Jackass Café and Wine Bar

Sixteen minutes south of the North Carolina state line, curious and conscientious travelers will find a place where neighbors gather to connect across differences. The Mercantile, a modern-day general store in Rock Hill, South Carolina’s flourishing and ever-progressive Downtown Historic District, has been a cornerstone of the city for nearly a decade. What began in 2018 as a small gift shop for Brittany and Michael Kelly, a husband-and-wife team, quickly grew in popularity and influence—especially for those who live on the fringe of traditional Southern society—to include Jackass Café and Wine Bar.

In its infancy, the shop was located on West White Street between a brewery and a coffee shop. There, the Kellys had their own roast—the Dark Ass blend, an affectionate play on words that paid homage to Brittany’s favorite animal: the donkey. The Mercantile, small but mighty, became a safe haven for Rock Hill’s LGBTQIA+ community, a notable mentorship resource for prospective Black women entrepreneurs, and a hub for self-expression. Visitors to the shop could buy fresh-cut floral bouquets or try their hand at making their own spice blends, household cleaners, soaps, and candles. They could even design their own trucker hats.

“Customers enjoyed grabbing a drink next door, then coming to sip and shop with us,” says Brittany.

When the Kellys opened the Rock Hill Community Fridge in 2020, business boomed. The fridge, the first of its kind in the area, allowed charitable organizations and good Samaritans to store surplus food for individuals and families in need, free of charge, 24 hours a day. The Kellys’ “take what you need, leave what you can” approach to reducing community food waste and food insecurity, as well as their efforts to help diversify business ownership and celebrate differences in Rock Hill, seemed to push the store’s neighbors out of their comfort zone. The Mercantile, thriving, needed room to grow.

“We were ‘the crazy ass neighbors’ and ‘the jackasses’ and we just went with it,” Brittany laughs. “We’ve always been a little different—from business to home. We live in a copper-clad house and I had a live-in donkey named Eloise.”

In February 2025, the Kellys moved The Mercantile a block away to a larger location at 153 East White Street. Today, the two-story, 10,000 square-foot store, a historic Coca-Cola bottling facility, gives them more space to serve—and feed—their growing customer base with the addition of their in-house coffee shop, Jackass Café & Wine Bar. “We had to add the café because [Michael] is still very coffee-obsessed,” Brittany says with a laugh. “That, and it was a part of the experience at the old store that we didn’t want to lose.” From delectable breakfast options like the Sweet Ass Toast, a sourdough toast topped with yogurt, seasonal fruit, granola, and a cookie butter drizzle, to flavor-forward sandwiches and fresh-pressed juices from Blacker the Berry Juice and Culture Bar, to classic coffees, “ass-presso” shots, and more, there is something on the café menu to satisfy every palate. Have a glass of wine, pour a custom candle, purchase a knickknack or home good from the general store, leave a meal or two for a neighbor in the community fridge that is still up and operating, or take a walk to admire the bright, colorful murals inside and outside of the shop. But most importantly, know that this is a place made with you in mind.