Rhubarb Mercantile brings assortment of unique items to Elizabethton

ELIZABETHTON — Rhubarb Mercantile has been open for nearly a month and has seen an outpour of support from customers. Meg Couch, owner of Rhubarb, said seeing the shop come to fruition and hearing feedback from shoppers has been nothing short of rewarding. "It's all been extremely positive," Couch said. "It's variations of 'we needed something like this' — in some form or fashion they've said that. And so many people have been watching the building for so long there's been excitement just to see it open." Rhubarb Mercantile has been a two-year project for Couch. Work on the building, owned by her brother, began in 2024. However, shortly after renovations began, Hurricane Helene swept through the area, causing flooding in the building and pushing back its development. Though it faced a bit of a setback, Couch said the shop has been receiving a lot of support since it opened its doors on Sept. 5. Carrying an assortment of what she considers unique items, Rhubarb Mercantile's products consist of a variety of specialty foods, products and personally cooked and baked items by Couch. "My goal is to carry things that you can't find in most of the grocery stores immediately around here," she said. "I know from the very long development period that we had and just speaking to people that would just walk up while we were working on this building that there are a lot of other home cooks where maybe there's a unique ingredient or something interesting they wanted to try that they couldn't find locally. That's really the goal with the inventory here." Though the shop has been open for a short amount of time, Couch said she's already noticed a handful of regular customers and items that are popular with her shoppers, such as her grab-and-go snack packs and rotating types of sandwiches to enjoy. She added being open before the Covered Bridge Days festival also helped increase foot traffic and bring more recognition to Rhubarb Mercantile being open. While the time it took to open Rhubarb Mercantile was longer than expected, Couch said the anticipation for its opening caused a positive reaction from the community. She added with the shop finally finished, it is encouraging to see the impact it's already having in the downtown area. "It hasn't been everyone that comes in, but some people that come in are so excited," she said. "I've heard things like, 'This is what I used to drive to Asheville for, I couldn't find this anywhere else…' Easier access to special ingredients, I think, is probably the biggest community impact of this." Rhubarb Mercantile is located at 719 E. Elk Ave. and is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.