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The Merchant

@merchantstpete

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Featuring local artists & handcrafted goods from all around the Tampa Bay Area!
Join us at our cafe @crislipcafe ☕️🥂
Located in downtown St. Pete, FL

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Thank you to all of our artists, makers, staff, and customers over the years! taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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2 months ago

Our 50% off sale starts today through Sunday!

Grab your last piece of local goods and gifts - great early Christmas presents!

We also have a variety of our amazing decor and furniture on sale! taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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2 months ago

taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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3 months ago

21 Days. 💛

Twenty-one days until we close the doors to the little coffee shop and curiosity store that became so much more than a business.

Over the years, this space has been filled with conversations, first dates, business ideas scribbled on napkins, celebrations, quiet mornings, laughter, local art, handcrafted gifts, and thousands of cups of coffee shared with this incredible community.

As we prepare for our final chapter, everything must go.

✨ Café décor & curiosities
✨ Furniture & fixtures
✨ Coffee equipment
✨ Displays & shelving
✨ Inventory & gifts

If you’ve ever admired a piece in our shop or wanted to take home a little piece of Crislip & Merchant, now is the time.

Most of all, we’d love to see you one more time.

Come enjoy one last coffee, one last glass of wine, one last pastry, one last conversation, and help us make these final 21 days full of the same warmth and memories that have made this place so special.

Thank you for every visit, every purchase, every recommendation, every kind word, and every memory you’ve helped create. We couldn’t have asked for a better community.

Here’s to the next 21 days… let’s make them unforgettable. ❤️

#CrislipAndMerchant #LastCall #EverythingMustGo #ShopLocal #CoffeeAndCommunity StPete FinalCountdown SupportSmallBusiness taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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3 months ago

23 DAYS TO GO. ❤️

The countdown has officially begun.

In just 23 days, Crislip & Merchant will close its doors, and we would love to spend these final weeks with the community that made this place so special.

Come by for one more favorite coffee. Browse for a meaningful gift. Pick up a piece of local art. Sit in your favorite spot, bring a friend, share a memory, and help us celebrate everything this little corner of St. Pete has meant over the years.

Every visit, every purchase, every kind word, and every story shared means more to us than you know.

We’ll be counting down each day, and we hope you’ll join us for these final coffees, gifts, hugs, laughs, and memories before we say goodbye.

23 days until we close our doors. Let’s make them count. ☕️🛍️🎨❤️

#CrislipAndMerchant #StPete #SupportLocal #ShopLocalStPete #CoffeeArtGifts LastDays ThankYouStPete taken in Crislip Cafe by @merchantstpete

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3 months ago

🌅 The Sun Is Setting on The Merchant & Crislip Cafe - visit us for our Sunset Sale…

As we count down our final days, we’re inviting you to stop by, grab a coffee, find a treasure, and help us write the last chapter of this incredible journey.

Our Sunset Sale is now underway with 25%–80% OFF throughout the shop!

🛍️ 25% OFF most merchandise throughout the store
🎉 80% OFF select PRODUCTS in the Arcade (look for the marked items)

Excludes artwork and jewelry from our talented local artists.

🎨 A Note About Our Local Artists
Many of our artists will begin picking up their work over the coming week, so if you’ve had your eye on a favorite painting, print, mug, ornament, or handcrafted piece, now is the time. We’d love to see these beautiful creations find new homes before they leave our walls.

🪑 Take a Piece of Us Home
Nearly all of our café furniture, display fixtures, shelving, tables, décor, and other store furnishings are also available for purchase. Whether you’re furnishing a business, creating a cozy corner at home, or just want a little piece of Crislip & Merchant to remember us by, we’d love for it to continue its story with you.

💛 Our last day will likely be around Sunday, August 9, and while it’s hard to say goodbye, we’re so grateful for every conversation, every cup of coffee, every artist, every maker, and every one of you who made this place feel like home.

Come visit us one more time.
Bring a friend.
Have a coffee.
Find something special.

Let’s make these final days together ones we’ll never forget. ❤️ taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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3 months ago

Sunrise to Sunset! Sunrise Sale tomorrow in downtown St Pete! taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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3 months ago

🌅 Tomorrow is our Annual Sunrise Sale… but this year, it also marks our Sunset Sale. ❤️

For years, Sunrise Sale has been one of our favorite traditions—a morning that brings out locals and visitors alike to shop some of the best that St. Pete has to offer while enjoying a great cup of coffee and the energy of downtown.

This year, it carries a little more meaning.

Just two weeks ago, we received the news that our lease would not be renewed. We immediately began searching for another home and even submitted a Letter of Intent on a new space we were excited about. Unfortunately, after carefully reviewing the financial requirements—including the upfront costs and security deposit—we realized it simply wasn’t the right decision for our family or our future.

As heartbreaking as it is to say… we’ve made the decision to close The Merchant & Crislip Cafe within the month.

While our hearts are heavy, they are also incredibly grateful. For eight years, you’ve made this little shop so much more than a business. You’ve made it a community.

So tomorrow, we’d love nothing more than to spend one last Sunrise Sale with all of you.

☕ FREE Small Hot or Iced Coffee
🛍️ 25% OFF most merchandise
🏷️ 80% OFF Clearance Tables

This isn’t just a sale—it’s a chance to celebrate everything this little corner of downtown has meant to so many people.

Come grab your favorite candle, puzzle, St. Pete tee, honey, chocolates, sea salt, gifts, or one last coffee. Bring a friend. Take a few photos. Share a memory. We’d love to fill the shop with laughter and familiar faces one more time.

To every customer, artist, maker, employee, neighbor, and friend who has been part of this journey…

Thank you for believing in local.
Thank you for believing in us.

We’ll see you at sunrise. ❤️🌅

📍The Merchant
645 Central Ave., Suite #8
Downtown St. Petersburg taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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3 months ago

If These Walls Could Talk…

Over the past eight years, these walls have witnessed thousands of moments.

❤️ First dates.

☕ Wedding mornings before saying “I do.”

📚 Students spending hours preparing for exams and the Bar.

🎨 Artists seeing their work displayed for the very first time.

💡 Entrepreneurs dreaming up new businesses over coffee.

📖 Authors writing books.

🎶 Live music, poetry, laughter, and conversations with strangers who became friends.

Celebrations.
Comfort.
Creativity.
Community.

As we’ve read your messages over the last couple of days, we’ve realized something…

These walls don’t just hold our story.

They hold yours.

So we’d love to ask you something…

If these walls could talk… what would they say about your story?

Did you celebrate something here?

Meet someone special?

Study for an important exam?

Buy your first piece of local art?

Find your favorite coffee?

Bring visiting family here?

Spend every Saturday morning with us?

Or maybe it simply became your “third place”—the place you felt at home.

Please share your story in the comments.

We want to preserve these memories because no matter what the next chapter holds, these stories are part of the legacy we built together.

We may not be able to reply to every comment, but please know we’ll read every single one.

💛 We’d also love to see your photos!

If you have old pictures taken at The Merchant or Crislip Cafe, post them in the comments or tag us in your Stories. We’d love to save and share them (with your permission) as we celebrate the memories we’ve all created together.

Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your lives.

❤️ Jennifer, Kevin & The Merchant/Crislip family by @merchantstpete

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4 months ago

Well as we continue to navigate our next steps - Kevin’s new restock shirts have come back in! This one is a fitted crop and I’m obsessed! We also have our Shady Place crops back in stock and our St Pete manhole design! All of these can only be found at The Merchant by owner/artist Kevin taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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4 months ago

There are some posts you never imagine you’ll have to write.

After nearly eight years, we have officially received notice to vacate our home on the 600 Block.

What happens next… we’re honestly not sure yet.

We’re exploring whether there might be another space on Central Avenue where this dream can continue, or whether this chapter closes here. We simply don’t know yet.

Over the last month, many of you watched us painting walls, building new spaces, and dreaming out loud. We were transforming The Merchant & Crislip into something even bigger than a coffee shop or gift store. We wanted to create a true third place—a place where people gathered not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

A place for artist interviews.
Storytelling nights.
Poetry.
Live music.
Create-your-own art experiences.
Conversations that mattered.
A place where curiosity, creativity, and community lived under one roof.

Those dreams weren’t just business ideas. They were our hearts.

Since opening our doors in 2018, we’ve been proud to be a veteran-owned, artist-owned, and teacher-led small business. Together with over 100 local artists, makers, musicians, authors, and entrepreneurs, you’ve helped create something that became so much bigger than us.

We’ve celebrated birthdays, engagements, first dates, book launches, fundraisers, markets, community meetings, countless cups of coffee, and friendships that will last a lifetime.

To every customer who chose to shop local…
To every artist who trusted us with your work…
To every musician who filled our walls with music…
To every staff member who poured your heart into this place…
To every person who simply walked through our doors…

Thank you.

Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing photos from when we first opened our doors back in 2018. Looking back at where we started reminds me just how incredible this journey has been.

No matter what happens next, no one can take away what we built together.

This isn’t goodbye just yet.

It’s simply the end of one chapter… and we’re hoping the story isn’t finished.

With love and endless gratitude,

Jennifer, Kevin & The Merchant & Crislip Family ❤️ taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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4 months ago

St Pete & Florida ceramic mugs, ornaments, and FL tray! taken in The Merchant - St. Pete by @merchantstpete

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4 months ago