Inspired by her love of curated retail shops, Iowa City entrepreneur Amanda Gavin will open the doors to her own store, Gavin Mercantile, in Iowa City’s Northside.
Located at 205 N. Linn Street, the retail destination will open early this summer.
“I have always dreamt of opening up my own little shop someday,” Gavin said.
Displaying items like candles, ceramics, greeting cards, and other novelties, Gavin Mercantile will feature a curated selection of homewares, paper products, and gifts. The items Gavin will bring in to sell reflect her daily life entertaining and spending quality time with family and friends.
“I love curating for our own home and love entertaining. So I’ve always been drawn to shops that have those elements in them,” Gavin said.
Gavin said elegant retail shops have always fascinated her. During years spent traveling with her husband, Gavin found a love for the hunt of unique products and new brands. Drawing on this inspiration, Gavin thought it would be fun to curate her own place. She imagined an elevated boutique where someone could buy something nice for themselves, a loved one, or a party.
As she continues to put together her brand list, she imagines a revolving set of wares that cater to each season. She is driven by a love of finding new products and brands during travels and personal shopping.
The shop will offer four categories of goods, including home decor, kitchen and pantry, self-care, and paper goods. The particular range of products will include pieces from European brands not yet represented in Iowa City, including items from il Buca Vita, a line of handmade Italian ceramics, and Mason de Vacances, a French linen company based in Paris.
Gavin envisions the shop as a twist on vintage modern, featuring a warm-neutral color palette, restored wood flooring, library sconces, and tall built-ins for storage and display.
Gavin and her husband grew up near Iowa City, and Gavin graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in communications and sociology. After receiving a master’s in education from DePaul University, Gavin taught elementary special education for several years before staying home to raise her own kids.
“I often joke that I’m like the CEO of our household, so just running the day to day with five kids I think has prepared me for this,” Gavin said.
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For the past 20 years, Gavin has worked at home to raise her kids. Managing her own family and home for so many years has prepared her for this public-facing endeavour. With her oldest daughter now away at college, she decided it was time to take a leap of faith and pursue
her business dream.
Having lived in cities like New York City and Chicago, Gavin and her husband settled back down in Iowa City with a great deal of love for the community and atmosphere, where they have lived and raised a family for 17 years.
Olivia Dziemian is a third-year student at the UI who lives above Coffee Emporium, at the same intersection as the building Gavin Mercantile will move into.
Dziemian frequently shops downtown but feels she often has to go outside Iowa City for gift shopping. She’s been excited about the Northside development and appreciates the unique variety of stores that all occupy their own niches.
“They’re all unique, you’ve got something for everybody,” Dziemian said.
She noticed that the Northside has grown busier over the past years and expects that Gavin Mercantile will fit in well with the newly bustling Linn Street businesses.
“I love the Downtown District, and there’s so many great shops. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the shop owners,” Gavin said.
She said she appreciates the vibrant and laid-back atmosphere of the Northside.
“It almost reminds me of a Parisian street,” Gavin said.
Gavin said a general contractor is in the space working on the built-ins, lighting, and painting.
She has been able to set foot in the space during construction and hopes it will be ready at the beginning of May so she can begin placing more orders for wares with a place to store them.
For the last year, it’s been just Gavin, with the support of her husband, working on the project and fine-tuning her brand list.
“It’s pretty much just been my baby,” Gavin said.
Gavin has begun the process of hiring employees and has found a general manager whose name has not been released.
“Now that we’re getting closer, I feel more confident that I have a great team that we’re building, which will definitely help take the load off of all the unknown for me,” Gavin said.
Christopher Hunter, director of marketing and communications for the Iowa City Downtown District, said the Northside is always growing
and evolving.
The growing number of Northside businesses, such as Paper Crane, which opened in October 2024, and the even newer Claude, which opened January, allows visitors to walk around and spend a whole day exploring the Northside, from coffee and vintage goods to dining to cultivated modern retail like Gavin Mercantile.
Gavin said her new store will bring a certain niche that will be beneficial for the Northside and Iowa City community.
“I feel honored to be on that street with Webster, Prairie Kitchen, RSVP, Claude, all the cool shops, but also to be in a building that has so much history,” Gavin said.