Bardstown Kentucky  The Women Who Changed This Town

BY Lucy M. Pritchett
Photos by Ewa Wojtkowsak

If the entrepreneurial women coming together to make a small town Main Street a
success hasn't been written before, it has now.  Picture a small town with a sagging
Main Street lined with empty storefronts, tattered awnings, and dirty windows.  This
is how the street looked until a group of female store owners decided to take
matters into their own capable hands and bring Main Street back to life.

If you want anything done, and done correctly, put a woman in charge.
Here is Bardstown, Kentucky’s second oldest city and place of Kentucky’s famous
“home.” Its Main Street (on the map it is Third Street but the natives call it Louisville
Road) is now lined with boutiques, galleries, antique shops, restaurants, and
bookstores. In the town square stands the newly remodeled courthouse gazing
fondly upon the resurgence of commerce. The building, erected in the late 1700s,
is now the town’s Welcome Center.

Fired by her passion and enthusiasm, Gloriela Forsee reached her goal of owning
a tiny Bardstown boutique. After years of running a jewelry-making and art-clothing
business, first out of her home and then in other storefront locations, in 2004 she
opened Gloriela’s Boutique and Fine Consignments in a prime location on
Bardstown’s shoppers row.  But she took a good look around and didn’t like what
she saw: pockets of neglect and malaise. This will never do, she thought, so she
gathered with other smart and fashionable store owners. They formed a marketing
association to gather dollars to advertise and thereby help set in motion an upscale
beat to the town’s historic retail center.

Here is a sample of shopping treats:
There is Spalding and Sons department store that has been in town for over 100
years. Now it is run by father Haydon Spalding and daughter, Sally Spalding Walsh.
Down the block is Mary Carey’s gift, home décor, and frame store, At Mary’s. (As in,
“Where did you get that?” “At Mary’s.”)

Around the corner on Flaget Ave. is Barbara’s Interior Design filled with enough
sofas, chairs, fat pillows, elegant lamps, festive floral arrangements and art to fill
ten houses. (Fortunately, it is located in an old two-story hardware store so owner
Barbara Mattingly has plenty of room to show it all off.)

And be sure to stop in and meet artist Mary Hagy at her fine art gallery and view
her mesmerizing rural landscapes.

Tying down the eclectic atmosphere of the street where shopkeepers watch out for
and help one another is Kreso’s Restaurant. Merima Kreso and her husband
Dzevad (he is one of the chefs) magically turned the old downtown movie theatre
into a stunning, elegant eatery — that yes, occasionally shows old movies. (Try the
Bosnian Salad — a true inspiration.)

For dessert, stop in at the soda fountain in Hurst’s Drug Store, owned by Kim
Wheatley, and sip on a hand-dipped chocolate milkshake.

But the women-powered rebirth doesn’t just include retailers. Behind the office
doors in the Welcome Center and the Courthouse (which moved to a new location
three years ago), you will find more of the town’s dedicated women including
Bardstown’s first female mayor Dixie Hibbs; Janet Johnston, director of planning and
zoning; and Kim Huston, president of Nelson County Economic Development
Agency.

Kim is excited about what’s happening in Bardstown.
“Five years ago, there were a lot of empty storefronts,” she admits. “And three
years ago, when the courthouse moved, it took many people with it from downtown.”
But the renewed efforts of downtown businesses, she says, “have offset the loss of
that traffic.”

Bardstown is known as a city of festivals, Kim says, and everyone seems to want to
pitch in and help. Whether it is the recent gathering of some 1,500 bicyclists, the
Bourbon Festival, or the Nelson County Fair, there is something going on almost all
year long.

And even though Kim admits that for the past two years tourism has been flat, “We
are maintaining. There is a lot of competition from other communities in the area.”
The big debate has been whether to open the shops on Sundays.
Right now the shops are run by single-owners which make for long days behind the
counter. Family and friends help relieve the workload, but this tourist town doesn’t
have a population of college students who want to work part-time as some
communities do.

“It is a Catholic town,” says Gloriela, “but we get so many questions and comments
from the tourists about opening on Sundays.”

It is a decades-long battle, says Kim, although some stores in town are open seven
days a week. “Store owners want a day off,” she says, which she understands, “and
although some attractions are closed on Monday, that is not necessarily the slowest
retail day. It is difficult to determine that.”

Not to be daunted, the main street group is meeting in January to discuss the
possibility of a pilot program with stores opening on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.,
May through December.

Kim is proud of the fact that the town “has a lot of female ownership and leadership.”
And Gloriela affirms: “I am happy to be a part of a group of women working together
toward the same goal. We see something to be done and we do it.”November and
December festivals include:

HOLIDAY PREVIEW
NOVEMBER 3-5
A Holiday Preview in Historic Downtown Bardstown. Specialty shops are filled with
beautiful decorations, creative gifts and festive apparel. The downtown restaurants
are preparing holiday entrees for you and
your guest to enjoy. Friday and Saturday,
10a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m.

CHRISTMAS ‘ROUND BARDSTOWN
NOVEMBER 24-DECEMBER 20
A variety of holiday events including historic home tours, musical productions,
carriage rides, train rides, fine dining, shopping, and special events with Santa.

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME
CANDLELIGHT TOURS
NOVEMBER 24-25, DECEMBER 1-2 & 8-9
My Old Kentucky Home is decorated for Christmas in the antebellum style. Guests
have a guided tour
with refreshments afterwards.

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
DECEMBER 1-3
Take a step back to simpler times as you stroll the historic streets of Bardstown and
experience
holiday shopping at its best. Friday and Saturday,
10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m.-5 p.m.

CANDLELIGHT TOUR OF HOMES
DECEMBER 8
Tour of privately owned homes decorated
for the holidays in Bardstown and the surrounding area. Refreshments will be
served at selected homes.

For more information on any event call (502) 348-4877 or
(800) 638-4877. Check out
the Bardstown website at www.visitbardstown.com.Bardstown is a 45-minute drive
down (of course) Bardstown Road (US 31E S) from Louisville. You will run smack
into the Welcome Center and will get to see a few cows and horses along the way.

Another way to get there is to take I-65 S to exit 112 (KY-245) and head east
toward Bardstown for about 15 miles. Turn right onto
Third St. (US-31E.)
These women are taking over the streets of
Bardstown. From left to right: Dorothy White,
director of the Bardstown-Nelson County
Chamber of Commerce; Mary Carey, owner
of At Mary’s; Kim Huston, president of the
Bardstown-Nelson County Chamber of
Commerce; Joyce Wilkins, owner of
Plantation Furniture and Designs, Merima
Kreso, owner of Kreso’s Restaurant; Dixie
Hibbs, mayor of Bardstown and Gloriela
Forsee, owner of Gloriela’s Boutique.