EXHIBIT 99.1

                       [MERCANTILE BANK CORPORATION LOGO]

CONTACT INFORMATION:

AT MERCANTILE BANK CORPORATION:                      FOR MEDIA:
Gerald R. Johnson, Jr.   Charles Christmas           Linda Margolin
Chairman & CEO           Chief Financial Officer     Margolin & Associates, Inc.
616-406-3700             616-406-3750                216-765-0953
gjohnson@mercbank.com    cchristmas@mercbank.com     lmm@margolinIR.com


MERCANTILE BANK CORPORATION ANNOUNCES TRUST PREFERRED SECURITIES TRANSACTION


WYOMING, Mich., September 16 -- Mercantile Bank Corporation (Nasdaq: MBWM)
announced that its newly formed Delaware trust subsidiary, Mercantile Bank
Capital Trust I, completed today a private sale of $16,000,000 of Series A
Floating Rate Preferred Securities. The rate on these trust preferred securities
is the 3-month LIBOR rate plus a specified percentage. The rate, which adjusts
every three months, is currently 4.06% per annum. The trust preferred securities
mature in thirty years, and can be called without penalty on or after October
18, 2009.

The proceeds from the sale of the trust preferred securities will be used to
finance the redemption on September 17, 2004 of $16,000,000 of 9.60% Cumulative
Preferred Securities issued in 1999 by Mercantile's business trust subsidiary,
MBWM Capital Trust I (Nasdaq: "MBWMP"). Mercantile expects to record a $845,000
pre-tax charge in connection with that redemption representing the unamortized
issuance costs associated with the 9.60% Cumulative Preferred Securities. On an
after-tax basis that equates to about $550,000. Mercantile had been expensing
the issuance costs over the contractual term of the 9.60% Cumulative Preferred
Securities and 25 years remained.

The trust preferred securities issued today have not been registered under the
Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States
absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

About Mercantile Bank Corporation

Mercantile Bank Corporation is the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of
West Michigan. The Bank's primary service area is the Kent and Ottawa County
area of West Michigan, which includes the City of Grand Rapids, the
second-largest city in the State of Michigan. The Bank provides a wide variety
of commercial banking services primarily to




businesses, individuals, and governmental units through its five full-service
offices in greater Grand Rapids, and its Holland, Michigan, office located
thirty miles southwest of Grand Rapids. Mercantile Bank Corporation's common
stock is listed on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "MBWM."

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains comments or information that constitute
forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that are based on current expectations that
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ
materially from the results expressed in forward-looking statements. Factors
that might cause such a difference include changes in interest rates and
interest rate relationships; demand for products and services; the degree of
competition by traditional and non-traditional competitors; changes in banking
regulation; changes in tax laws; changes in prices, levies, and assessments; the
impact of technological advances; governmental and regulatory policy changes;
the outcomes of contingencies; trends in customer behavior as well as their
ability to repay loans; changes in the national and local economy; changes in
securities markets, and other factors, including risk factors, referred to from
time to time in filings made by Mercantile with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Mercantile undertakes no obligation to update or clarify
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.