Grainry celebrates 4-year anniversary

The Grainry in Plains is celebrating its 4-year anniversary and are planning on expanding into a new wing in the next couple of weeks.

Sherry McCartney works at the Grainry and also displays some of her homemade pillows and pillow cases there as well. She said the Grainry is filled with antiques and collectibles, with many of the items made by people in Plains.

“The business has just been wonderful,” McCartney said. “The community is very supportive and we really want to thank them for that.”

Each person who wants to display their antiques or pieces of art that are for sale rents their space from the Grainry. If, for some reason, a person doesn’t want to rent a whole space to display their work, they can rent one shelf as a consignor and display like items on it.

The Grainry is filled with a wide and eclectic array of items for sale, from beading supplies to jewelry to home decor to cowboy boots.

“We have a variety of different items here, so there is pretty much something for everyone,” McCartney said.

The new wing of the Grainry is just awaiting a good power washing and the installation of insulation and then it will be ready to showcase the many talented artists that are in the area.

McCartney said that the doors used for the new wings are the old doors off of the old school in Plains that was torn down years ago. “When you step back here, it is like you’re stepping back in time,” she said.

The Grainry also serves as a visitor information center, as put on by the Chamber of Commerce. According to McCartney, the Grainry is the only visitor information center that is open seven days a week. The only days that store is closed are on Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years Day.

The business also collects pop tabs to give to the Ronald McDonald House in Missoula, which will help them raise money.

“It is important for us to give back to the community,” McCartney said. There is a large wooden box with hundreds of tabs in it now, and once it gets full all of them will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House.

McCartney said that while they do sell a little bit of everything, they seem to have a very high turnover rate of books and videos. However, there are a lot more items for people to purchase while they are visiting the Grainry, and it will take a while to go through the whole store.

“On average, if a person isn’t in a hurry and has the time, it will take them about an hour to an hour-and-a-half to really go through the entire store and see everything,” she said.

McCartney is an artist who displays her work in the Grainry. She displays her handmade pillowcases and pillows. “I’ve always loved to sew and this is the perfect place for me to display my work and have people be able to purchase it.”

Darla Alteneder of Paradise, displays her oil paintings at the Grainry and said that she is thankful for the exposure it has given her. She has been displaying her art there since the Grainry first opened and has had art there ever since.

“I didn’t have anywhere else to do it at the time,” she said. “I was there when they first started and they asked me if I would like to put my stuff in there and I said absolutely.”

She said that she thinks she has had good exposure because of the Grainry and has had people contact her and ask for a brochure and information about her artwork, something that probably would not have happened had she not had a place to display her work.

Alteneder does oil paintings and also paints on saws. She mainly sells prints, but there is currently one original piece for sale at the Grainry. In addition to this she also has her paintings turned into blank cards, and has a card rack displayed at her booth.

“I have probably 20 8x10 prints there and then three or four that are framed in a 16x20 frame,” she said. “Then I also have my card rack with the blank cards with my paintings displayed on the front of it.”

She said right now she mostly just does regular oil paintings and then does prints of originals, but from time-to-time she does do paintings on saws.

Alteneder said that she believes the Grainry is a good place for local artisans to display their work. “It gives us a central location to have our work displayed, where we know people are going to be able to come in and see it,” she said.