Looking for ‘nostalgic feel’ and local charm? Try this Lexington neighborhood grocery

The story of how “Old Wilson’s,” a neighborhood landmark and anchor at Cramer and Victory became “New Wilson’s” is really the story of the business itself – a mix of neighborliness, community, trust and chance grounded in Lexington’s unique culture.

A young couple, Corey and Hannah Maple, moved in across from Wilson’s Grocery and Meats about six years ago, settling into a neighborhood where they could build their family (they now have three children under six.) Since Jennifer and Roger Wilson lived upstairs from the grocery, it was almost always open. The Maples often found themselves dashing across the street to pick up something. “We loved it,” Hannah said.

As it happens, Roger Wilson liked horseracing – this is Lexington after all – and when he learned that both Corey’s father, Sam, and uncle, Eddie, were jockeys a bond was formed.

That led Roger Wilson to approach Corey in 2017 when he felt it was time to sell. Others had expressed interest but he and his wife had invested over 20 years in their special business, one that nourished the neighborhood with $1.99 bologna sandwiches and kept family holidays humming with country hams and hand-trimmed tenderloins. The Wilsons wanted their store to be in good hands.

So, in January 2018 the Maples, both of whom had jobs of their own (he’s a partner in a web design firm, she’s an interior designer) and neither of whom had any background in the grocery business, bought Wilson’s.

After months of working on the building and developing plans for a “New Wilson’s” that respected the old they formally reopened in October 2018. (The address is 1010 Cramer, hence an opening on 10/10.)

New Wilson’s, pre-pandemic

“It was a learning curve,” Hannah said, as they and their new employees tried to maintain Wilson’s local charm, affordability and high-quality meats while pursuing their mission of offering more local foods and value-added products. That’s why today you can see Magic Beans’ Kenwick blend coffee and Folger’s, a local Thrive kambucha and Ale-8-One (in reusable bottles), all sharing shelf space.

“Everyone, hopefully, will feel welcome when they walk in the store,” said Blake Hester, the prepared foods manager at Wilson’s. Hester is the guy who’s responsible for the oven-ready vegetable dishes as well as the fresh-ground bacon-burger meat and house-made pastrami.

He and Logan Benton, the front end manager (actually, Benton says, it’s a small space and “you kind of just do whatever”) say that about 80 percent of their clients are regulars. “They recognize our faces and we recognize theirs,” Benton said (even with masks on.)

Benton’s lived on Cramer for eight years and is a longtime Wilson’s customer. His background is in historic preservation (he’s working on a thesis about prostitution in Lexington during the Victorian era) but when he found himself looking for work this spring he asked at Wilson’s, where he feels he’s doing preservation by maintaining a tradition rather than sitting at a desk.

Pizza kits, breakfast bundles delivered

And they like the creativity, the opportunity for personal expression that comes with a small business and agreeable owners. One employee’s passion for making pizza led to the new pizza kits that, for $10, include a ball of dough, two kinds of mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil. (They also stock frozen pizzas from Lexington’s Pearl’s Pizza, a customer favorite.) And they think the rolls from Sunrise Bakery make the perfect hamburger buns.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Wilson’s crew came up with the idea to offer pre-ordered “breakfast bundles,” delivered to homes on Saturday morning for people locked in to escape the virus. When brunch places reopened they backed off but may begin offering the popular bundles once a month in the fall.

The virus, they think, has probably helped Wilson’s. With people secluded at home, ordering so many things online and afraid of going to big box stores, Hannah Maple said, they appreciate “the nostalgic feel” of Wilson’s, a place where the pimento cheese is fresh, the chicken in the chicken salad is hand-shredded, you can get a good lunch for $4 and people know your name.

What’s next for Wilson’s

Wilson’s is honoring its past but moving energetically into the future as well.

In October a second location will open in the GreyLine Station, a 65,000-square-foot indoor market, dining and office space in the former Greyhound Station at Limestone and Loudon.

There Wilson’s will offer its sandwiches, house-made sandwich spreads, locally sourced product mix and perhaps some new items like charcuterie plates to accompany libations from a nearby wine and beer bar.

At the original location the Maples are expanding into a garage behind the building where they plan to install a commercial kitchen to take some of the pressure off the small one at the rear of the store, and add some much-needed storage space.

Also, this fall, Wilson’s hopes to revive the outdoor grilling tradition they started last fall. Instead of an evening meal, they plan to grill the famous bacon burgers and other offerings outdoors where, they hope, customers can get a little bit of a social life without endangering their health.

Wilson’s Grocery

Where: 1010 Cramer Ave.

Open: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Online: wilsonsgrocerylex.com

Call: 859-266-4531