Helping Fern-ish holiday gifts
The Wild Fern Mercantile offers a cornucopia of holiday presents
Story and photo by Eliot Sekuler
For the TODAY
The wreaths displayed on and around the large glass panels of The Wild Fern Mercantile storefront are detailed with bright ribbons, each different, each unique, each decorated by the shop’s owner, Christine McGowan.
The carefully curated shop, though currently displaying an array of Christmas-related items, offers gifts for every occasion.
“It’s a fun gift shop with a lot of eclectic items,” said McGowan.
Since opening in August of this year, the store has built a local following largely through word-of-mouth while attracting visitors by virtue of the ideal location in the heart of Lincoln City’s historic Taft business district, an easy walk to such visitor magnets as the Lincoln City Glass Center and Mo’s Seafood & Chowder restaurant.
“I’m trying to be a gift shop for the community as well as for people who visit,” McGowan said. “I have a lot of return customers.”
McGowan’s familiarity with the preferences and penchants of her coastal clientele comes easily. Raised in Newport until her middle school years, she moved to Lincoln City in her early teens and is a graduate of the town’s Taft High School.
The store’s long, narrow space is lined with racks and shelves holding an assortment of appealing items, many of them handcrafted. Small plush toys are displayed beside intricately woven macramé ornaments. Handmade coasters, ceramic coffee mugs, aprons and cookie jars beckon from their shelves on the shop’s rear wall, across from a Christmas tree holding imaginative handmade ornaments. Nearby are racks of t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, hats and other apparel, much of it from Lincoln City-based clothing brand Pacific & Pines.
McGowan pointedly sources much of her inventory from local suppliers and crafters.
“A lot of crafters from up and down the coast come in and present their work,” she said. “There are all sorts of cool things: jewelry, tiles, fun and quirky things. I like to support local crafts.”
A collection of fused glass jewelry from local artisan Donna Houston has proven to be very popular. McGowan, who also buys suitable items from Northwest quality wholesalers, contributes her own craft talents to the mix, offering hanging plants and home-made bathing salts to the shop’s products.
Gourmet snack items make up a part of the Wild Fern product mix. Tempting packages of Oregon Hazelnut Toffees, Annie’s gourmet popcorn and varieties of Northwest Biscotti are displayed beside the array of toys, finger puppets, travel mugs, puzzles and small boxed kits that invite the user to “hug a reindeer,” “hug a dragon” or any of several other huggable stuffed animal species.
McGowan also assembles a range of gift baskets, which have been big sellers.
“The baskets are really fun,” she said. “There’s some of the sea salt bath salts that I make, some lip balm, a candle, some ornaments. Another one has a coffee mug, a lotion bar and some chocolates. I plan to offer gift baskets for local businesses soon.”
McGowan, for whom Wild Fern Mercantile marks her first retail enterprise, remarked upon the pleasures of operating a store focused on gift-giving.
“Shopping for gifts is enjoyable and I’ve loved interacting with happy customers,” she said, noting that her long-standing ties to the Oregon Coast have helped her successfully launch her new enterprise. “This is a really great community and all the people I’ve met here over the years have been very supportive. They’ve made a point to help make me be successful.”
Wild Fern Mercantile is located at 4845 SE Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday 10 am to 3 pm. For more information, call 541-614-0117.