About Us - St. Paul Mercantile

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St. Paul Mercantile began life in October, 1998 as a Y2K Preparedness website. I sold dehydrated food packages, water filters, kerosene stoves, emergency radios, etc. It started as a hobby and grew into a full-time job within months. My "real job" at the time was Group Supervisor in the Information Technology division of a Fortune 500 company.

For all of 1999, I essentially had two full-time jobs - one from 8am to 5pm and the other from 6pm to 2am. The second job came to an abrupt halt on 1/1/2000 when the world entered the new century with minimal disruption. Sales of preparedness supplies dropped by more than 95%.

In 2001, I got the idea that a website business might be a way for me to make enough money so that I could leave the corporate world earlier than I otherwise would be able to do. A year later, I quit my job and began to work on my website full time.

I sold Palm Pilots, digital cameras, MP3 players, DVD players, Spanish Translators - basically anything I could buy by the 100's and resell at a profit, primarily on eBay. The margins were small, and prices were falling so fast on electronics that it was hard to make a profit, so I began to widen my search for new products.

I added vent-free wall heaters to my website, and over time, the business grew and I added additional brands of fireplaces and heaters and that has become my main product line.

Why the name St. Paul Mercantile, when my address is in Maryland? I actually started the business while living in a suburb of St. Paul. I thought everybody had heard the word "Mercantile" before, but I soon found out that it really wasn't a very common word. I thought everybody had grown up watching Little House on the Prairie (the town's general store was Olson's Mercantile).

With all of my family living in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, I had always planned to someday move from Minnesota back east. With a web-based business, it didn't matter where I lived, so my wife and I traded our 2000 sq ft house in the St. Paul suburbs for a 3500 sq ft home on 10 acres in the Alleghany mountains in western Maryland. Mountain views in all directions. We absolutely love it here.

For several years, I worked twice as many hours and made half as much money as I had in the corporate world. But the business has grown and has now caught up to my previous earnings. The best part is that I now take orders from noone - a benefit you only get when you work for yourself.

Best of all, I get to see my mom, brother, sister, my two sons and their wives much more frequently than before. Plus we've been able to be present for the births of our first two grandchildren. Being nearer to family has been worth even more than I'd imagined it would be.

My company motto is "Cool and Unusual Products". While my product focus is fireplaces and heaters, you will see many eclectic products on my website.

• My own brand of Poker Chips - a high-end set with excellent graphics
• My own design of an Oak Table that is marketed primarily as a stand for antique slot machines. It can also be used as a telephone table, bedstand, or an occasional table.
• Stained Glass windows - some are sized to replace the beveled glass in the Oak Tables I manufacture. Others are cat designs.
• A full line of kerosene cooking stoves and lanterns - the emergency preparedness market has been increasing steadily, so I will probably be adding more family prearedness items in 2008 - a return to my roots, as that's how my company got started.
• Water filters that remove bacteria - used by missionaries for 160 years
• A beautiful line of Asian antique reproduction furniture

Thanks for visiting St. Paul Mercantile!

John J Squires
St. Paul Mercantile
494 Dixon Road
Friendsville, MD 21531
phone: 301-616-7549
tollfree: 888-395-1164
fax: 775-640-2355
email: john@stpaulmercantile.com