Even with translucent plastic sheets up now covering the closed gated entrance, you can see the potential - and almost hear live music coming out of here again.
A new entertainment venue called The Mercantile is being planned for this 115 Clinton Ave. N. space, formerly home to Crossroads Music Hall. “My vision for The Mercantile is to bring good music down here,” says entrepreneur Paul Daigle, whose PBD Holdings is behind The Mercantile.
Local musician Rob Aldridge is booking bands for the venue, which aims to host a mix of touring, regional and local acts. A soft opening is planned for June 28, with Tuscaloosa-founded twang-rock band The Dexateens headlining and Aldridge’s group The Proponents opening. “I really hope it’s a place bands really enjoy playing at and they go and tell other bands they should play there,” Aldridge says. " I think everything else will fall into place if really good bands really enjoy playing there. Hopefully people turn out and it will be a staple venue of the Huntsville community."
A fan of music ranging from traditional bluegrass to indie rockers Manchester Orchestra to rapper Post Malone, Daigle doesn’t want The Mercantile to be pigeonholed genre-wise. He hopes to build up to live music five nights a week. “We’re trying to start off with a bang and some music that people will remember,” Daigle says.
A new music venue called The Mercantile is planned for the former Crossroads and UG White location.
Cover for many shows should be around $5 to $15, Aldridge says, although bigger acts could run more in the $20-plus range. The Mercantile’s website, mercantilehsv.com, lists capacity at 1,000. In addition to a green room, the venue plans to offer onsite overnight accommodations for talent. “A band comes in and they can do their laundry, the fridge is already stocked,” Daigle says. “They can chill out and watch Direct TV a little bit - a relaxing time to get them in the proper headspace before they get onstage.” Additional features planned for The Mercantile include VIP sections and “top-notch sound, light and stage equipment.”
Crossroads closed in 2013 after a 17-year run that began at the old Heart of Huntsville Mall. Crossroads relocated downtown in 2007. A performance by Americana musician, Shoals native and future Grammy winner Jason Isbell was the final show there. Isbell included some songs recorded at a previous Crossroads show on his 2012 album “Live From Alabama." Athens rock 'n' soul combo Alabama Shakes performed at Crossroads during their ascension from buzz-band to festival headliners. Other big-names to play the venue included Avett Brothers, Levon Helm and Old Crow Medicine Show.
In 2013, Crossroads' lease was canceled for nonpayment of rent. The venue’s owner Jamie Hunter said he’d withheld rent to force then-landlord CityScapes to fix plumbing and structural problems. An Oakwood Village Shopping Center relocation was nixed due to zoning issues and potential Bandito Burrito joint venture didn’t pan out.
Alabama Shakes perform at Crossroads Music Hall Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Huntsville, Ala. (Eric Schultz/The Huntsville Times)HVT
The Mercantile takes its name from the vintage-style sign left by the most recent tenant, retailer UG White Mercantile, which sold items ranging from taffy to hiking boots to luggage out of the two-floor space. “That sign is probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in this town, and I didn’t want to change it if I didn’t have to,” Daigle says. Daigle says a marquee for The Mercantile might be added to the exterior, if the city would allow for it. But he feels booking a must-see, signature-type show early on for The Mercantile will be more important to get the word out that, “this is happening, this place is a music venue again.”
Opening here in 2015, UG White closed this location in 2018, following water damage due to an August fire at Pints & Pixels, an arcade/bar located on the third floor. The hardwood floors inside the first-floor space have been recently redone, Daigle says. “I think people blew that out of proportion a little bit. I thought it was going to be like downtown Baghdad (inside the former UG White location), but it was nothing like that.” UG White still maintains its original Athens location. UG White owner Derrick White owns the store’s former Huntsville space The Mercantile is planned for.
In addition to shows/concerts, the Mercantile team is also talking about hosting events like live-band karaoke. The Mercantile plans to offer more than music though. Daigle hopes to use the space during daylight hours six to 10 times a month for events such as receptions, mini-cons and other activities. PBD, whose partners also include Dave Clarke and Brian Peoples, have been working on The Mercantile project since around November. They expect to close on a lease for the space within a week.
PBD Holdings has been consulting with Downtown Huntsville Inc. CEO Chad Emerson on the project. Emerson thinks the 115 Clinton Ave. E. space offers intriguing flexibility. “I can see a really cool independent film festival being held over the weekend there,” Emerson says. “I think it’s not just a live music hall.” With Honest Coffee, Clinton Row retailers and new dining and entertainment options, not to mention plans for hotel construction nearby, the downtown landscape is much different now than the Crossroads era. “So this (large-club sized music venue) is now an important piece of a complete experience versus a standalone piece, kind of by itself,” Emerson says.
Challenges the Mercantile might face include reintroducing the space to customers, Emerson says. But he adds, “This is not just a sequel to Crossroads. This is a brand-new concept with really creative people.”
Daigle is a Clemson University grad and former Army helicopter pilot. He moved to Huntsville a few years ago seeking work on Redstone Arsenal, eventually founding contractor Black Hall Aerospace. Other ventures include the Arsenal Coffee food truck. Back when Crossroads was still open, Daigle attended a few shows there, including a performance by Southern-rockers Blackberry Smoke. He also has fond memories of a show by rapper Yelawolf he saw there. He loves the “look and feel of the space” and its “mix of wood and steel and glass.” “That building is like a postcard of Huntsville to me,” Daigle says.
The space’s open layout and second-floor wraparound balcony offers size necessary to host touring bands that fill larger club-sized venues. But Crossroads often felt too big for many of the shows there. With that in mind, Daigle wants The Mercantile to be configurable to where it can be made to feel cozier, when an intimate setting is the right fit for that night’s bill.
Regional venues Daigle has benchmarked in planning The Mercantile include Nashville’s Marathon Music Works and Exit/In. “I probably spend most of my money going to see shows,” he says. Construction plans for The Mercantile currently include a catering kitchen. But Daigle says the venture does not intent to offer food service, at least initially. “I think we need to treat it like the venue that it is,” Daigle says.
Plastic covers the entrance at former UG White Mercantile and Crossroads Music Hall space in downtown Huntsville.