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Corner store provides comforts, convenience, cool stuff
By Hank Stephenson

Eclectic. That’s the word that comes to mind when you step into Wilko corner store. 

The sheer size of Wilko, its scientific placement on the corner of Park Avenue and University Boulevard, and the window steel and brick design, demands attention.

Unlike many of the storefronts along both University and Park, which use sidewalk signs to attract customers into the deep, skinny stores, Wilko utilizes their out-of-place openness to catch customers’ eye.

“We really wanted to build something to teach people between 18-25 that you can have a community here.”  General manager Rebecca Wilson said. 

Street side, through the 6-foot tall windows wrapping the store, you see people browsing locally made jewelry and t-shirts. Regulars chatting over coffee, watching foot-traffic from barstools, or surfing free wireless Internet connection while eating lunch.

“They have everything I need,” Matthew Wade said. “From Tums and cough medicine to cigarettes, coffee and wine.”

Wade, a Wilko regular, sat in the window eating sushi – delivered fresh daily from the local Asian Sandwich Deli – and drinking coffee on his lunch break. 

“I come in here for lunch or coffee and I look at the knick-knacks and odds and ends,” he said.

The eccentric and eclectic products – fresh bagels sit next to Wilko logo-emblazoned “beer pong” balls on the counter – and the refined warehouse/loft look of Wilko, with open ducting and huge steel beam-supported ceilings, adds to the old-time urban feel. 

Rebecca Wilson described the store as a “hip interpretation on the classic corner store.” 

She says that almost everything used in designing the store, from the oil drum tables to the wooden bars and the wheels on the display stands, is recycled material. 

The inventory is even greener. Only about 10 items in the store contain high fructose corn syrup, according to Wilson.  And Wilko carries healthier alternatives like, say, Boylan’s Soda instead of Coke or Pepsi products.

Wilko has a lot of local friends.  Much of the food, the t-shirts, the jewelry and even some cheese are bought locally, Wilson said. 

“We try to pump as much money back into the community as we can to support local artisans and companies who are doing great work,” she said.  “It’s part of the whole ‘eat what’s in season and eat what’s local’ ideal.”

Wilko opened in September of 2007 and has since built a loyal local customer base.

“We’re very committed to learning people’s names; knowing what they drink.  We wanted to make this seem like a familiar place.”

Sitting in the sunny southern window on Friday afternoon, Dalina Sumner drinks green tea and writes Happy Birthday on an Arizona postcard. 

She gets her coffee from Wilko almost every weekday morning and shops here some evenings when Wilko is, “the only place that’s open around here.”

“It’s just a nice place,” Sumner said. “The people are friendly, its convenient and comfortable.”