Dr. Dawn Wade
Co-Founder of West End Gin
There’s a West End in Every City
I’ve lived in Louisville for almost ten years and I know that the West End of Louisville is no different than the west ends of other cities that I’ve lived in. Whether that’s the west end of Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, Shreveport, Macon, Hammond, they’re all the same. There is a lack of opportunity and equity in every major city around the country. The most unsettling is that these neighborhoods are seen as less than because they are predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Instead of saying that I grew up poor, I always say that I came from very humble beginnings because I know my parents tried their best to give me a good life; what they lacked was opportunity. They didn’t choose to have less, they worked every single day, they just lacked someone or something that would give them a hand without expecting more in return.
This is how West End Industries is different. We are here to craft the best gin in the world but we are also here to give the community opportunity and a hand, without expecting anything in return.
As I reflect on where I’ve come from to where I am today, I understand that the consistent thing I was given along the way was opportunity. That opportunity has been manifested in various ways, from a safe space to lay my head, exposure to stability, to scholarships, and even just a place to dream; all those opportunities prepared me to be a successful Black woman, wife, mother, entrepreneur and activist. How will the residents of our city flourish once we give them the opportunity?
Stacey Wade
Co-Founder of West End Gin
A Reason To Believe
Growing up in Louisville, I can remember going to the West End on Sundays to Joshua Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church on 15th and Muhammad Ali, with my Aunt Joyce and Cousin Courtney, who I idolized. My father, Lanney Wade, also owned a coal yard on 26th Street, called Lanco Sales. The West End was vibrant, full of energy, entrepreneurs like my father, and city blocks that were owned by the people who lived in the nine neighborhoods that made up the West End. There were flower shops, grocery stores, gas stations, salons, and barbershops - all Black owned. But, something happened between the late 90s/2000s. Homes and business that were once owned by the residents of West Louisville started to make the transition to absentee landlords. The once thriving businesses who were able to keep the dollar within the neighborhoods longer started to move on, and so did the economic stability that once held the West End firmly in place.
Another interesting thing happened in the mid 2000s, the bourbon boom. Kentucky, once synonymous with KFC and the Colonel, was now known for the spirits coming out of Kentucky. Brown-Forman, Heaven Hill, and Seagrams Gin were all in the West End, and two of these companies remain, with Brown-Forman’s corporate headquarters still being located there.
The bourbon industry pours $9 Billion into Kentucky’s economy, but the average income in the Russell neighborhood is $17,000.
This can be addressed, and fixed by creating a product that can can capture part of the $9 billion that has made Kentucky a destination for spirits. But, that destination needs to include the West End.