How a regular guy got a cult following and his face on a T-shirt
MARQUETTE, Mich. — Where’s Phil?
That’s what everyone always asks. And everyone was asking now.
Gretchen Speckin didn’t know what to tell them. The Northern Michigan University freshman was minding the store for her boss, the namesake behind Phil’s 550 Store. She was standing behind the counter by all the cigarettes and hunting licenses and boxes of rifle ammo as a space heater warmed her feet.
It was a cold afternoon. Phil Pearce was due back at his general store awhile ago. But Phil’s unpredictable. He could be anywhere. He could be welding something, someplace, since he’s a lifelong welder. He could be notarizing documents for someone, since he’s a notary public. He could be performing a wedding, since he’s an ordained minister. He could be draining the chemicals from a junked refrigerator, another side job. He could be plowing snow, because he does that, too.
Like a lot of Yoopers, he works several jobs to get by. But Phil’s main job is simply being Phil.
Phil used to be just a regular guy who owned a party store. Then his face appeared on a novelty T-shirt that somehow made its way all over the world. He became a cult figure, for no real reason other than he’s an interesting character; a sometimes jolly, sometimes cranky old hippie known to enjoy beer. And suddenly he had a whole new career foisted on him — just being himself.
“He’s quite the guy,” the 18-year-old Speckin said, giggling. “He’s literally indescribable. There are no words.”
Phil is an example of how someone can become famous for no reason other than sudden momentum, when their notoriety snowballs and everyone wants to be in on the joke. There have been short movies made about Phil. News articles published. A book written. There’s even a Phil jigsaw puzzle. For a time, there even were women’s panties sold with his face on them.
All for nothing that he’s actually done, other than exist — and appear on a shirt with a silly look on his face.
In a way, it’s because Phil is a quintessential Yooper. He exemplifies traits associated with the Upper Peninsula — a good-time spirit, a woodsy toughness, a persistent resourcefulness. There's actually a book about him and his store, “An American Landmark — Phil’s 550 Store,” which describes him as “a hard-working, deal-making, down-to-earth Renaissance man, a friend to all, who spreads the ‘can-do, will-do’ Zen of the northern frontier to all comers.”
With an image like that, no wonder he’s a legend.
“He’s become an icon for people stopping at this little store, just to see Phil,” said Kathy Enright, 40, who has spent 16 years minding the store when Phil is off somewhere. “It’s always the question of the day — ‘Where’s Phil?’ I always said I could be rich off that question at just a nickel a question.”
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