The Story Behind the Store

When I was 6-years-old, my dad took me to an old general store. I walked to the back while my dad chatted with the owner and I watched as one of the workers went up and down this library ladder. Up and down, up and down, hefting these giant glass jars of candy. Well, I decided right then and there that I wanted to run and own a candy store.  

As a teenager, I realized I wasn’t related to the Hershey family…it made the dream a little less attainable. It still wasn’t impossible though, at least not in my mind. It turns out my dream just needed a different spin to it.  

Once I was in my 20’s, I realized one day that a liquor store was a lot like a candy store. All flashy colors, different tastes and sizes to accommodate different likes. It took me right back to that dream. So, when I was about 35, I finally pursued getting my packaged liquor license – not knowing it would take almost seven years to obtain it!  But once I had it, I had to put it back on the shelf for three years as I waited for just the right place to set up shop.  

When COVID-19 hit, the restaurant that was here previously did what many had to do and closed their doors for good. The owner of this strip is a high school buddy of mine, and when we saw each other next, we both knew that this was the perfect spot for my vision. Thus, The Ridge Liquors came to be, and all those pieces of candy turned into liquor bottles.  

When I sat down to design the interior, I went back to where this all started. That general store that inspired all of this, it felt like home: nostalgic, welcoming, comfortable, like you didn’t have to be in a hurry. I wanted that with my store, which is why it’s embedded in all the little details. The 100-year-old metal that decorates the tops of the coolers and above the Tasting space comes from the barns my grandpa built off Stacy Road; they’re part of the farm that I grew up on. The bourbon barrel stays that decorate the east wall are from Heavens Hill Distillery. That library ladder I mentioned? It inspired the hand-built, Indiana Amish shelves that showcase our liquor. All the stone and brick work you see? My brother and I’s other company, Coronado Stone, did all of it. Top to bottom – The Ridge Liquors is my dream. It’s my candy store.