From Richardson's to Rivertown

Story by Barbara Elliott

Photos Josh Baldwin

For more than a century, the iconic turquoise Richardson’s Hardware Store stood proudly over downtown Marlinton, a beacon to all in search of hardware, furniture, appliances and pretty much everything else. It was generally assumed that if you couldn’t find it at Richardson’s, you probably didn’t really need it. Terry Richardson, who took over the store from his father, Charles “Googie” Richardson, was beloved in the community and successfully carried on the long family legacy. Sadly, Terry died unexpectedly, much too young, and to the distress of many, the building was sold in 2020.

What to do with such an enormous space? The original purchaser was a bit overwhelmed by the prospect, but Daniel McKee and Bob Safrit saw tremendous potential with the location just yards away from the Greenbrier River Trail.

Safrit and McKee incorporated Revitalize Marlinton, LLC, with a vision to broaden the number of shopping and dining options and activities for visitors to Pocahontas County. Safrit and McKee, originally from North Carolina and Maryland, had been coming to the area for years to ski and mountain bike, and Safrit finally decided to relocate to the county. His wife, Alison, an accomplished potter, grew up in Cass. The two, in partnership with McGee, have transformed the Richardson’s building into Rivertown, a welcoming community hub that houses a café and performance venue on the first floor and shops, art studios and a yoga studio on the upper level.

Daniel and Alison Safrit

“It was just the right place at the right time,” Safrit says. They did minimal remodeling of the building, keeping many of the old shelves and items from the Richardson’s days that add a nostalgic feel to the spacious first floor. “The biggest thing was getting the stuff attached to the ceiling off,” Safrit recalls. “We moved stuff around, but we wanted it to look like an old place. A local contractor did the work upstairs.”

Alison was the building’s first “tenant,” opening Alison Pottery Gallery and Little Mountain Yoga on the second floor. Additional studio space is now occupied by artisans Makinsey Poeppel (photography); Lori Doolittle (printmaking, oil painting); Cris Bartlett (clay); Rose Driver (painting); Dawn Baldwin (WV wild grown organic teas); and Sara Miller (jewelry)

Alison also created the Homegrown Music Series at Rivertown which features performances held in on the stage downstairs. During the inaugural year, she focused on West Virginia groups, but hopes to expand to regional acts in the future. “We feature a variety of musical styles including rock, funk, bluegrass and old time. We have performances approximately two Fridays a month. I look at the Pocahontas Opera House schedule and try not to overlap with their shows, which are usually on Saturdays.”

A Quirky Café

On the Safrits’ wish list for the building was a café to enhance Marlinton’s somewhat limited dining options. As things often happen in small towns, Alison mentioned the idea to one of her yoga students, Nicole Schwarz. She quickly volunteered that her husband, Aaron Davis, had extensive experience in the restaurant business. In 2023 Schwarz and Davis opened Rivertown Café. Unfortunately, they opened on the day of the Autumn Harvest Festival and Road Kill Cook-off, which they naively assumed was a “little street fair.” The day turned rainy and cold, so they were inundated with customers. “It was just my wife and I. It was a great introduction to the community—totally not,” he laughs.

Thanks to his experience working in restaurants in Delaware and the Philadelphia area, Davis has developed a menu with an international flair.” I am worldly with food,” Davis explains.” I have worked with employees from all over the world in his previous restaurants.” Davis happily embraced their food, culture and ideas.

The café offers a breakfast menu including egg sandwiches made with locally sourced eggs, bagels and lox and waffles served with syrup from Hillsboro Maple Works. Coffee from local roaster Lori Doolittle is used in an array of caffeine-infused delights.

Aaron Davis

Davis prides himself on preparing everything fresh, using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. For lunch, in addition to a fixed sandwich menu, he creates inventive daily specials that are posted on the café’s Facebook page. On the day of my visit the specials were a Pork Belly Pita Pocket and a Pesto Pizza. Nicole bakes diet-busting desserts such as soft, chewy cookies, mini cheesecakes and flan. The café is open Thursday through Sunday, 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Dreams Fulfilled

For years, Brenda Cochran and her daughter Makinsey Poeppel had dreamed of opening a gift and souvenir shop near the Greenbrier River Trail. Lauren Bennett’s dream was to open a shop to sell her handmade buttercream candies. Both credit the Safrits for making those dreams come true.

Poeppel had previously worked at the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Center, as had Brenda’s mother, Shirley Adams, and they noticed that visitors often asked where they could buy local souvenirs. Although a number of art and crafts galleries have opened in Marlinton in recent years, there still was nowhere to purchase items touting the Greenbrier River Trail, Pocahontas County and Marlinton.

Brenda and Makinsey opened the Mountain Echo souvenir and gift shop to fill that void. They were delighted to discover a counter hand-painted by Adams when she ran a gift shop at Cass. Unbeknownst to them, it had been hidden away in a relative’s basement for 20 years. It now beckons shoppers to browse the colorful array of gift and souvenir items.

Brenda Cochran and McKinsey Poeppel

With a background in graphic design and photography, Poeppel has designed many of the items herself and has them manufactured in West Virginia or the USA whenever possible. Although the shop carries a wide array of items, stickers, sweatshirt and hats are the big sellers, and puzzles have been a surprise hit. There is a small section of Christmas items that is expanded during the holiday season. The shop, which has proven popular with locals as well, is open Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through December. It also is open Sundays during holiday weekends and will re-open in April after a winter hiatus. “There is nothing like it within a 50 mile radius,” Poeppel says.

Lauren Bennett started making candy about 30 years ago, beginning with vanilla buttercreams that became her go-to Christmas gifts. Over the past 10 years she has perfected the technique and wanted to open a candy shop modeled after one she had seen in Savannah, Georgia. She approached the Safrits with the idea, and after tasting samples of her confections, they were all in. “It was a fantastic opportunity with it being right on Main Street,” Bennett says “I wasn’t ready to do it, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

At Creekside Candy, Bennett has expanded her repertoire well beyond buttercreams, which come in a variety of flavors. She says that peanut butter and espresso, made with coffee from Doolittle, are favorites. She also makes a few seasonal specialties, such as Blueberry Creams made with blueberries from Frostmore Farms in Boyer and Maple Pralines for Maple Days. She also makes a Honey Pecan Nougat with local honey. If the humidity cooperates, she makes gummies she calls Creekside Creatures.

Because she still has a day job as director of the Pocahontas County Parks and Recreation Department, Bennett makes her candies early in the morning or in the evening. Her daughter Kristen mans the shop when she cannot be there, and she says granddaughter Sadie comes along to attract customers. The shop is open Fridays and Saturdays from 12 to 5 p.m.

Building on Success

In recognition of their leadership in reviving downtown Marlinton, the Safrits were named “Pocahontas County Tourism People of the Year” for 2024. “We didn’t even know that was a thing,” Alison laughs.  And they are just getting started. They anticipate that tourism will explode in Marlinton with the addition of the Monday Lick Trail system, a stacked loop system originating in Marlinton tailored to accommodate mountain bike riders of all skill levels. In addition, nearby Snowshoe Mountain has emerged as a world-class mountain biking hub. Having achieved Silver level status from the International Mountain Biking Association, Snowshoe expects to achieve Gold level in 2025.

Rivertown is still a work in progress. “We eventually plan to open up a side door and have a patio with an outdoor fireplace,” Safrit says.  Revitalize Marlinton recently purchased the long-neglected Peacock Building at the other end of Main Street with plans to convert it to ground level shops and a hotel upstairs. Safrit notes that two new restaurants have opened in town since the opening of the Rivertown Café. “We see a nice steady upwards trajectory, but want to keep it affordable. Success builds on success,” he says.

Rivertown is located at 309 8th Street in Marlinton.