CYNTHIANA, Ky. (LEX 18) — We last visited Cynthiana to see how the downtown business owners of this small town in Harrison County were doing at the beginning of the pandemic.
Nearly four years later, it seems as if not much has changed here. Business owners say they survived that storm, and the theme remains unchanged.
“If we all succeed, then Cynthiana grows, and that’s the ultimate goal, I think,” said Lexi Anderson.
Lexi recently opened “Cordial,” a café and thrift store on Pike Street. It’s Lexi's first foray into business, and her boyfriend, co-founder Isaac Dailey, didn’t take long for them to adopt that feeling of community. Perhaps it’s because they have a solid foundation.
“We know the people here, we love the people here, and that was a big help for getting us off the ground,” Dailey said of their roots in the community.
Isaac and Lexi both grew up here. They attended Northern Kentucky University, and their personal lives became their professional venture.
“When Isaac and I first started dating, that was our thing,” Anderson explained. “We’d get coffee and spend the day thrifting,” she continued.
Isaac said they are already turning a profit here, and both plan on being on this main drag for a while.
“I remember wanting to open a café as a kid,” Lexi said.
A few doors down, Judy Stevens has a 48 ½-year head start on Lexi and Isaac. She’s owned The Cozy Cottage full-service salon since 1974.
“It’s a good little town. We get a lot of support here,” Judy said while watching a nail technician give a customer a manicure.
Judy began her career at a salon in Lexington but knew exactly where she’d set up her shop.
“This is the only place I wanted to be,” she said.
Judy’s business took a big hit at the beginning of the pandemic when salons were among the many businesses forced into lockdown restrictions.
“It was chaos—total chaos,” she said of the day she was notified of the shutdown.
“We were told to be out by 5 o’clock,” she added of that day in March of 2020.
Judy said most of her clients returned, noting that she did lose some customers who chose to stop coloring their hair, opting for the more natural graying look. But she continues to thrive here, a half-century after opening the doors. Loyal customers have allowed her to do so, and that’s something Lexi and Isaac are learning all about.
“Sometimes people come in to chat, sometimes they come to shop or just come for coffee,” Lexi said.
Isaac learned both the business and relationship models very quickly.
“Lexi is the boss,” he stated in no uncertain terms.
Solid professional and personal acumen that, along with everything else that makes this downtown area work so well, should help these two with their new venture.
