The Porter House KC team has been hard at work on a new retail incubator in Kansas City that they hope will help remove barriers for retail startups.
Renovation is well underway for the 811 Retail Incubator that will be located at 811 E. 31st St. in KCMO.
There will be nine booth spaces in the two-story building, with designated areas for each business owner and an open workspace that encourages creativity and productivity among business owners.
“We wanted to create a lane for them to see if what they’re doing at the popups could be sustained in a brick-and-mortar format,” says Porter House KC co-owner and principal Dan Smith. “But we knew that you can’t just put people in a brick-and-mortar space and expect them to run a store. So we wanted to create a smaller space that’s manageable for them – and at $250 per month, if they failed, it wouldn’t hurt them [financially].”
On the first floor, there will be tables and a coffee bar where the public can use WiFi, socialize, and browse the retail businesses. Booth owners will also have space on this floor to display their products digitally, and have signage and decorate their areas.
There will be an open workspace on the second floor, as well as lockers for safe storage, and restrooms. The center will also have an outside patio with tables and seating that can serve as an additional work area for incubator users during nicer weather.
The yard in the back of the building can be used for PHKC events and gatherings, such as First Friday events, popups, and more.
“The hub is not a permanent location for them. Our goal is to get them prepped within 12 to 16 months and get them into spaces on the east side of the city,” said Smith. “Within our space, the goal for them is to fail, learn again, fail again, learn, and then, hopefully, they’re ready.”
While they’re housed in the incubator, business owners will complete the Missouri Small Business Development Center’s GROWTH360 program. Through the program, 811 Retail Incubator renters will receive training and resources to help them grow and avoid blind spots and make smarter business decisions.
In addition to the GROWTH360 training and resources, PHKC aims to provide financial, network, and mentoring support to retailers in the 811 incubator.
Putting Vision into Action
Founded in 2018, the Porter House KC provides entrepreneurship guidance and expertise to underserved business owners in Kansas City.
Co-owners Smith and Charon Thompson saw the struggles many business owners face when starting so they made it their mission to connect underrepresented businesses with entrepreneurial success. Along with Director of Programs Miranda Schultz, they provide space, expertise, and education for businesses at any stage of their development.
The team has always wanted to create a space to help people grow into full-time retailers.
“We had this vision years ago about addressing this retail barrier,” said Smith.”A lot of folks want to do retail on a full-time basis but they didn’t know how and didn’t have the resources, so we said we’re going to create this space.”
Smith says that although not all 811 Retail Incubator businesses will leave the space and become successful retailers, it’s still a chance for new and early retail business owners to try and figure it out.
Although the timeline for opening the incubator has sometimes been rocky, partly because of COVID and its impact on material costs, financial support from the program has come from multiple sources including Kansas City Community Development Block Grants funds, Missouri Technology Corporation, and JPMorgan Chase.
While financial support for the project has been essential, Smith does not underestimate the importance of relationships and mentoring in the work they do.
“Relationships are everything,” said Smith. “You have transactional relationships and you have relational relationships and I feel like what we’ve built has been relational.”
He explained how building relationships and meeting people one-on-one led to connections with JPMorgan Chase, UMB Bank, the Kauffman Foundation, and other similar organizations around the country. Smith emphasized that these relationships are key to PHKC’s success and to its ability to help other businesses grow.
For more info, visit ThePorterHouseKC.com.