New mercantile store offers tools for living

The Crier visited El Sereno Mercantile whose motto is “Tools for
living.” It is in the North Circle building rebuilt after a tree strike.
The first shop opened in Oakwood Village a few years ago and moved to
the new location in November. The Crier spoke with Juliana, owner with
husband Markus Ziegler. 

“I’m from Brazil, my husband from Mexico. We moved around quite a bit —
lived in London, New York, Miami, LA. In the end, we found Idyllwild. It
was perfect for us. We moved here in 2018.

“It felt more like home. We both grew up in small towns, closer to
nature. We felt it would be a great place for our daughter to have a
magical childhood.”

The shop has an original mix of goods: “tools for living” include
clothing, woodworking tools, and other implements for kitchen, farm or
ranch work, for home or campsite. The tools come from the U.S. and
around the world, especially Japan and Scandinavia.

“This was inspired by our property. After the Cranston Fire, this
property we had our eye on in Mountain Center near the gas station, 45
acres, the price dropped. It had been completely burned. We had the goal
to regenerate the land and have a permaculture farm. We could not find
high quality tools and clothing.

“We both worked in the fashion industry. I’m a designer, he is a
photographer. We felt a need for premium work tools and clothing. We
started importing tools from Japan, found things from Norway and Sweden,
also the U.S. We thought maybe other people would want to buy this. We
slowly expanded to apparel, workwear, ranch wear. We have horses, so
jeans and riding wear, cowboy hats. My husband does woodworking. Markus
did all the furniture in the shop. He began sculpting trees killed by
the fire making cutting boards.”

The shop also has a well laid out website at www.elserenomercantile.com.

It is located at 54320 North Circle Dr. and open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.