Bear Creek: A Dream, A Vision, A Reality

Bear Creek Coffee Company has been part of the Ulysses Business community for a little more than nine years. The idea for the local coffee shop grew from a conversation between Kristy Frazee and her husband, Stephen, and an idea from their son, Jacob.

"We have to build our community to be what we want it to be - ultimately it’s on us," Kristy said. "So, we started talking about what we wanted and how we wanted it to look."

In the beginning, Kristy and Stephen just knew they wanted "to do" something.

"My husband travels a lot for work," Kristy said. "We started talking about how when he would go to other towns, he would see they were thriving. We talked about how that could happen here. Not that Ulysses wasn't thriving, but he would see towns with all of these businesses on the outskirts of bigger towns like Dallas, Wichita and Oklahoma City. These smaller towns within 40-45 minutes of them had furniture stores, appliance stores, ice cream shops..... (Stephen) said it was so neat to visit these small towns. It was fun to see what all they were doing."

Kristy and Stephen discussed how that would happen and what it would take to make something like that happen.

"Ultimately, it comes down to the people in the community," Kristy said. "For us to have that, the people who live here have to make that happen. T                                                                    hey have to invest in their community and help build those businesses."

It was the couple's then 18-year-old son, Jacob, who would steer them in the right direction to make "something happen" here.

"The coffee shop was my son, Jacob's, idea," Kristy said. "He wanted to do it. He had done some research. At the time, he didn't have any money and we didn't have much money. He had the vision and the dream."

The couple told Jacob at the time "it wasn't going to work".

"As his parents, we told him we weren't going to spend money on that," Kristy said. "We told him he couldn't spend money trying to make that happen."

But, as the couple continued to discuss what they would do, their son's vision soon came in to play.

"As we started talking, we were like 'what about the coffee shop?' - we started researching it," Kristy said.

When the Frazees finally settled on a coffee shop, they connected with a company called PT's coffees.

"They are the ones who trained us before we opened," Kristy said. "They are out of Topeka. We ordered all of our equipment when we first started from them."

PT's Coffee representatives assisted the Frazees in developing a business plan and guided them in what it would take to get their vision off the ground.

"Ultimately, our vision was just to be open," Kristy said. "It was a community thing. We were doing it because we wanted to build our community and give our community different options. The grand vision was that we were going to lead the way and everyone would hop on board so we would end up having all of these wonderful shops and businesses. That's not necessarily what happened, but we have built something here and I think our community likes that part."

In order to make their dream and vision a reality, they needed a location.

"We looked at a lot of small buildings that were available in town and for the square footage - we decided to buy this," Kristy said, referring to their current location at 107 N. Baughman Street. "When we first looked at it, I was like, 'no, this is way too big. Coffee shops are not this big'."

And it was big - it was the former home of Carter's Thriftway grocery store.

"Where the poles are in here - that’s where the registers used to be in the grocery store," Kristy said. "Stephen took me to those poles and he said, 'turn around and look. This is your coffee shop right here. The rest of it, we’re not thinking about currently, because we aren’t doing anything with it right now'."

The building, which had been sitting empty for a couple of years prior to the Frazees purchasing it, still contained coolers from the grocery store and more - it was going to take a lot of work.

"Some of the work was done by family," Kristy said. "I have carpenters in the family. Stephen and I did a lot of work painting and stuff. The back was grocery store storage and a mess for a very long time."

Frazees finished the back part of their coffee shop in 2022. Turns out - being big is just what Bear Creek Coffee needed.

"We used it some even before it was completely finished," Kristy said.  "We had cleaned it up and had parties back there. I'm the president of Ginger's Hope and we have had fundraisers back there. We've even had a murder mystery event before it the remodel was completely finished."

The "extra" room has been the location for wedding rehearsal dinners, meetings, wedding receptions, other fundraisers, and more.

"We've done a lot of fun things back there," Kristy said. "Our capacity in the back is for 150 people and 150 in the front." 

So, where did the name Bear Creek come from - it's history and a bit sentimental.

"My husband’s family homesteaded on Bear Creek north of town when they came early in the 1800s, so that’s where we got the name," Kristy explained. "There is some history there."

The name is not the only bit of history the Frazees have included in their business endeavor.

"The redwood bars we have - it’s special to us and we think special to our community for a lot of reasons," Kristy said. "Many years ago the railroad bridge east of town flooded and washed out that bridge. My dad helped rebuild and clean that up. At the time, they used horses to help pull out the big beams. My husband worked with my dad and used those big redwood planks to move houses. My dad passed away in 1996. The beams had been out at my house. "

Stephen told Kristy he thought the beams would fit right in to the coffee shop.

"Stephen said those would be great for our coffee shop, because redwood never rots," Kristy explained. "I said, 'Really? They have been sitting in the dirt for 20 some years.' The bottom side was pretty rough  on them. They were 20 feet by 15-16 inches wide and they were 6 inches thick. If we cut them in half.... How could we get them to the mill? They were huge. We couldn't just load them in the back of a pickup."

At that time, according to Kristy, the shop teacher at the high school in Hugoton, might just have a solution.

"At the time, the shop teacher had purchased a portable milling machine for their shop classes," Kristy said. "They took lumber and milled it and were building stuff with it. So, we took it up there. The planks were cut in half and that’s what our bar is made of."

Once the planks were cut, Stephen went to work.

"My husband built the bar," Kristy said. "Most of it was sanding. We put oil and a clear stain type of oil on it. It was kind of a thing. We were so excited when we opened that up - it's so beautiful."

The pieces just kept "falling together".

"These boards came from our barn at our house," Kristy said pointing at some of the decor. "We took all the nails out, sanded them and put a clear oil stain on them - it was a project. We got the barn doors that are here built - it was a big deal. Every time those things kind of came together it was fun to see."

Grocery and history seemed to be a bit of a theme. A counter from the old C.H. Binney grocery store, also found a new home at Bear Creek.

According to Kristy, Gene Lozar was able to acquire the counter and with a little Frazee TLC, it was polished and now has a "place of honor" at Bear Creek.

It has been a family affair getting to where they are today.

"Jacob was here to help with the remodel," Kristy said. "He worked here for three years and was the front guy, greeting people when they came in and making drinks. He served as my manager. I did all the cooking and he was running the front."

Jacob got married and moved to Wichita, but he and his family have since returned to Ulysses.

"They work and raise their kids here now," Kristy said. "They eat here, support us and cheer for us. If we need help we can call them. I have other family I can call if we need help as well. They all know a lot of the catering,  how to make the trays, etc."

It has grown a lot since its humble beginnings.

"We believe it's a christian coffee shop and we believe God orchestrated this whole thing, because he wanted us here," Kristy said. "Every time things came together it was confirmation we were doing what we were supposed to be doing. It has grown."

Bear Creek started off  with offering coffee and lunch.

"We did pastries to begin with and yogurt parfaits," Kristy said. "In the beginning, we didn't have a kitchen. We had a two burner table top thing that we sat on the counter. We had a very small grill - a 14 x 14 and made all sandwiches at the front. It has grown a lot over the years and we have changed how we do things."

Bear Creek now has a full kitchen and the coffee shop and breakfast menus have expanded.

"We have lunch specials every day," Kristy said. "Breakfast and coffee really is our thing."

And that is not the only change Bear Creek has seen.

Nathan Engelman, who has worked at Bear Creek since it opened, approached them about a new venture - sharing their business space. It wasn't long before Good Dogs Hotdogs found a home there as well. Now, Bear Creek is open in the mornings and Good Dogs in the evening.

Kristy says she feels Bear Creek Coffee is a "kind of hub" now in the community.

"People have come in," she said. "We have been able to do what we dreamed this would be. We did this because we wanted to give back to our community and help sustain our community for the future."

What started as a dream and then a vision has not only turned in to a reality - it is much more. Today the coffee chop offers breakfast, lunch, specialty coffees, a place for groups to gather and catering.

"There is so much about Bear Creek," Kristy said. "We very often say Bear Creek is a place where coffee meets comfort. Everybody who comes in - we are family. We are community. We have had really good support from our customers. I think we have tried to make it someplace special where people feel like we care. And we do. We care."

Kristy says especially when hosting events or catering they do everything they can.

"We do what we can to make it special with personal touches," she said. "When you come to Bear Creek it’s more than just a meeting spot or an eating spot. There is a level of love and care for our customers."