Mini Migration

Migration is building toward a full opening to the public in spring 2027, as we’re currently busy turning our cute 1950s bungalow into an amazing coffee and gift shop. In the meantime, our part-time pilot program, Mini Migration, is building that foundation. Since launching in 2025, we’ve been learning right alongside our community members, refining what the program looks like in practice and figuring out what works. Our community members have been cooking, creating, getting out into Austin, and building the skills and connections that will carry into the Mercantile and beyond. We’re growing together, and every week we get a little more ready.

In the kitchen

We’ve been perfecting the recipes we’ll feature in the cafe, building kitchen consistency, and learning everything that goes into running a real food operation. We’re opening with four signature baked goods we know people are going to love.

At the craft table

At the maker table, community members help produce the handmade goods that will fill the shelves at Migration Mercantile, alongside work by artisans with autism from across the country. The work itself builds the skills that transfer to any job: staying on task, collaborating with others, receiving feedback, and problem solving in real time.

In the community

Our community outings across Austin give us a chance to put the social and communication skills we’re building in the program to use in new environments, with new people. They’re also just a good time. Migration isn’t all work, and getting out into the city together to try new places and new things broadens horizons in a way the program space alone cannot.

At our internship

Community members have been gaining hands-on work experience at First Light Books, one of Austin’s most beloved independent bookstores and a partner who has been genuinely welcoming and supportive from day one. They take on a variety of tasks throughout the store, building the kind of experience that carries into any workplace.

Pop up shops

Migration Mercantile has taken its products on the road through a series of pop-up shops around Austin, giving community members hands-on sales experience and giving Austin a chance to get to know us before we open.