your local neighborhood
junk dealers

We’re a husband and wife team, and we spend our spare time travelling and searching for old and unique things with a story. We love taking the backroads, finding little local diners, stopping at flea markets, garage sales, estate sales, you name it… which sometimes means we're late wherever we go, and our Jeep usually resembles a rolling flea market.

jonathan

Jonathan is a commercial interior designer by trade. He wastes his spare time working on motorcycles that never run and buying things he shouldn't. His favorite food is pumpkin pie.  His favorite color is matte black.  Or rust.  Probably rust.  Bourbon is good.

JEN

​Jen often doesn't know if she wants to be a graphic designer, a fashion designer, or a broadway singer.  But she's good at two out of three, so that ain't bad, right?  She loves dogs, and puppies, and dogs.  Give her a gimlet (or two) and a good book, and you'll have a happy girl.

Beauregard

I'm a Boston Terrier, the official shop dog of Narrative Mercantile, and the real reason you've read this far down.  I'm so important that I have TWO assistants (see page left).
If you want to follow me, I have my own Instagram account, @narrativeshopdog.

"cHARLOTTE" THE 1950 cHEVY
Charlotte is the company car of Narrative Mercantile, and received her name from Jen's great-grandmother. You may see her sitting pretty on North Avenue in front of Narrative, basking in all her mint green glory. 

If you were wondering, she is a 1950 Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe (4-door), and yes, she is three-on-the-tree. Jonathan presented her as an engagement gift, hiding the ring inside.

Jen and Jonathan have driven her from Columbus to Montreal, where they lived at the time, then back to Columbus for their wedding (in which she played an integral role), before taking her onward to make their home in Chicago. 

How'd this all start?

We have been collecting junk for the past 10+ years.  After returning to the United States from a 5 year adventure in Montreal, we tied the knot, settled down in Chicago, and finally did what we'd been talking about for years - created Narrative Mercantile. Basically, we collected too much stuff, and something had to give.

why "narrative"?

In addition to loving old stuff, we love stories, storytelling, and storytellers. We're not storytellers ourselves, exactly (Jen sometimes starts in the middle of a story and then jumps around), but we do enjoy learning the history - the story - behind objects.  Who owned it?  Why?  Where did it come from?  Where has it been?  What happened to it along the way?  Oftentimes the most mundane of things can have an intriguing story trapped inside.
HOME                     ABOUT                     SHOP ETSY                     SHOP CHAIRISH                     DESIGN                     CONTACT                     WE BUY STUFF

​NARRATIVE MERCANTILE

Vintage and Antiques with a Story
—​  CHICAGO, ILLINOIS  —​