FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — One of the newest shops in downtown Frankfort may be spooky, but it's equally as sweet. Just ask the co-owner of Wicked Whisk on West Main.
Heather Roe suggested the perfect sweets to try.
"Definitely a Death by Chocolate cupcake," she said. "Our cheesecakes are out of this world, and you gotta have a banana pudding cookie."
Roe said she's always been Halloween-obsessed. That's why this theme only made sense for her first bakery, which opened to the public in January.
"Me and my husband moved here about five years ago, and we love it," Roe told LEX 18. "All the small businesses down here are very welcoming, and we just wanted to be a part of it."
She joins a community of small business owners in Frankfort that also includes Locals Food Hub & Pizza Pub.
Birch Bragg opened the store and pizza shop with a unique mission.
"100% Kentucky farmer and producer product only in the grocery store, so nothing out of state, nothing out of season," he explained.
With a second location now open in Louisville, Locals is focused on fresh, healthy food grown in Kentucky.
"By coming in to purchase groceries or food from us, you are by default supporting dozens and dozens of other small Kentucky businesses," Birch said. "The quality of our food is second to none. We heavily source local ingredients."
Another pillar of their mission is making sure underserved communities have access to farm-fresh food. That's why the market accepts SNAP and Kentucky Double Dollars, allowing everyone to buy high-quality local goods.
Back in downtown Frankfort stands a bookstore that's stood the test of time: Poor Richard's Books.
"It's fun to see families coming in saying, my parents brought me here to the bookstore and now I'm bringing my children to the bookstore," said bookseller Lizz Taylor.
Since 1978, Poor Richard's has welcomed in customers of all ages with its old-school charm. From first editions to modern classics, it's hard to count just how many books line these shelves.
"It brings in so many people that, you know, walk in the door and say, oh my gosh, this is a real bookstore, and it just, you don't see that kind of thing in in most places," Taylor told LEX 18.
But as these business owners know, Frankfort isn't most places.
"I did have a customer come in and say, where's your Macy's?" Taylor said. "And we said, we don't have one, but we have all these wonderful small shops with unique things that you won't find at Macy's."
