Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris & Felicia Magness.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My husband & I were both in the medial field- Chris was in veterinary management & I am an emergency medicine RN. We were living in Austin & it just got too big & crowded for us… it lost its charm, we wanted out. We were both burnt out, especially me- coorporate medicine did me in. We wanted something more… a sense of community, small town, neighbors helping neighbors…
We needed a break, so we bought an RV, sold our house & traveled this beautiful nation of ours with our co-pilot- terriorizer Izzie. We had many great adventures, but were ready to land… we have always been passionate about health, fresh organic food, gardening, clean living & had talked about working for ourselves… so we found a small town with charm and a sense of community.
We landed in Bertram, Texas… a very small community that has been so supportive of us! We really couldn’t have asked for more. We found an empty building & were lucky enough to acquire it & start our organic grocery store & mercantile. We know it will be a hard row to hoe… but we hope with the community’s support & needs, we will make it. We are bringing it back “old school” with a shoppe that offers good, clean, limited ingredient foods, organic produce, local grass-fed meats, local dairy products, local honey, coffee, teas, and tons of personal care items, like goat milk soaps & balms, face care products, toothpaste, etc… also kitchen items, laundry wares, plants, gardening tools, seeds, gifts, art… we get new items in everyday.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road… but the community stepped up & helped us smooth it out in the beginning!
Here’s a story… We were waiting on our refrigeration equipment & finally after about 2 months we got a call that our freezer & refrigerators were loaded up on the flat-bed semi & headed our way from the west coast & would be there in about 3 days- and with that we would have to have a fork lift & pallet jack ready to go… 20 minutes later I see a semi truck drive by & stop… I think to myself, “no… can’t be!” Yup! The guy drove all night & arrived WAY early! So we were not prepared! No fork lift, no pallet jack… So we called the only person we knew… Johnny… and he called his friend C.Y. and 15 minutes later C.Y. showed up with his tractor with forks attached. Johnny & my husband were able to borrow a pallet jack from across the way from Flannigans Distillery! C.Y. was a God send and he stayed & helped us ALL day to get us unloaded, unpacked & into our building set up… he didn’t know us from Adam, but we gained one of our best friends in the community!
Also, our merchandising refrigerator showed up with a broken glass door, so that was another challenge… we were set to open & I knew it would take us awhile to get a new door… we just sealed it off & made due until it arrived…. a month later!
We definitely have had more hurdles… but we are jumping over all of them so far… so good.
We’ve been impressed with Magpie Mercantile LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are passionate about healthy organic food & sharing our knowledge with others. We are also passionate about community & being there for each other…. we are trying to bring back the “old school” mercantile that has a bit of everything- food, dry goods, German bier & Texas wines, kitchen wares, garden implements, plants, local art, personal care items, local goods… We will be adding new things as time goes by so we can expand on the needs of the community.
We love that we carry some German goods as well since Chris is from Wittlich, Germany- currently we carry exclusively German bier, but also German pickles, saurkraut, mustard & landjagers… and always looking for more authentic products.
As we go, we will be adding more health based goods- elixers, potions & lotions you could say! I am an RN with a passion for intergrative medicine, so it’s important to teach people about clean living & healthy decisions.
We love to support local artists, makers, & bakers- we have some amazing local, air-roasted coffee (we have been totally ruined for any other coffee, it’s that good!), local honey, local goats milk lotions, soaps, shampoo & balms, local body butter bars & tallow based balms, local health oils, local baked goods, local grass-fed beef, local award winning cheeses- and this is just in the Bertram area! Apparently we are a community of makers!!!
It is so important to support local, small businesses since this country was grown by mom & pop shops…. Shop small, not corporate! You never know what you will find. 🙂
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk-taking… what a question! Yes, we took a giant risk opening up this store! We quit our jobs! Myself in corporate emergency medicine & Chris from veterinary medicine management! We took a leap of faith & are doing what God has led us to do. Life is so very short… everyday we get to wake up is a blessing… it’s way too short to stay in a job that is slowly killing your soul & your health.
So here we are owning an organic grocery store & mercantile… learning as we go. Life is about taking risks… there are no “what-if’s.”
I am currently in school to expand my knowledge with becoming a holistic nurse coach & will be double board certified…. I love being a nurse, but I cannot continue to practice the “sick-care” model that is currently in place in this country. I hope that I can combine my nurse coaching & our store to help the community with their health & wellness decisons.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/magpiemercantile8/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magpiemercantile8/
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/LYVDUmVJrh9mq4n-R0AOBg
