New shops, eateries now open for business in Waynesburg
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Essentially Kind is, essentially, a year-round, upscale craft show where vendors’ wares tastefully decorate a sweet, airy space in the heart of Waynesburg’s downtown. The shop offers custom keychains and t-shirts, kids toys and décor, gluten free snacks and more.
Handcrafted jewelry is among the myriad of offerings at Essentially Kind, which opened along North Washington Street in late 2021. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Details matter, and small things, like the poetic saying at Essentially Kind’s checkout counter, make shopping small in Waynesburg worthwhile. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Pam Cunningham and Stephanie Knisely have all the local high school sports gear, from custom Soccer Mom tees to warm fleece blankets bearing your team’s logo. Cunningham has a design background and enjoys creating unique attire. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Before Essentially Kind opened in downtown Waynesburg, there was no place to purchase morning coffee, a card and small gift all in one trip. EK caters to working men, busy moms, university students on a budget and anyone who simply wants to support small, local businesses. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Ice cream, root beer floats, tater tots with all the fixins and strong coffee are on the menu at Farley’s Hotel Café, open Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. Here, Farley Toothman, the visionary behind the karaoke and gathering spot, and his wife Ingrid pose for a photo following their ribbon cutting. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Hideaway Candle Bar is tucked away along South Morgan Street, on the ground level of what was once the Waynesburg Hotel and Lounge. The DIY candle shop opened in June and has been well-received by the community. Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Bridget Vilenica pours coffee beans into a roaster at Hilltop Packs Coffee in Waynesburg.
Coffee beans from far-flung locations such as Ethiopia will be available at Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC in Waynesburg.Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Courtesy of Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC
Ben McMillen and his aunt, Bridget Vilenica, pour coffee beans into a roaster at Hilltop Packs Coffee LLC.
Recent Waynesburg University attendees and those who have had the pleasure of living in or near the once-bustling suburb might recall empty storefront windows and fancy date nights at Bob Evan’s.
But the days of nothing to do are over.
For over a decade, businesses have struggled to grow roots in Waynesburg, and local entrepreneurs have launched industries or taken positions in nearby Morgantown, Washington and beyond. But over the last two years, nearly a dozen businesses have bloomed in Waynesburg’s downtown.
“When I was a kid, we had Murphy’s and McCrory’s and shoe stores and men’s stores and women’s stores and jewelry stores. Friday nights and Saturday nights, downtown was bustling,” said Waynesburg Mayor Greg Leathers. “I think the allure for downtown was never totally lost, even with Internet shopping. To be able to walk into a small, quaint atmosphere is still, I think, appealing to most people. Will we get back to that? Probably not. For specialty items, I think the need and the want is there.
Specialty retailers, like Games-Ago and Lab5 Skate Shop, have recently joined anchor storefronts, including 5 Kidz Kandy. Business folks and university students alike enjoy quick, healthful meals at Fruition Bowls and Brews, an addition to Greene’s eatery scene.
“Once one comes, it attracts others,” Leathers said. “We’re to the point now, we’re actually on a roll.”
Entrepreneurs born and raised in Waynesburg are taking note. Instead of commuting to work, they’re investing in their hometown.
Hilltop Pack Coffee
Coffee wakes the groggiest of morning people, and in a way, it’s coffee that has jolted Waynesburg’s revitalization.
Two years ago this July, Bridget Vilenica of Carmichaels and her nephew Ben McMillen of Waynesburg launched Hilltop Packs Coffee, Greene County’s first (and only) coffee bean roaster.
“We actually import our own coffee and roast it,” said Vilenica. “It’s our hometown. We’re very much into Greene County.”
The duo is Greene County through and through and takes pride in caffeinating Waynesburg and surrounding areas. Hilltop Packs Coffee supports area schools and agencies through fundraising opportunities and has the backs of other small businesses.
“We certainly have our connections with Fruition (Bowls and Brews), Essentially Kind, a local honey place, a local candle place. We allow people to, if they don’t have a storefront, you can drop off your product here and have people pick it up. We sell a lot of local products in-house, too,” said Vilenica.
Vilenica and McMillen have served as mentors to new business owners, a retail collaboration Vilenica said is wonderful. Wonderful, too, is witnessing the grand opening of businesses sprouting up all over Waynesburg.
“There have been a lot of businesses opening in Greene County … and all kinds of places, from food places and hairdressers and personal beauty places. The community has been super supportive of us. We have a lot of walk-in traffic,” Vilenica said. “Getting the word out is a big thing. The community support has been great.”
Essentially Kind
The community has rallied around Essentially Kind, too, an upscale year-round craft show offering unique gifts, decor and treats at an affordable price point.
“I actually understand why people choose to go out of Waynesburg. We’ve trained ourselves to think that the only option is to go to Morgantown or Washington if people want to do multiple errands,” said Pam Cunningham, who owns EK with her business partner and friend Stephanie Knisely. “That’s something that I’m even, as a small business owner, training myself to think outside the box of.”
Essentially Kind caters to women living that #MomLife, university students on a budget, and anyone looking for a unique gift – for a friend, loved one or themselves.
Cunningham’s design background keeps fans of local teams – Jefferson-Morgan, Carmichaels Area, West Greene and more – stylin’ in custom tees on and off-season, and Essentially Kind offers fundraising opportunities to those schools and area agencies.
The chic shop is a dream come true for Cunningham and Knisely, who bonded over their children and shared a passion for crafting.
Neither is Waynesburg born and raised, but both are firmly planted in Greene County soil. The two sold their trendy, handmade wares at local craft shows pre-COVID. A trip to Hobby Lobby two years ago sparked their desire to create and sell all year long.
“We went to lunch, and then we went to Hobby Lobby, and we were feeding off of each other the whole time. (Cunningham) said, I’d really just like to open a store. Literally by that night, we had talked bits and pieces through,” Knisely recalled. “She was like, are we really gonna do this?”
They really did. In November 2021, Cunningham and Knisely opened the doors to Essentially Kind in the heart of Waynesburg’s downtown.
“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” said Cunningham. “The perception is we have a downtown that’s dead and dying. We have some hidden gems.”
Essentially Kind is filled with gems like Hilltop Packs Coffee and Your Cookie Rookie, a locally-owned specialty bakery whose masterful, sparkly cookies – crafted with love by Leigh Ann Shaner – are so popular that orders must be placed weeks in advance.
“Hideaway Candle Bar, we carried her products before she ever opened,” Knisely said.
Essentially Kind also carries stunning welding works by a local student dipping his toes in entrepreneurship and works with loyal customers to ensure their orders are available for pickup at a time that works for both buyer and business.
Cunningham said the question, “Are there problems we can solve in the community with this store?” has guided the business, which carries cards, soaps and beard oils, gluten-free snacks and plushies for kids.
“It’s not for the faint of heart,” Knisely said of opening a business. “There’s a lot that goes into it.”
Mostly, though, Cunningham and Knisely pour love into their work, and they hope more people will give Essentially Kind a chance.
“If you want to support community businesses and have nice things in your community, then starting to train yourself to think about the importance of that, the importance of shopping small,” said Cunningham.
Farley’s Hotel Café, Hideaway Candle Bar
Business has expanded off High Street and onto South Morgan, where folks are invited to spend Fridays at Farley’s, an eclectic ice cream and soda fountain shoppe that promotes “community in a cup or cone.”
The space, brought to life by Farley Toothman, took nearly six years to transform from the dilapidated Waynesburg Hotel and Lounge into the Wonderland it is today, but it’s a treat to locals, university students and staff who have for so longed searched for a gathering place.
Tucked beneath Farley’s Hotel Café is the chic, DIY retailer Hideaway Candle Bar, which opened last year.
“I love this town,” Sarah Eddy, a crafty Central Greene High School math teacher, told the Observer-Reporter last year. “This place needs things to do.”
Locals, college students and out-of-towners are welcome to drop in or make reservations for an afternoon or evening of candle-making and conversation inside Hideaway.
Now that Farley’s is open for business, people can craft candles in the calming space before heading upstairs for root beer floats in frosted glasses and karaoke in the hotel cafe’s Outdoors Indoors room.
At the ribbon cutting for Farley’s Hotel Cafe, Leathers summed up the boom in businesses downtown.
“Another great business opening up in the borough,” Leathers said. “I’m excited about it.”