nonetheless.

This is where my incredible partner Jeff Serouya jumped in. He just said…”Give me a list of our vendors that you’d like a donation from and I’ll get started.” About an hour later he came down from his office with a list of donations he had secured. We were off to an amazing start.

As word started getting out, asking for donations became easier and easier. It wasn’t until I sat down and looked at all that we were getting and thought “Uh-oh. How in the hell am I going to make all of this work together?”

I attended the Design on a Dime kickoff party at the Knoll showroom with my friend Steven Souza, who creates the most beautiful pillows for Obrigado. It was at this event that I met the very talented and charming Patrick Hamilton another newbie to this event. In one sense Patrick calmed my nerves. We had the same questions as to how this all went down. In another sense he made me more nervous. He was organized and had a theme and feeling for his room. It was high time for me to figure it out.

One evening I said to Jeff, “I think that I am going to cover the back walls in pages from an old book.” He smiled and just said, “Fantastic.” I have been using this technique for years; I love the fading and staining of old print. The dining room in our first home in the Hudson Valley was decoupaged in pages from an old German advertising book. The effect was stunning and it inspired Period House to do a piece on our home.

As soon as the decoupage inspiration hit, my room was complete in my mind. It was going to feel as if you were stepping right into your favorite magazine spread.

Once set up day arrived I was armed and ready. It was absolutely pouring out and I was worried about my pages dampening. As soon as I saw Tony, our mover, I felt calm. He has that effect on you as soon as he says “Morning sunshine!”

Unbeknownst to me, a good friend of mine, Bernit, had signed up to volunteer for Housing Works. He showed up in my room and we got to work with piles of old encyclopedia pages and double stick tape. My intention was to only do the back wall but as we continued, it became obvious that doing all three walls was the way to go. The rugs went down, the furniture was placed, and frames, artwork, and antique transfer ware plates were hung. All that was left were some final touches that I’d take care of the next morning.

The opening night party was fantastic. Iman made me giggle, Miles Redd loved our room, Robert Verdi had us in stitches, and Ernie De La Torre offered invaluable support. All I had to do was smile and answer questions about the pieces in my room. The hours flew by. I saw my closest friends, family, editors, bloggers and shoppers. It was a great time.

I found the last part of the evening most entertaining. As Jeff and I were walking to meet friends for dinner he said “Larry, that was fantastic. How are you going to top it next year?”

We hoped for some decent coverage after the event, but the outpouring of support astounded us. Here are a few of my favorite mentions:

One of the first blog write-ups we saw was from Marisa Marcantonio at Stylebeat.

Allegra Muzillo at Design Bite captured a great shot of the wooden mantle and decoupaged walls.

I was excited that Quintessence put up an image of people looking at some of the one-of-a-kind artwork we had.

Habitually Chic managed to capture every angle of our vignette! It was so fun reading about what items stood out for her.

We need to thank the following vendors for their donations:

Merida Meridian
Libeco Home
Kelly O’Neal for Design Legacy
Obrigado Pillows
Barclay Butera Home
Vanguard Furniture
Marianne Murray and Richard Rowley
Downtown Antiques
Bellocq Tea
Lafco
Dash and Albert Rugs
Pepperberry Company
Strawser and Smith
Art by Canace
David Frankel Jewelry
Barbara Cosgrove Lighting
Eugenia Ballard
AGS
Perin Mowen
Catskill Art and Framing
Phaidon
Formed and Found

More Photos from our Design On A Dime Vignette:

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Seven Year Itch

May 7, 2011 – 11:36 am

It’s hard to believe that we’re celebrating 7 years in business. In classic High Falls Mercantile style, please join us as we celebrate Saturday, May 14th from noon to 5pm.

It feels like just yesterday when we were down to the wire. Two days before our opening party the concrete entry steps hadn’t yet been poured. When the cement mixer arrived while our contractors were at lunch, Jeff and I had to jump in to help smooth out the wet mix before it set.

The building right after we purchased it

Opening Day- April 16, 2004

The day before the opening we waited nervously to receive our final certificate of occupancy from the town – had it been delayed, we wouldn’t have been able to put the key in the door.

This combined with planning the opening party and not knowing if we would have 100 or 500 people show up. (It proved to be the latter) With the champagne chilled, the flowers blossoming on demand and tea sandwiches & pastries on silver platters, we were ready to start celebrating.

Opening Day

Jeff assisting customers on our first day

As I look back on the photos from that day, I can’t believe how the store has changed and evolved. It’s great to see that we still carry so many products in those photographs today – Dash and Albert rugs, Libeco Linen, Santa Maria Novella, and beeswax candles from Perin Mowen. And I look at what’s new to the store and see a perfect marriage: The Hudson Valley Seed Library, Bellocq Tea, Traditions by Pamela Kline, Kahina Argan Oil, and of course pottery by Ayumi Horie.

The product offering at High Falls Mercantile has also grown as a result of how our business has changed. With more and more interior decorating projects under our belt, we have added upholstered furniture, custom rugs, fabric and wallpaper, and a multitude of design services. This not only keeps us very busy but ensures the store always looks fresh and different.

Apothecary 2004

Apothecary 2011

The most exciting change here at High Falls Mercantile is our redesigned website. What seemed like an eternity designing, editing, creating, formatting, and photographing is now a reality that we are very proud of. None of this would have come together without our most important addition – an amazing talent named Cait Finn. She’s become webmaster extraordinaire and you can thank her when your order ships within 24 hours and arrives safely and perfectly packaged.

Celebrate With Us:

As we prepare for our party on Saturday May 14th, we are happy to be celebrating an amazing artist who has captured our hearts and minds with her outstanding talent and imagination. Canace creates the most amazing assemblages and brings a distinction to her work that marries brilliantly with our aesthetic. Her pieces have been published, shown in collections, and are available on a limited basis here at High Falls Mercantile. Stop by and meet this incredible woman.

We look forward to seeing you on May 14th. Grab a glass and toast with us what is just the beginning of our time in this beautiful area and hamlet of High Falls.

Saturday May 14^th

12 noon – 5pm

113 Main St.

High Falls, NY

-Larry Ruhl

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Santa Maria Novella

April 13, 2011 – 3:28 pm

About 12 years ago…

…Jeff and I took a trip to Florence. Knowing me all too well, Jeff was prepared with a list of beautiful shops to keep me inspired and three restaurant choices for each day knowing not to ever let me get too hungry.

At this time the idea of opening my own shop was just a dream and one that I thought would be a long way off. With Florence at our fingertips we started a journey that not only inspired my mind but my senses in a way that I will never forget.

About three days into our tour, Jeff said that we would be visiting an old apothecary known as Santa Maria Novella. Dating back to the 13th Century, he explained that they were still creating natural herb based creams, tonics, shampoos, and tinctures. It sounded great to me. As we started walking up Via della Scala, I kept saying to him, “What’s that smell?” He just sort of smirked without betraying what we were in for.

When we walked in to the shop, I was overcome. I chuckle as I write this because it sounds slightly dramatic but for those of you that have been, you know what I mean. Not only was the scent in the air magical but the fixtures, the apothecary jars, and the women working in the shop transported me to another century. Not speaking a word of Italian, I mustered up the courage to buy a few things. The potpourri was a given. I attempted to ask for some hand creams and something for my face and just bought whatever she handed me. (For a while I think I was using hand cream on my face and nourishing oil on my hands but eventually sorted it all out.)

Jeff and I left Florence feeling inspired and refreshed.

Fast forward to 2004…

…when High Falls Mercantile was under construction and close to becoming a reality. As we were starting to hammer out the categories that we’d carry, we were stumped when it came to a scent that would be associated with the store. It was Jeff that said… “If we could carry Santa Maria Novella our problem would be solved.” And with that our adventure began.

We found out that Lafco was the US distributor of Santa Maria Novella and that they would be at the gift fair in NY. As we approached their booth at the show, we were met with an intimidating stare by the gentleman that would not only become the one responsible for selling to us but a good friend as well. It all started with… “And who are YOU?” We made the proper commitments to the line, had an in house training session, and received our first order. As soon as I opened that first box I was transported back to Via della Scala.

We offer most of what Santa Maria Novella creates but of course as you can imagine, we have our favorites:

Eau de Cologne

Vellutina Cream Face Soap

Nourishing Night Oil

Face and Neck Cream

Shaving Cream

Armenia Burning Papers

Potpourri

The amazing blend of Herbs in their products gives our store its signature scent. Almost everyone that comes in asks… “What is the fragrance?” Almost no one believes us that it is the potpourri and after 7 years in business we’ve almost stopped trying to convince them. But yes indeed, that is the mystery.
Trust us.

-Larry Ruhl

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Conquering Gift Giving

April 6, 2011 – 11:06 am

We’ve been working on HighFallsMercantile.com for years.

Just when you think you’re close to launching your site, new technology comes out, a family emergency arises, or your computer crashes. These are just some of the reasons that Cait, Jeff, and I were so excited to finally go live last September.

Our site is constantly evolving and changing as any business does but we are thankfully at the point of tweaking and improving after a long implementation process.

Having a Gift Registry was not a priority for me but having a store manager that is getting married this year? Let’s just say that she won that battle of priorities. Cait was so excited to jump in and make sure our registry was designed to be easy and efficient that she accomplished just that. After all, she’s our registry guinea pig.

I had the privilege of escorting Cait through the store as she compiled her registry list. We had quite a few laughs as we realized how different we are when it came to the things that we covet. I certainly forgot that there was also a groom in the picture so pushing for beautiful soaps and linen tote bags did not go over as well as candles and bed linen.

We invite you to have a look at our new registry. We’re constantly adding new collections, objects, and must haves. It works for any occasion and you will be assured of the most beautiful wrapping and personal attention.

-Larry Ruhl

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Remodelista Blogs Our Favorite New Tea

March 20, 2011 – 2:07 pm

Pictured is Michael Shannon-one of the Bellocq founders

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new organic loose tea from Bellocq. They were our favorite discovery at the New York International Gift Fair in January. Bellocq’s approach to organic teas – the blends and their visual beauty – dovetail perfectly with our approach at High Falls Mercantile.

This past week while I was reading my favorite blogs, I found a post from Remodelista on Bellocq that captured exactly how we felt when we discovered this new company.

Remodelista is a great source for remodeling and design ideas with the belief that “a mix of high and low—and of vintage and new—animates a space”.

Their post on Bellocq is full of fun photos. Bellocq teas will be at High Falls Mercantile in the next few weeks.

-Cait Finn

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Our Love for Argan Oil and Kahina-Giving Beauty

March 2, 2011 – 2:35 pm

First Impressions

We’ve been carrying Kahina brand Argan Oil products for 3 years now at High Falls Mercantile. As so many of our most enduring relationships have started, the relationship with Katharine L’Heureux, the founder of Kahina-Giving Beauty, was instantaneous when she walked into our shop.

Argan Oil is hand pressed from the Argan nut

After talking for a while Katharine said that she had a product that we might want to consider offering. I’ll admit that I was completely taken by Katharine’s beauty and the incredible energy that she radiated. This was not going to be a hard sell for her to say the least. As she pulled out her beautifully packaged Argan oil products, I knew that we were in business.

Argan Oil, the base of all of the Kahina products, is known for its highly potent antioxidants. I went home with my own bottle that day and didn’t hesitate to take it for a test run. I was amazed at how easily my skin absorbed the oil. Almost as if it was craving it or just simply needed it. I have extremely sensitive skin and was pleased to see my skin soften and even out within just a few days. One other secret to share? The oil is amazing used in your hair. The non greasy formula is fantastic for your scalp.

Rich History

Since that very first introduction we have been excited to watch the transition of the products into what they are today. What started as a small line has grown to national recognition. Katharine and her team continue to amaze us with new products and endeavors. Through explosive growth and publicity the company continues to embody its strong philosophy of women helping women through shared beauty rituals. On the outer boxes, the signatures of the Berber women that harvest the oil add more than a personal touch; they add a personal experience and message. Many of the women that benefit from the 25% of profits that Kahina donates back are the sole breadwinners in their families.

“Our line is a reflection of these women: of their culture, their hard work, and their beauty, both inner and outer”

This simple and powerful philosophy is paired perfectly with Kahina’s continued commitment to sustainability.

Kahina and High Falls Mercantile

Overall, our favorite department at High Falls Mercantile is our Apothecary department. Not only would it be incomplete without Kahina, but our dedication to supporting amazing causes, small businesses, and offering as much organic product as possible would all be diminished without it.

I will admit that the three of us at High Falls Mercantile are all addicted. Cait has her complete daily regimen designed by Katharine herself. I love the oil and could not live without the eye cream. Jeff, with his flawless Middle Eastern skin, loves the mask that just came out last year. Want to start with a sampling? They have the best travel basics packaged and ready to go.

Fun Facts:

Organic Skincare with no harmful ingredients

Full of antioxidants and Vitamin E

Reduces inflammation

Minimizes the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles

Light and non-greasy

Oil comes from argan nuts hand-cracked by the Berber women

Cold-pressed and filtered for purity and a longer shelf life of two years

No artificial preservatives, parabens, artificial colorants, artificial fragrances, petrochemicals, harsh detergents, DEA, TEA, toxic ingredients, or animal testing

I am sure that you’re first time using Argan Oil based products will not be your last. Already use Argan Oil? What is your favorite Kahina product?

-Larry Ruhl

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Art by Canace- The Work That Inspires Us

January 19, 2011 – 12:43 pm

As you might suspect, we have a very strong point of view here at High Falls Mercantile. We personally select everything that we sell, and if we don’t love it we simply don’t buy it. We often get approached with various wares to sell but it is not often that all three of us completely fall in love with something. That changed the day Canace came in to give us a trunk show of her work. We knew at once that we were falling in love. Little rusted hinges, old typewriter keys, various doll body parts, and my absolute favorite- The Frozen Charlottes. Canace shared with us the history of the Frozen Charlotte legend:

Frozen Charlottes- SOLD

Frozen charlottes were excavated from the grounds of an old doll factory in Germany. They are over 100 years old and are named after a song from the mid 1800s. The song tells the story of a young girl named Charlotte who, against her mother’s wishes, went out to a winter ball without her shawl and froze to death from the cold. The song is based on a poem, which was written as a cautionary tale for young women after the author read news articles about more than one vain young girl who met their end in much the same way as Charlotte. These dolls were often used to cool hot tea, or baked into breads, and larger ones were even designed to float on their backs in the bath.

High Falls, NY Cabinet Card

Not only did we see a perfect match for the store but my own obsessive nature started to interfere and I bought a piece from that first meeting. I have since purchased two more pieces and Cait commissioned an incredible cabinet card assemblage for Jeff and me as a Christmas gift.

It’s hard to describe the intensity you feel when you fully take in Canace’s assembalges and examine her intricate jewelry pieces. Not only can you feel the amazing energy that Canace puts into her work but you get pulled into another era. The textures, haunting images, words, and composition leave you mesmerized.

We are so fortunate that she is local. Nothing is better than seeing her smiling face and mischievous eyes walking through the door with new things to show us.

We are happy to say that all of Canace’s current work has been photographed and available on our website. Thanks to the inspiration of Canace’s beautiful jewelry and a fantastic sterling silver jeweler we work with, we are in the process of creating a “Jewelry” category. As with any new product we promise to keep you updated when this category is available on the website and as additional work becomes available.

In the meantime, have a sneak peak at some of our favorite pieces!

Printer's Tray Assemblage- SOLD

"Knowledge" Assemblage

"Wisdom" Assemblage

"All Seeing Eye" Necklace

Please visit our Artwork page for additional pieces by Canace.

-Larry Ruhl

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The Phantom Decorator

December 23, 2010 – 5:58 pm

Being given total freedom to decorate someones home for the Holidays has got to be one of my favorite things to do.

This particular house offers multiple fireplaces to decorate, high ceilings to allow for a huge tree, deep windowsills for candles and greenery, and rooms upon rooms to layer and layer.