Lexington, KY - A restaurant manager for many years, Frank Bargo had long had dreams to open his own business. And even though running a convenience store had never played into those dreams until a venue basically fell into his lap late last year, when the opportunity presented itself, he jumped at it.
Today, his Columbia Heights shop, Wildcat Market, is quickly earning a reputation as a distinct one-stop shop. The freedom of being a locally owned, independent store allows the market to include special touches not found in commercial, chain convenience stores and gas stations -
the shop features tournaments of the popular college game cornhole on Thursday nights, live music on Friday nights, and a number of unique items not typically found in convenient stores -
candy-coated espresso beans, homemade salads and sandwiches, an ever-changing selection of craft beer, cold growlers of Kentucky Ale Bourbon Barrel (purportedly the cheapest in town) and locally made jewelry and clothing, including tie-dye t-shirts and crocheted women's bathing suits.
"You can go to Speedway and get the Speedway stuff, or you can come to our store and get the things we have that the other stores don't," Bargo said. In addition to the aforementioned specialty items, the shop carries college neighborhood market staples - cigarettes, toilet paper, beef jerky (including Kentucky-favorite Mingua), energy drinks, coffee (roasted by Paris coffee company Cafe Marcco), cat food, candy, nuts and soft drinks, including the exceptionally popular Ale-8 in deposit bottles. "We keep them really, really cold," Bargo said of the Winchester-based ginger ale, adding that Ale-8 floats made with rainbow sherbet or orange sherbet/vanilla swirl have been a big hit during the warmer weather.
Most of these special touches were more the result of intuition about what would go over well with the community surrounding the store, rather than a tried-and-tested business plan on how to run a convenience store -
and while the response has been overwhelmingly positive, Bargo admits the learning curve was steep.
"I've worked in the restaurant business for the 15 years, so I know a lot about inventory and keeping up some decent books, but as far as knowing how a convenience store is run - that's a whole different challenge," he said. While Bargo and his business partners spoke with a number of people who owned and managed some of their favorite local corner shops, a lot of the time they spent scoping out other neighborhood markets was under the precipice of wanting to make theirs as different and unique as possible.
Much of that effort has centered on making the most of the limitations afforded by a small, 100-year-old shop with limited parking and yard space. Focusing on a "think local," community-based concept -
like integrating work by local artists Stephanie Zaglul, Ashley Suazo and Bonie Bolen (who painted the store's sign in addition to creating the t-shirts that are for sale), and creating neighborhood events like the live music and cornhole tournaments (held on the sidewalk in front of the shop) -
has been central to those efforts. When the store opened its doors this past February, the first people the store owners met were their neighbors, a group of University of Kentucky students who live in the adjacent house; they got to know the neighbors even better when the students hosted a graduation party a couple of months later.
"We asked them if we could put the picnic table in their yard, and they could use it for their party too," Bargo said, adding that by the end of the night, the students told shop owners they could use their yard anytime. The picnic table, where customers can enjoy their salads and sandwiches and Ale-8 floats, has remained in the neighboring yard, and with their blessing, local musicians set up in the yard every Friday night for a live concert.
The shop's next step is to build a kitchen and expand their menu, eventually adding a delivery service for the neighborhood (currently, sandwiches and salads are made off-site and delivered to the shop daily).
"Building on the community, that's what we're aiming for," Bargo said. "That's our clientele, and we want to make them loyal customers that come to us rather than going to (a chain gas station). We have a lot of loyal customers."