With mom as inspiration, the Monument Mercantile aspires to stay fresh and exciting
Brody Love’s mother had a dream. And that dream has become a reality as of last September, in her honor.
Located at 183 Washington Street, on the corner of 2nd Street and Washington in Downtown Monument, The Monument Mercantile features a vast collection of functional items, Colorado-inspired home decor, including farmhouse, rustic lodge and vintage wares, as well as artisan-made items from wood pottery to hand-made soaps.
The store also features items on consignment, which has become such a popular aspect of the business, owner and proprietor Brody Love almost can’t keep up with the demand, he said.
“It’s been great,” Love said. “Really, every category in the store has had popularity and interest. It’s been a lot of fun and we’re kind of seeing what the community likes, and it’s bringing in the kind of items that are different and people can’t get elsewhere in town.”
While still on paper, the concept and development of The Monument Mercantile store was the brainchild of Mauri Love, husband Mike Love and son Brody. The store was Mauri Love’s dream, Brody said, and the family moved toward making it a reality by looking at locations and other preliminary steps.
Unfortunately, in December of 2022, Mauri Love passed away at the age of 53. A couple months after, Brody and Mike Love decided to continue efforts towards establishing The Monument Mercantile as Mauri would have wanted it.
“I loved the idea anyways from the beginning, and it just kind of sucked that everything happened the way it did,” Brody Love said. “But it became like doing it in her honor in a way.”
Once the location was determined, about mid-summer last year, Love resigned from his then-job at the Air Force Academy to focus on preparing and opening the store. He updated the interior slightly with some new finishes, and by the time Love opened the doors on Sept. 1, he had just finished a fresh coat of paint the night before.
In addition, Love took it upon himself to set up the store, again using his mother as inspiration.
“I take my mom as my design inspiration, setting up furniture and setting the products,” he said. “And I’m like, you know, this was kind of the way she would have done stuff, trying to make it all work and kind of making it all look uniform without looking hodgepodge and messed up.”
The products set in the store also resemble inventory Mauri was or would have been interested in as well. Love said his mother’s passion for hand-crafted soap would have made the store’s section of the product one of her favorites. She loved Life is Good branded clothing, thus the store has a large section of the Life is Good clothing line as well. Mauri was always burning candles, inspiring the store’s inventory of them, Brody Love said.
He said the style of the store was his mother’s preference as well, a rustic Colorado-style featuring darker wood grains, almost resembling a cabin.
“I really can’t choose one area of the store which would have been her favorite,” Love said. “She probably would have been indifferent to the off-roading, outdoor area, but she’d probably still have loved it. We were off-roading with all-terrain vehicles and all that stuff our whole lives, so she would have appreciated that.”
While Mauri’s favorites started as the store’s foundation of inventory, The Monument Mercantile grew from there and quickly after Love began to see local artisans come through the front door, featuring their own goods. Love basically tries to take almost every single artisan’s goods into the store, he said.
“That’s kind of the goal, give everyone their shot,” Love said. “These are people who do farmers markets and stuff like that, but here is a brick and mortar option for them in Monument. There aren’t many other options here in Monument where they can actually display their stuff without going and buying a building, or having people come to their house to buy products.”
The mutually advantageous setup allows artisans to get exposure for their items while the store gets to feature the one-of-a-kind products, Love said.
Above all, Love aspires to have the store provide a different experience each time a patron returns.
“I don’t want to be one of those stores that just gets kind of stagnant and just doesn’t change,” he said. “I’m always bringing in something new and kind of making it a spectacle in a way. That’s the reason I love the artists who make goods, because I don’t know what’s coming through that door every day. That’s my biggest goal is to keep it exciting and fresh, and an enjoyable place to come and hang out.”
Although Love isn’t originally from Monument, his family has strong roots in the area. His grandparents lived in Monument while his father served in the U.S. military. As the immediate family was stationed in six or seven different states, and once in Japan, as Love was growing up, coming to Colorado was always the No. 1 family vacation when one was possible.
Love graduated Air Academy High School and received his bachelor’s degree from University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and he has been a permanent resident of northern El Paso County since.
Brody Love opened the doors to The Monument Mercantile store which features locally-made, Colorado-made, and almost completely U.S.A.-made products and artisan goods in Downtown Monument, which opened on Sept. 1. The store was a dream of his late mother, who passed December 2022.
Among the many artisan-made goods on display in The Monument Mercantile in Downtown Monument, are occasionally featured artisans like Rick Squires and a collection of his woodturnings, wooden pottery. Store owner Brody Love said the artisans which bring new one-of-a-kind goods to the store almost every day will help keep the store inventory fresh and exciting.
