The Iron Gate

One of the most eclectic and delightful collections in all of Michigan's Great Southwest is nestled into a 3,000 square foot retail showroom along Main Street in downtown Benton Harbor. 

"Nestled" is probably not the word for a 3,000 square foot showroom, but the pottery, glass, iron and more are so uniquely displayed that you hardly notice the mammoth size of the showroom, until you realize that the place seems to just keep going and going, not unlike our friend, The Energizer Bunny.

Mike Wolfe & Rob McLaughlin are partners in The Iron Gate which marks its second anniversary in business on Memorial Day weekend in the old Voice of Music warehouse and manufacturing plant next to the Harbor Town Cafe on Main Street. 

The Iron Gate is largely a retail spin off of their highly successful Urban Home Imports business, a wholesale operation that was started a number of years ago to provide retailers, including Wolfe's own Urban Home retail store in downtown St. Joseph, with Mexican folk art and other decor for their customers.

At The Iron Gate, customers routinely find a broad array of imports from Mexico that the two had no wholesale market for, but also elected not to mark up to the retail level.  In fact, this Spring you will find many of the items inside The Iron Gate sporting price tags closer to wholesale pricing than ever before.

Three to four times a year Mike, Rob and their entourage head off on major buying excursions to Mexico to restock both their wholesale warehouses and retail shops with fresh goods hand-picked and/or personally designed by the Urban Home Imports team. 

Many pieces discovered in their Mexican forays are one-of-a-kind, and may never be available again.  Others can be routinely restocked from the Mexican national artisans that provide many of the items you will find at The Iron Gate.  Another nice amenity of the way they do business is the scaling of pieces on display.  If the work is hired by Mike and Rob, they can re-create the pieces you are looking for on either a smaller scale, or a larger version of your discovery can be hand-crafted just for you.  Marble table and bar tops can also be scaled to meet your space requirements.

The response to The Iron Gate has been both amazing and heartwarming to these fine gentlemen who discover new ways to surprise their clientele all of the time.  If you don't see something in their public collection out front, ask them to peek behind the curtain into the warehouse and see if maybe what you've got in mind is somewhere in their vast selection out back.  In fact, if you would like the two to be your personal shoppers when they travel to Mexico, tell them what you would like and they'll keep a sharp eye out, photograph what they find, e-mail you the photo and then acquire the piece while they are still on their shopping trip if you would like.  That's customer service!

At The Iron Gate you will find an overwhelming collection of pottery, chandeliers, colorful glasswork in the form or bar-ware, kitchen ware, vases and beyond.  You'll also find lamps, metal and stone sculptures, candles and candle holders, mirrors of all shapes and sizes, indoor and outdoor furniture, art works galore, room dividers, coat racks, benches, silver work, crucifixes of all shapes and sizes, plates, and earthen pots from tiny table top sizes to gargantuan entryway pieces capable of welcoming friends and family to substantive estates and mansions.

Kids absolutely love the store because of Buddy the Dog, The Iron Gates friendly canine mascot, and the real-live fish pond and fountain that they have built in one end of the showroom.  In fact, there is one woman who comes in multiple times a year just so her grandkids can feed the fish in the fish pond. 

The Iron Gate has three iron makers who make pieces exclusively for them, and hundreds of artisan contacts ready to provide all kinds of decor.  Look for the clay-red brick building with the trio of iron horses galloping over the doorway, and get ready for a wonderful shopping experience right in the heart of Michigan's Great Southwest. 

This Member Spotlight was created on 03/06/2007.