Doud Mercantile Closes for Second Winter in 124 Years
By Ryan Schlehuber

Ken Straight packs his groceries in a plastic tote before catching the ferry to the Island from St. Ignace Wednesday, December 6. Like Mr. Straight, many Islanders travel off island to do their grocery shopping. He said his family is likely to stock more small essentials now that the Island's main grocery store is closed for the winter.

Doud Mercantile will close this winter for only the second time in its 124-year history, and Islanders will once again have to make adjustments to the way they shop for groceries and plan their meals.

The first closing was during the winter of 1943, when fire gutted the family-owned store, which supplied dry goods, fresh produce, and meats. It was a total loss, remembers Jeannette Doud, whose husband's grandfather, James Doud, founded the business in 1882. "The store used to be at the

head of the Arnold dock," she said. "It burned right to the ground and the fire spread underneath the dock, all the way to where Mighty Mac is today," about a block west of the Arnold dock.

The family quickly made plans to relocate the business, purchasing the Bogan building on the corner of Main Street and Fort Street, across from Marquette Park. The building was the site of the former Peacock Arbor, which Mrs. Doud remembers was the place where she could get ice cream as a child.

During the winter of 1943, Island residents relied on the steady transportation of goods brought to the Island by horsedrawn sleighs over the ice bridge that formed between Mackinac Island and St. Ignace.

Today, residents rely more on mainland stores and ship their own groceries back on the ferry boat and airplane, although the convenience of running down to Doud's to pick up milk, bread, or bath soap will certainly be missed, say some residents.

When Doud Mercantile closed its doors for the winter November 1, Island residents were faced with some adjustments. Franc Doud, owner of the store, does not want to comment on why he closed, but said the store will reopen in the spring.

Some residents believe the winter without the store will have a noticeable negative impact on the community.

"Certainly, it will be crippling," said Market Street resident Kay Hoppenrath, who said she regularly shops at Doud's.

Others believe residents will adjust fine, owing in part to the community's buddy system and other shopping options available on and off Mackinac Island.

"Most of the people on the Island do shop on the mainland for most of their groceries nowadays," said British Landing resident Anneke Myers. Adjustments because of Doud's closing will be minor, she added.

"If I decide to bake and I realize I'm out of corn starch, then I'd usually just make a trip down to Doud's," she said. "Now we'll have to rely on the neighbors at times for little things like that."

Mrs. Myers and her husband, Matt, along with seven other families, are members of what she calls a "buying club," where each family orders groceries online through a natural foods store in Wisconsin and, as a group, orders the bulk food together to save on shipping costs.

The Wisconsin store ships the bulk order and members sort out their own orders.

The group has been using the buying club system for the past 10 years.

"It works really well for us," said Kris Clark, one of the club's members. "Big food pantries for Islanders are very nice conveniences, especially for the winter."

Glen's Market in St. Ignace will deliver orders to the boat dock or airport. Residents send their orders and store employees put the order together and pack it in banana or egg boxes, which some residents contend is the most important and most used item used on Mackinac in the winter, next to snowmobiles.

The Island has two other convenient stores open throughout the winter, although they don't carry as many groceries as Doud's.

Owners at Alford's Drug Store and Harrisonville General Store said they will do what they can to accommodate residents by providing the bare necessities such as milk, bread, butter, and bathroom items, or any special items customers want.

"If someone asks me for something they specifically want, I will try and get it for them," said Millie Hagenbaugh, owner of Alford's on Main Street, next to Doud Mercantile.

Her father, C.J. Alford, took over the Island drug store business from Dr. Robert Bailey, for whom he worked, in the 1940s.

Ms. Hagenbaugh emphasized that she is not attempting to profit from Doud's closing for the winter, rather she is helping her fellow community residents make it through the winter with as little inconvenience as possible.

Candy Smith, owner of Harrisonville General Store on Cadotte Avenue in the Village, is also stocking her products as requests come in.

"People can come in and suggest what they need," she said. "When the boats quit for the winter and if there is no ice bridge, we'll be there for the residents."

Ms. Smith has operated Harrisonville General Store for the past 27 years.

Among conveniences lost with the store's closing are package liquor and lottery tickets, which will need to be purchased on the mainland.

Billy LaRocque of St. Ignace, the area's state lottery inspector, said the Lottery Commission is reviewing several lottery sales applications, but couldn't comment further.

The only other business licensed to sell packaged liquor on Mackinac, according to the Liquor Control Commission, is Grand Hotel.

Twenty-one seasonal and year-around establishments can sell beer and wine to go, including Harrisonville General Store and the three restaurants open for the winter, Patrick Sinclair's Irish Pub, Village Inn Restaurant, and Mustang Lounge.

"These restaurants fill that niche, providing a place for people to go and eat, and they offer beer and cigarettes to go," said Mary Slevin, executive director of Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau.

Winter visitors shouldn't be affected by Doud's closing, she said.

"Most of the visitors who stay for a long period of time on the Island during the winter either bring enough groceries for their stay or just go out to eat," said Mrs. Slevin.

She said the restaurants have also accommodated the winter construction workers who commute from the mainland by providing them a place to go for break and to pick up something for the ferry ride back to the mainland at the end of the day. Still, grocery shopping was "The Island is pretty resilient," she said. "You notice that in the winter there is not as much money to spread around to all the open businesses, so everyone tries to work together."

easier in the old days. In the early 1900s, young employees of Doud Mercantile would visit cottagers on the bluffs to take grocery orders and then deliver the goods on a buckboard wagon.