Forty-five years ago, Gene Clark was working at the old Green River Steel plant.

He began going to a business called Sally's Natural Foods for health products.

One day, he mentioned to the owner that he would like to own his own business someday.

The owner offered to sell.

And the store soon became Gene's Health Food, an Owensboro institution.

In 2013, Clark was getting ready to retire.

So, his grandchildren, Andrew Keller and Karissa Costello, bought the business from Clark that September.

Later, they added Manager Olivia Vancil to the partnership.

In March 2016, the store added a food truck -- Fresh By Gene.

In 2019, they moved the business from its long-time home at 1738 Sweeney St. to 1738 Moseley St.

The new location is larger and faces 18th Street.

They continued to offer health foods and healthy lunches.

And now, the store has added its own brand of coffee -- Gene's Beans.

Costello said, "Big Turkey Foot Coffee approached us at the beginning of the year about buying the business. We were already hooked on it by then. But we didn't buy the name. We wanted to make it unique."

Hadley and Reid Wilson and Kelsey Skaggs and Ian Clark launched Big Turkey Foot Coffee on New Year's Day 2020, and were soon selling to customers as far away as California.

Costello said they buy their beans from Café Kreyol, a Virginia-based company.

"Our beans come from Honduras, Bolivia, Dominican Republic and Haiti," she said. "They come from a lot of women-owned farms."

Since coffee beans aren't grown in the United States, Costello expects that tariffs will eventually hurt.

But they haven't yet, she said.

Costello said, "We roast (the coffee beans) ourselves in the store. We get green coffee beans and roast them."

They come in light roast, medium and dark with several blends.

The Rough River blend, made from beans from Honduras, is the most popular.

Costello said they use the Adventure blend in the store.

She said, "We started with a lot of loyal customers from Turkey Foot and added our own."

Their coffee is sold at Niko's Bakery & Café, Sunny Daze in Hawesville, Windy Hollow Biscuit House, The Cottage Farm Stand and Great Harvest.

The Lure Seafood & Grill uses their cold brew.

Costello said people can buy the coffee in the store or on the website -- Gene'sBeansCoffee.com.

Clark lived to see part of his grandchildren's success with the business.