By the end of September, two popular Easton businesses will have closed.
The Bayou, home to Southern-style cuisine, closed on Sept. 1, while Mercantile Home, a gift shop, will close on Sunday.
Mercantile Home has been in Easton for 16 years, but co-owners Ken Jones Jr. and Ron Morris have decided to close the store and move on to their next creative project. The owners do not know if their next project will be in Easton, but, according to Morris, whatever they do “will always be a part of Easton.”
Morris, who said that discussions about closing the store began a couple of months ago, described the feeling of closing Mercantile Home as “reading a really good book and you didn’t realize you were in the last chapter.”
Mercantile Home showcases jewelry, clothing, art and handmade items curated by local crafters. The store also took Pard Dollars and offered a 10% discount to Lafayette students.
While Jones and Morris are unsure of any plans for future creative projects, they hope Mercantile is remembered fondly as “a magical place.”
“Someone said to me, ‘Every time I come into your store, I feel like you’ve been waiting for me to arrive,'” Morris said.
Mo Taylor, the co-owner of the Bayou Boys Hospitality Group, told WFMZ that the Easton restaurant is looking to focus on the Bethlehem restaurant and Wiz Kidz, a cheesesteak eatery and pierogi restaurant that is also managed by Bayou Boys Hospitality Group.
Taylor also told WFMZ that the owners wanted to focus on fewer stores as their kids got older. The other owners are Cristian Duarte, Jerry Straub and Matt Weaver.
A representative from The Bayou Bethlehem restaurant declined to comment. The Bayou Easton had been in business for seven years, according to WFMZ.
It is also unknown what businesses will replace The Bayou Easton and Mercantile.
“I know that there’s good business strategies out there from the city to work with the building owners to make sure appropriate businesses are being looked at for what can fit that location,” said Erica Fisher, the owner of Yellow Balloon Consignment, a neighboring downtown store.
The closing of Mercantile was “a huge surprise” to Dany Lockard, an Easton resident of 23 years and an employee of Token, a downtown gift store.
“Thank you to everybody, everyone who’s made this, because it’s not just us,” Mercantile co-owner Morris said.
Makenna McCall ’27 contributed reporting.
