Alex Johnson Mercantile adjusts to changing downtown clientele

Jennifer Johnson grew up in Rapid City and remembers working for her father Wayne Johnson, the original owner of the Rushmore Tramway. As a young girl she vividly remembers spending hours cleaning the grounds and watching the visitors enjoy the Black Hills.

“From and early age I saw the joy that people experienced looking in awe at the faces and thebeauty of the Black Hills,” stated Johnson.

Growing up in the tourism industry was all the Jennifer knew. She also knew how much hard work went into owning your own business.

“Working at the Tramway all of those years taught me two things: the work would be hard for a few months, but it would be worth it. And make sure to treat each and every visitor as if I know them, we are in the relationship business,” added Johnson.

Over the course of her professional career, Jennifer worked in retail and cosmetics at different businesses. The same techniques she learned working in the tourism industry carried over to her interactions. Jennifer was able to hone her professional skills learned in retail, including goal setting, sales tracking, and merchandising, to take advantage of an opportunity presented to her by Linc and Elaine Ainsworth - owners of the Mercantile.

“In a chance conversation Linc asked if I wanted to buy the store and I thought it was a joke,but he was serious,” stated Johnson. “Over the next few months, Jim and I spent so much time on the SBA loan, meeting with bankers, and coming up with a business plan. The process was as natural as breathing because I had learned the process of business working for others,” added Johnson.

Johnson was able to take everything she had learned in retail and now apply it to a business she owned and make it her own.

“The mercantile was established as a highend gallery. We wanted to brighten it up, rearrange and recreate the Mercantile. The goal was to make it shoppable, unique and diverse,” said Johnson.

Over the next five years Jen and her husband Jim worked hard to create their own identity for the store. Some of the work included creating an identity for the Mercantile and making it different from other businesses in the area.

“We had to find our niche in the market. I had a love of jewelry from working with designer Trisha Waldron [and] I was able to incorporate more Navajo Turquoise and replace the popular Black Hills Gold. We also had to offer selections that were different than other downtown businesses because we all wanted to ensure we shared the business. That’s what makes downtown so unique,” said Johnson.

In a tourist-based business, Jen knows the summer to winter dichotomy can be sharp. It’s not exactly feast or famine but it can be difficult to juggle. That is why it is so important to build a relationship with every visitor to her store.

“I make sure to talk to every person that steps into my store as if they are my friend and build a connection with them. It’s the sales/relationship process,” said Johnson.

“Visitors that come to Rapid [City] are curious. They see there is a community here, a close-knit community and they want to know more about us. People are fascinated by our community. I have always appreciated where I was from, but it makes me appreciate it even more when I see it through our visitors’ eyes,” added Johnson.

The Mercantile has changed with each of the three owners over the past 30 years. But since 2014, Jen and her husband Jim Galbraith have been staples in the store. They are working their ‘active retirement,’ welcoming visitors from all over the world into their store and building one relationship at a time.

• Jen worked at the Mercantile three separate times before purchasing the business in 2014.

• Looking to the future, Jen hopes to “reconnect our local residents with downtown. We rely on them in the winter months as small businesses stay open.”

• For many years, the Mercantile acted as the gift shop for the Hotel Alex Johnson. It attracts many of their visitors into their doors.

• The biggest lesson learned through 2020 for Jen was “the clientele changed in 2020 in downtown Rapid City - more families found themselves downtown. In years past it was bus tours, so I had to adjust my inventory to fit the needs of our customers,” stated Johnson.