Monday Business Briefing: Hi-Five Doughnuts to open in Butchertown; five locals advance to national AdFed awards; future of former Kaelin’s unclear; and more
By Staff | Posted on March 21, 2016Welcome to the March 21 Monday Business Briefing, your private business intelligence digest from Insider Louisville. Hi-Five Doughnuts caps off new Butchertown development Hi-Five Doughnuts is the sprinkles on the doughnut for ButcherBlock, a nine property mixed-used development in the heart of Butchertown. The...
Monday Business Briefing: Rough week for local stocks, Thorntons loses ‘core business’ during renovations, Westport Village vacancy, letter of intent for WHY Louisville space, more
By Staff | Posted on January 11, 2016Welcome to the Jan. 11 Monday Business Briefing, your private business intelligence digest from Insider Louisville. How three local stocks fared in the tumultuous first week of 2016 Like much of the market, some stocks of local importance fell in the first week of trading...
WHY Louisville stores shutting their doors
By Caitlin Bowling | Posted on November 17, 2015WHY Louisville’s two stores are officially closing. Owner Will Russell announced the closure of the novelty shops on Bardstown Road and in the NuLu neighborhood via Facebook Tuesday evening: Recently, I have had a number of personal and business issues appear in the news. I...
Uncertainty ahead for Will Russell’s businesses
By Melissa Chipman | Posted on October 9, 2015After a summer of erratic behavior and brushes with the law, entrepreneur Will Russell is in inpatient treatment for mental health issues he’s openly discussed over the years. (The C-J’s Jeffrey Lee Puckett detailed these struggles in a Sept. 25 story interviewing both Russell and his...
Funtown Mountain: What’s happening to the ‘future of fun?’
By Melissa Chipman | Posted on September 2, 2015In July, Insider Louisville reported that “Will Russell says he’s OK and his businesses are in good hands.” However, it now appears Funtown Mountain is closed, and Russell is late filing necessary paperwork with the state on behalf of his other two businesses, WHY Louisville and LebowskiFest. On Tuesday, Funtown Mountain in Cave City,...
Will Russell says he’s OK and his businesses are in good hands
By Melissa Chipman | Posted on July 24, 2015Will Russell wants everyone to know he’s OK and that all three of his businesses — Why Louisville, Lebowski Festival, and Funtown Mountain — are in the good hands of employees. That was the general takeaway from an interview that began this morning at the...
Future of Funtown Mountain unclear based on cryptic, contradictory social media posts
By Melissa Chipman | Posted on July 16, 2015Ever since Will Russell’s arrest on Saturday at Lebowski Fest on charges of marijuana possession, resisting arrest and menacing, rumors have been swirling, fueled in part by disjointed messages on both his personal and his Funtown Mountain social media pages. Russell, 39, is the man...
7 Questions With … Will Russell: the man, the myth, the legend
By Sara Havens | Posted on June 26, 2015Will Russell is my spirit animal. As owner of the WHY Louisville stores, co-founder of the Lebowski Fest and the great and powerful Oz behind the new Funtown Mountain roadside attraction in Cave City, Ky., he’s a man with many plans. It’s like he’s got...
Get a piece of the dream: Will Russell’s Guntown Mountain and Fontaine Ferry Park surplus sale
By Melissa Chipman | Posted on June 25, 2015Want to own a little piece of Kentucky tourist attraction history? Will Russell is selling off select antiques from Guntown Mountain and Fontaine Ferry Park on Friday, with items ranging from a souvenir ashtray to an antique horse carriage. “Buy some Fun and support the cause!”...
Inside Funtown Mountain’s grand awesoming: The fun has begun
By Melissa Chipman | Posted on June 22, 2015We have seen the Mountain, and it is Fun. Why Louisville and Lebowski Fest founder Will Russell’s dream came true on Friday, as more than 100 people, including a bunch of children, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for his amusement park revamp, Funtown Mountain, in Cave...