Three Ways In
Three doors into the same place. Pick whichever one suits the afternoon.
01
The Place
our hometown
We're very proud of our historic little town, and welcome you to stop by anytime. From the Frost Fair to the Spring Festival to Invitation Day, there's never a dull moment.
Wander the stories02
The Mercantile
est. 1923
Handcrafted aprons made from vintage fabric, small-batch soaps from Hard-hearted Hannah's Boutique, organic fire cider, specialty teas, seasoning blends, and a cookbook you're going to want in your kitchen. All stocked the slow way.
Shop the mercantile03
The Podcast
Bringing Bitter Root into your home
Stories from Bitter Root, told in Teddy's own voice. New episodes drop on Podbean. Bring a porch and a cup of coffee. Featuring excerpts from the Carolina In The Afternoon Radio Hour and music from Aunt Betty on the Piano.
Listen on Podbean
Since 1923
Hover to see us today
Stanley Patrick, Founder
A Brief History of the Kitchen Mechanic Mercantile
Stanley Patrick, Founder, Kitchen Mechanic Mercantile
In 1923, Stanley Patrick opened The Kitchen Mechanic Mercantile on the top corner of Anson Square. He envisioned a dry goods store, grocery, soda fountain, and pharmacy, all under one roof. The kind of place where you could buy a sack of flour, a fountain Coca-Cola, a bolt of good broadcloth and a tin of liniment without ever having to leave the block. He believed that "all are precious in His sight, and therefore are welcome in my house." Every citizen of Bitter Root deserved the best he could offer, and if they couldn't pay this week, well, they would work something out.
Over the decades, Mr. Patrick's generosity and sharing spirit enabled his son-in law to open Chapman Hardware, Mr. Coker to open the Pharmacy, and the Mark's Family their Department Store, further down The Square. And through it all, the Mercantile stood, a monument to the best of Bitter Root. It became less of a one-stop-shop and more of a landmark, the kind of place where the screen door slaps and generations of the same families have leaned on the same counter. The store has remained family run, and will be as long as there is one living relative.
Today the shelves carry specialty goods, souvenirs, the cookbook, the forthcoming novel, as well as handcrafted aprons, jar openers and other items made by Teddy, Mr. Patrick's great-great granddaughter, in the back room. The soda fountain still pours the best Dr. Pepper float in the world. They are, justifiably, famous.
1923
Doors opened
100+
Years standing
∞
Dr. Pepper Floats slid across the counter
From the Workroom
The Bookshelf
recipes, folklore, histories, and mysteries
Exciting news! The New and Revised Kitchen Mechanic Cookbook and Almanac will be available next month! One is a cookbook and almanac, commissioned by the Bitter Root Business Association and gathered from the people and businesses of the Bitter Root community and the nearby Township of Collins Dock, SC. Coming Soon: The School Under The Ground, the story of Bitter Root itself, told through the eyes of one of its own. Available late 2026.
Autograph copies available on request.
"A Kitchen Mechanic is not only a wizard with the stove who knows their way around a cast iron skillet, but one who knows how to find bargains and good deals so that those in their charge eat not only much, but well. " Tracy Jordan, The Kitchen Mechanic Cookbook and Almanac
Under Revision!
Exciting news! The Kitchen Mechanic Cookbook and Almanac is currently being revised with new recipes, new stories and a new cover! It's going to be bigger and better than ever! Over 110 recipes, essays, important dates, town lore, with photos and insights throughout. We'll let you know when its available, so keep an eye out!
Under Revision!
Coming Soon!
A novel set in Bitter Root. The story of Bitter Root, as told through the eyes of those who were there.
Coming Soon!
Under Revision!
Exciting news! The Kitchen Mechanic Cookbook and Almanac is currently being revised with new recipes, new stories and a new cover! It's going to be bigger and better than ever! Over 110 recipes, essays, important dates, town lore, with photos and insights throughout. We'll let you know when its available, so keep an eye out!
Coming Soon!
A novel set in Bitter Root. The story of Bitter Root, as told through the eyes of those who were there.
Shop the Mercantile
Shelf is empty just now.
Stories from Bitter Root
Field notes, backstory pieces, and the occasional fragment from The School Under the Ground.
Field Note No. 01 · Spring
On her first day at the Mercantile, Beechie found an old bell, tarnished and thick with dust, in a forgotten corner of the Soda Fountain. Something about the way it 'clanged' told her it needed to be part of the fountain again.
Read onField Note No. 02 · Summer
The Professor said it came to him in a vision, full blown, "Like Athena sprung from the head of Zeus!" He soon found that Zeus had it easy. Bringing a vision to life isn't that simple.
Read onField Note No. 01 · January
All of us have that 'one special day'. When something happened that was so magical everyone still talks about in one shared memory. This is mine.
Read onFrom the Archive
Vol. I · Ongoing
Filed, awaiting Teddy's pen – dates approximate.
The Podcast
pull up a porch and have some iced tea
Singing in A Snow Cave is Teddy reading stories from and around Bitter Root, talking hygge, and just making a safe space. Sometimes with a guest, sometimes just a coffee cup and a microphone. New episodes drop on Podbean.
Best listened to on a porch in the evening, or in a car on the long way home.
Find Us in Person
Come say hello, see the aprons in person, and grab a bottle of fire cider before it sells out.
Sept
Thursday
Williamston, 2-6pm
HOVER TO SEE TEDDY AT WORK
TEDDY — MAKER, MENDER, TINKERER & STORYTELLER.
About Me
A Kitchen Mechanic at work
I've always been a maker. Give me a piece of fabric, an old object, a sewing machine, or a half-formed idea, and I'll probably want to see what I can do with it. I sew, restore, collect, cook, write, and occasionally take perfectly sensible projects in directions they were never meant to go.
I'm also a storyteller, which means I have a hard time making anything without giving it a story. The aprons began as pieces of fabric and became something more along the way—little bits of color, usefulness, memory, and imagination made by hand.
I like things that are meant to be used and loved. An apron should get flour on it. A recipe card should acquire a stain or two. An old object doesn't need to be perfect to be worth keeping. Sometimes the things that show a little wear are the things with the best stories.
That's really what the Mercantile is about: making useful, beautiful things and giving them a place in somebody else's story.
Come on in. Stay awhile. There's usually something being made around here.
And as always: Thanks ever so much, count your change and come back soon!
Tracy "Teddy" Jordan, Owner and Proprietor, Kitchen Mechanic Mercantile
Stop by the Counter
we read everything
Custom aprons, special orders, a question about the cookbook, or a story for the podcast. We look forward to hearing from you!
Your basket is empty! Go on, you know you want to!
