Golden Mercantile at 40-something

Golden Mercantile Ltd. is operating as Merc Flooring & Paint

Scott and Lynette Keenleyside own and operate Merc Flooring & Paint in Golden, B.C. Their sons, Daric (shown here) and Dylan (not shown), are also involved in the business. — Photo courtesy Scott Keenleyside

Scott Keenleyside said that at 81 years old, his father, Bob, is something of a fixture in Golden, B.C. He took over a mercantile store—Golden Mercantile Ltd.—in 1972, and it grew to include a flooring and paint division and a building supplies and construction business.

“Dad eventually sold the building supplies and construction company,” said Keenleyside, “and eight years ago I bought the paint and flooring company from him. He still shows up at the store every day though, six days a week. We are Golden Mercantile Ltd. doing business as Merc Flooring & Paint.”

Sustainable quality comes first

Keenleyside has 35 years of experience in the paint and flooring business, and his customers are people who appreciate the quality of his product and his workmanship.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to compete with the chain stores,” Keenleyside said. “The hardwood we supply is high quality, and you get what you pay for—it’s not a $3 product. All the companies we deal with have high standards in terms of the environmental sustainability of their product.”

Keenleyside gets a lot of satisfaction from his installation work and from providing good customer service.

“We try to do the work as quickly as possible so that people can resume their lives in their new home,” he said. “Without the floors, the unfinished house is very raw looking. Once I do the flooring, then suddenly the house is ready to be a home. It’s ready to hand over to the homeowner for the decorative touches—it’s all theirs.”

A local favourite

There are a few Golden-area contractors that Keenleyside works with quite a lot, and he often does projects for Parks Canada, in Lake Louise. When the local school district needs paint or flooring, it often calls on Merc Flooring, as do local householders.

Whether your community is a town, a neighbourhood or a group of family and friends, typically if you do something wrong, you hear about it—but If you do something right, you usually don’t hear about it unless you ask. Keenleyside solicited a few testimonials for his new website, and was gratified with the generous comments that came from his customers.

Following in the footsteps

Merc Flooring is certainly a family business. While his responsibilities are minimal, Keenleyside's father is available to help out at the store when needed. Keenleyside and his wife, Lynette, do the day-to-day running of the business. Lynette minds the store, helps customers with product selection, does the books and—with the assistance of a few of their trusted sales reps—keeps up with the trends. Both of their sons, Dylan and Daric, are involved as well.

“Dylan works on Saturdays,” said Keenleyside, “and Daric is my apprentice—he’d like to take over the business one day.”