Civil Alchemy

It may be reductive to say Civil Alchemy is unapologetically inspired by nostalgia from a bygone era; the community store where everyone knows your name. It is true that the lifestyle shop harkens back to a time when corner stores and independent businesses were the first stop on one’s shopping agenda.

Walking in to Civil Alchemy, one will likely begin by wandering through the apparel section that carries goods from independent designers originating in the middle of America, like The Normal Brand and imogene + willie. Then one might discover artisan-crafted jewelry and lifestyle pieces, like hand-selected Japanese tools, camping equipment and seasonal linen bedding—a favorite of founder Kelley Barr. The store is a new, smaller departure from Barr’s previous venture, K Hall Designs. “This is not about making a bunch of money, opening a bunch of stores and generating a ton of hype,” she says.

Meandering into the side room, where a mix of curated kitchen items, liquor, wine, beer, coffee, appetizer trays and drink mixers are displayed along with everything needed to fill up the aforementioned appetizer tray with delectable meats, cheeses and crackers. Shoppers are also invited to sample the brand’s own floral-noted gin, which Barr has been developing for more than a year. She co-runs the space with her son Ian VanDam, who recently returned from a trip to India working with vendors on new product offerings.

“There’s a reason why brick-and-mortar businesses will always exist,” he says. “People need to interact with the thing that they’re buying and the person selling it, and the internet can’t replicate that. So, in the meantime—for the next 100 years, until the internet figures out virtual reality—we have demand. When you have strong community, commerce and local businesses, everything else thrives around it.”

By: Jorie Jacobi

Photography: Carmen Troesser