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Dave and Jenny Marrs turned to two of their HGTV friends to help bring new life into an old bank. In the March 21, 2023 episode of “Fixer to Fabulous,” Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas painted a mural on the exterior wall of their new store, Marrs Mercantile.
“We have a lot in common with Keith and Evan,” Jenny explained in the episode. “They’re a renovation team just like me and Dave. They live in Detroit and they are all about renovating and revitalizing worn down places. So this would be a perfect project for them because it’s also invigorating not only a building but another town in our community and they love art. Keith is an artist and he’s absolutely incredible and so talented. Just loves to create art, so I think they’ll be really down for doing this.”
The two couples met competing on season 3 of “Rock the Block,” all losing to Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson.
The Arkansas-based couple previously announced they were opening their own store. Marrs Mercantile is on the site of the old Bank of Centerton, built in 1905. The retail space will sell local goods, such as “handmade pottery, leather goods, woodwork, and art,” as Jenny wrote on Instagram. The renovation included the addition of outdoor seating, a playground and a mural to serve as a “selfie wall.”
“I’m so honored and excited to be a small part of their amazing world!!!” Bynum captioned an Instagram clip of the episode. “The mural was a dream come true to execute.”
Marrs Mercantile will have its official grand opening on April 1, 2023.
“The Mercantile is a place where we want our community to pause from the pressures of daily life,” according to the store’s Instagram. “We want our guests to feel as though they stepped back to simpler times when they enter inside. We envision families meeting here to gather and shop and play. The goods we sell are some of our very favorite things, handmade by artisans and artists we have worked with for years.”
Dave and Jenny previously converted the building’s upstairs unit into an apartment.
Keith Bynum Felt the ‘Pressure’ Painting a Mural for Dave & Jenny Marrs
The Marrs kids had their own ideas for the mural, with Jenny in the episode summing up their suggestions as “a horse driving an excavator.” Luckily, they went with Bynum’s floral concept featuring shading to make it feel “very dimensional.”
While he initially planned on incorporating large stripes, the final product featured geometric shapes in the background.
The space being transformed was the exterior of an addition to the bank, built in the late ’80s or early ’90s. As Dave explained, it was mostly brick and stucco to which he added a smooth coat. “Y’all have like a ton of visibility here,” Bynum said after seeing the walls. “I feel like something kind of bold right there would be very eye-popping.”
Bynum would be the heavy lifting, completing the painting in approximately 12 hours. Thomas quipped, “I’ll be fanning him as he’s painting.”
Thomas revealed that there was added pressure since the murals done on “Bargain Block” do not have clients in mind.
“In this case, Jenny and Dave, they’re our clients. We have to give them a mural that fits their style, fits their building,” Thomas said. Bynum added, “It’s a little bit of a challenge too, because her aesthetic and my aesthetic are very, very different.”
But the Marrses were impressed.
“I love that y’all’s stamp is here in Bentonville, Arkansas,” Dave told Bynum and Thomas in the episode.
Keith Bynum & Evan Thomas Picked Blueberries at Berry Fest
It was not all business for the famous friends, with Bynum and Thomas picking blueberries at Berry Fest, an activity they had never done.
As Jenny explained on “Fixer to Fabulous,” the festival serves as the “main fundraiser for the year for our non-profit work in Zimbabwe. We sell merchandise. We have amazing bands, food trucks and lots and lots of berry picking.”
The Detroit-residents were among the approximately 1,500 people a day who partook in the festival.
“It’s just been something that just kind of sounded fun,” Bynum explained in a confessional. “It’s a little steamy but we needed a little bit of away time from Detroit.”
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