This week, Sheri and Leo talk with Natalie Wilkerson of River City Provisions in Downtown Frankfort.

• Natalie Wilkerson grew up in Frankfort and moved back in 2003 after getting her master’s in historic preservation and civil engineering from the University of Kentucky.
• She moved back because she had a strong interest in downtown revitalization and historic preservation. In 2003, there wasn’t much happening in downtown Frankfort.
• She and her husband started their first project almost 20 years ago along with a little neighborhood consortium to save the old Noonan’s building from demolition. You might know it better now as Jesse’s frame shop, which has been there for a long time.
• She and Layne, along with Ellen and Jim Glasgow, who are also passionate about downtown and revitalizing the neighborhood, bought that project and fully rehabilitated the building. And it’s been a good corner building ever since.
• Her current business partner is Jen Williamson, a registered architect in town who has worked on numerous preservation projects in Frankfort and around central Kentucky.
• Eight years ago, she and Jen Williamson started a consulting business called Cumberland Ventures. With that, they have been doing historic preservation consulting, doing tax credit applications, and National Register nominations.
• About three years ago. Jen was the project architect on 311 Saint Clair, which was the first downtown boutique hotel to open, and also owned the rear adjacent building on Main Street. People probably know that as Marshall Steiner. Younger people may know it as Back Street Diner. That building on Main Street had been a diner for several decades. Jen and her husband had bought and rehabilitated the building, and saw the opportunity to develop a little courtyard since the buildings back up to each other at the rear.
• With more visitors coming into Frankfort post-COVID and with the Bourbon tourist industry taking off, they saw a need for more retail on the first floor. So they relocated some of the office spaces from our prime commercial real estate. River City Provisions just came naturally.
• Then there were people in town who were going to need places to stay and things to do. They wanted to provide a storefront that would give them a little slice of Frankfort and let them take a little bit of Frankfort home with them on their journey.
• When they started River City Provisions, they “shop-shared” the space with another business, The Linen Closet, for the first year.
• Then, a space two doors down became available for rent, so The Linen Closet moved its business two doors down.
• We had this little incubator space so we could both get up on our feet.
• They also have a water refilling station in their store for Living Waters Kentucky members.
• The downtown business community is powerful in partnerships and collaborations.
• They pride themselves on being open seven days a week because it’s not only weekends that people come downtown to shop and have fun.
• She thinks of them as a kind of modern-day general store. They have provisions, hence the name, for people who are traveling who forgot their toothpaste or need a charger or need a snack on the go.
• They’ve got a water refill station in case someone has a water bottle they need to fill up while they’re walking. They also have local artists. They have a ceramic artist, a painter, and a leatherworker. They offer handmade leather products and jewelry, all locally made.
• They try to have small, little things that somebody can pick up and will remind them of their time in Frankfort.
• They try to meet the needs of a wide range of different types of customers. They’re particularly fond of their hometown’s proud t-shirts and apparel items.
• They have hats, shirts, and sweatshirts with the new Frankfort flag logo.
• They’ve got some neighborhood t-shirts.
• They are seeing more visitors because of having places for people to stay overnight, like the 311 Saint Clair, the Ashbrook, and the Delegate.
• They’ve noticed a significant increase in traffic during the week due to the foot traffic.
• They do all the designs themselves, print them locally at CLS, and try to mix it up. They push a design out, and when it sells, they move on to the next thing.
• They’ve got another little project in the works for a shirt and a sweatshirt that they’re excited about with an image of “a local friend of ours”.
• The opening of new hotels makes them a considerable part of the Bourbon Trail. The Bourbon Trail attracts many visitors who come in with their Buffalo Trace wristbands.
• Also, plenty of locals come through because they haven’t been downtown in a while.
• She thinks Frankfort has enough now with the retail, restaurants, and events that lots of people with lots of different interests can come down and have a good time.
• Natalie also buys and rehabilitates properties, which aligns with her interest in preserving and revitalizing Frankfort to make it a great place to be.
• Her particular interest is in downtown, where she lives, and that’s where most of the fascinating history is, and it’s the kind of place that gets people interested. She believes there are other wonderful activities, resources, and places outside downtown, but her interest lies in buildings.
• She and her husband have done a handful of other projects, both commercial buildings and single-family homes. They have also lived in an old house for the last 15 years.
• Some of the more interesting projects they’ve done include the frame shop, which they no longer own, and the former Georgia Hill Photography Studio on Second Street that is now the My Old Kentucky Om Yoga Studio.
• Their most recent commercial project was the former Little Market on the corner of Todd and Logan that everybody knows as Andy’s Bake Shop.
• It was a meaningful project for her because she grew up with friends who lived on Murray Street, and they used to go there.
• The project was slow-paced, undertaken during COVID, which made it challenging to get people to work there.
• It is counterintuitive to start a project during COVID, but it also gave them time to focus on that project, allowing them to take their time with it. They showed it to a couple of different potential businesses.
• When they showed it to Andy and Tara, they had just moved here from North Carolina for different professional needs that collapsed during COVID. They had been running a stand at the farmer’s market as a way to pass the time during COVID, and they thought they could take their business further.
• If someone asked her about opening a shop, she would tell them that going slowly is essential.
• It took them time, and they’re still learning about their customers because retail trends are hard to predict.
• With shop sharing initially, they were able to build their inventory slowly. Also, you want to offer products that you genuinely believe in.
• Another essential aspect is hiring good employees. They have a couple of outstanding employees and a couple of high school students who bring that extra energy.
• For someone considering a project like renovating a building, she has a long list of advice. First, you really should believe in the project and be passionate about it. There are a lot of issues that come up during a renovation project that you don’t necessarily predict.
• But the end product is worth all that. And, getting a contractor that you trust and can work with honestly about conditions, about solutions, about costs, and all that kind of stuff.
• They do not currently have an online store for River City Provision, but they do ship merchandise upon request.
• An important part of all of this is having people, customers, and fellow business owners who want to support local businesses and see their town thrive.

River City Provisions

232 W Main St, Frankfort, KY

Monday 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM Tuesday 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM Wednesday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Thursday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Saturday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Sunday 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

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