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Passing the keys, passion: How a new wave of small biz owners plan to preserve beloved local brands
Some have been customers; some employees. Now they’re the new owners of popular local restaurants and retail shops. As founders step aside, fresh sets of entrepreneurs step up in hopes of carrying on the goodwill and loyal following these brands have built up, some for decades.
John McClelland and his brother-in-law, Johnathan Griffiths, work together at Liberty Fruit Co. One day, they Googled “best sandwich near me” and Breit’s Stein & Deli came up.
That was about four years ago. Since then, they’ve become regulars, along with their wives, Katrina McClelland and Erin Griffiths. When Breit’s founder Bobby Breitenstein mentioned in passing that he planned to sell the bar one day and travel more, they said they would be interested.
Months went by. Then in December the two couples bought the business.
They made improvements for the staff — like a new POS system and other equipment, along with more storage space in the kitchen. They’ve exposed the original brick in the bar to give a “warm pub feel.”
Breit’s, on Strawberry Hill in Kansas City, Kansas, still has its famous Reuben and other menu items, but the new owners now offer Italian beef sandwiches on Saturdays and a daily veggie wrap.
They’re keeping their day jobs. But Breit’s longtime manager, Stephenie Stewart, stayed on, as well as about a dozen employees. Breitenstein often comes in to help out and John McClelland said he must have asked him a hundred questions leading up to St. Patrick’s Day.
“It’s the perfect little neighborhood Irish pub,” John McClelland said. “You don’t go in there and try to change a bunch of things. You have a business that is working. If it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it.”
Holiday pies rest at The Upper Crust Pie Bakery in Overland Park; photo courtesy of The Upper Crust Pie Bakery
‘Have an honest brand’
In January, sisters Elaine Van Buskirk and Jan Knobel, owners of The Upper Crust Pie Bakery in downtown Overland Park, shared news on their Instagram page with “both sadness and great excitement for the future.”
Jan Knobel and Elaine Van Buskirk, Upper Crust Pie Bakery
New owners who had been part of their Upper Crust “family for many years” and who love baking would be taking over. The post received hundreds of responses including “So excited for the journey to continue and you should be so proud of all you built!!!!”
In a phone interview, Knobel said the new owners — former employees — understood her business and could carry it forward with the same level of quality and attention to detail.
“We always wanted it to be an experience for our customers, not just to come in and buy something and leave,” she said. “So much of it was ‘This tastes just like the slice of pie I had when I was a kid.’ It’s maintaining that homemade quality at a high production level.”
But selling the business wasn’t easy emotionally.
“It is a big, big step,” Knobel said. “I kind of equate it with letting go of one of your kids.”
The new owners — Lisa Suderman and Kellie Kiser — are in the middle of their spring holiday season — recently Pi Day and the St. Patrick’s Day parade — and now Easter, they said.
“We love the product so much and the community so much. Nothing is changing,” Suderman said.
Typically when small businesses change ownership, 30 percent of the existing customer base does not return, said Jill Hathaway-Monter, senior director of entrepreneurial education programs and projects at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center and regional director of the Missouri Small Business Development Center. So having the previous owner stay on during the transition is crucial for continuity and maintaining customer trust.
New owners need to first understand the business’s existing operations, policies, procedures and systems. Are there gaps? A gradual approach for changes is best so as not to alarm customers and employees.
“Timing is key in getting the word out. Have an ‘honest brand,’” said Hathaway-Monter. “Be more human and less corporate with your approach to your brand and business.”
Lee Page, owner of Page Communications, a Kansas City public relations and social media agency, agrees.
“It’s an exciting time to start or take over a business but any owner needs to stop and think about how they want to let people know about this news,” Page said. “If your favorite store or restaurant was changing owners, what would you want to know? Or what questions might you have?”
Why is it changing ownership? Who are the new owners? Will there be changes and if so, what will change? What will your website say? What will your social media platforms say? What are the unique things about the business, the unique menu items or services offered?
“Make sure you have a great description of what the business is. You need to think about the personality of the business and its relationship with its customers. What can they expect?” Page said. “You need someone objectively to really think through all the information and questions and help you form how you are talking about the business. Ideally, you want to own the message.”
Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton, new owners of The Learning Tree in Prairie Village; photo by Joyce Smith
‘As much work as I ever imagined’
While his high school friends were setting goals to become doctors and lawyers, Brett Goodwin was set on owning a toy store.
His sixth grade class at Prairie Elementary School in Prairie Village got a taste of entrepreneurship, spending a day behind the counters at the nearby Bruce Smith Drugs and Village Toy & Hobby. His parents remember him coming home and just being “wowed.”
When Goodwin was 15, he hit up the manager of Village Toy for a part-time job. He unloaded deliveries, stocked shelves, poured over toy catalogs and waited on customers.
“Listening to their needs and figuring out what they were looking for,” Goodwin said.
He took Mrs. Murphy’s economic class at Shawnee Mission East High School and worked on Junior Achievement projects after school.
He earned a degree in Human and Organizational Development and art history from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and lived in London while earning a master’s in art history. He also set up pop-up bookstores there and in New York. He was living in San Francisco when he reconnected with Alan Tipton, who earned a doctorate in electrical engineering at Vanderbilt.
They later moved to France and married in 2017.
Last summer, shortly before bedtime, Goodwin’s sister texted him a local news story saying The Learning Tree — another Prairie Village business — was for sale. He called the owners first thing the next morning.
Jonny and Jane Girson were original tenants of Leawood’s Town Center Plaza in 1996, selling toys, games, puzzles and books that progress childhood education — fun, stimulating items.
The shop relocated to nearby Park Place in 2008, and the couple expanded to Corinth Square Shopping Center in Prairie Village in 2000. They closed the Park Place location in January 2020.
The Prairie Village shop was thriving, but the Girsons wanted to travel more. Nearly 40 offers came in, some from customers.
“We hoped to find someone who would be a part of the community, who would love it the way we had but also do something different,” Jonny Girson said. “Someone who would keep the essence, keep children at the forefront.”
Before making an official offer, Goodwin and Tipton sought advice from the Capital Access Center, a division of the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park and one of only three in the nation. It provides loan guidance and financial resources for small businesses at no cost.
Vincent Haworth, director of the center, made their business plan a priority, helping them with sales projections, and deciding on a 7(a) U.S. Small Business Administration loan as opposed to conventional loan. They combined that with savings.
“Doing a startup is by far the riskiest. But typically with an acquisition there is still some risk to the banks,” said Haworth, who was in the banking industry for 25 years and a SBA lender for 12 years. “Maybe they won’t run the business as well. Maybe there was more loyalty to the previous owner by the customers, by the staff. Maybe they don’t understand the industry because they are still new. Maybe they don’t have the business acumen as the previous owner, connection, experience.”
He said prospective entrepreneurs seeking loans only get one shot with the bank so they need to make sure they come in with a fully vetted loan package.
“That first impression makes a big difference,” Haworth said. “A lot of times the clients don’t do what we ask them to do and they don’t get their loans.”
But Goodwin and Tipton got one of the best loan deals he has seen because they had a strong request.
“We were able to save them a lot of money by having a competition,” he said. “They did a fantastic job, They were superstars in our minds.”
Blue Owl Valuation in Lawrence appraised the Learning Tree for the lender.
“It’s like when you are buying a house and the mortgage company hires the appraiser to make sure the thing they are loaning money against is worth what they are lending,” said owner Will Katz. “Most of these businesses are based on intangible assets. The banks want to know that the business generates enough cash flow to service the debt.”
Katz explains this difference between enterprise goodwill and personal goodwill. If his favorite Subway is sold, it won’t mean many changes for that restaurant.
“That’s enterprise goodwill that will easily transfer,” he said. “But if I have a favorite local restaurant it might be because I like their food, like how they come out to greet customers, that’s personal goodwill. Or if I have an attorney for 30 years and he sells. ‘Is the new attorney going to be as smart?’ That’s personal goodwill.”
As the Girsons were pondering other proposals, they cleared out files, sharing old shop photos on the store’s Facebook page. In late September, with the sale nearly completed, the Girsons posted teasers about the new owners.
Then Goodwin and Tipton joined the Girsons on a buying trip to the North American International Toy Fair, an annual toy industry trade show held in New York.
“When I was growing up the team from Village Toy would go and come back with all this stuff. I had always wanted to go so that was really exciting for me,” Goodwin said.
Alan Tipton waits on a slew of customers at The Learning Tree in Prairie Village; photo by Joyce Smith
The couple also started working in the store, getting to know customers during the bustling holiday season.
The Girsons stayed on through January and now come in a day or so a week. They helped the new owners gear up for Easter, and will be in for Kids’ Flea Market in late May.
The staff of 15 remain.
“The hardest part and the most important part of my job was hiring good people,” Jonny Girson said. “For as long as we were in business we had an excellent team. Many employees over time were assumed to be the owner because they were empowered.”
The store sells educational toys that let children interact and explore their environment, such as the catch-and-release Bug Catcher with magnifier and LED light; and the Teach and Talk Cash Register with working scanner, keypad, card swipe and pretend coins. It has finger paint sets, children’s jewelry, 3D glow-in-the-dark puzzles of the constellations, rechargeable toy trains, and Taylor Swift-type dresses and In My Era zipper pouches.
Goodwin and Tipton have expanded the book section and are now offering such novels as the popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians for ages 9 to 14. Storypalooza, with local and regional authors such as Alastair Hein, will be held on June 25.
Fridays and Saturdays tend to be the busiest day as parents and grandparents search for last minute gifts for birthday parties, or a toy or book to entertain children home from school. They may open earlier on Sundays to draw customers of a Duck Donuts opening nearby.
Their customers already come from as far as Lawrence, Lee’s Summit, the Northland and south Overland Park, so the new owners may expand with another location one day.
“It’s just as much work as I ever imagined,” Goodwin said. “But customers that came in with their parents are now coming in with their children. There is a lot of love for a store like this. It’s a part of the community.”
Zach Keyes and Cecil Keyes, new owners of J’adore Home & Garden in Brookside; photo by Joyce Smith
‘Take away all the scary stuff; Wouldn’t you want to do something like that?’
On their first date in 2016, college students Zach Wilson and Cecil Keyes bonded over their dream to one day own a small business.
For Wilson, who was studying journalism, it would have been a public relations agency. For Keyes, focusing on communications, it would have been commercial real estate.
After graduating they moved to Chicago for work and then married in 2021.
But on return trips to Kansas City, they would often visit a favorite shop, J’adore Home & Garden in Brookside.
On such a trip a year ago, Zach even brought an extra suitcase just to fill up with goods from the store. J’adore co-owner Allan Stever mentioned the business was for sale, and jokingly said Zach and Cecil should buy it.
“No one was really serious about it then but it got the ball rolling,” Zach said. “I mentioned it to Cecil like ‘Ha ha ha.’ But he said, ‘Take away all the scary stuff. Wouldn’t you want to do something like that?’ He knew that I loved to decorate.
“But how the hell do you buy a store?”
J’adore Home & Garden
In July, Cecil, 29, and Zach, 26 — along with J’adore’s owners — attended the Atlanta Market at AmericasMart, one of the nation’s premier home furnishings events to connect wholesalers and buyers.
They placed orders for goods that are rolling out for spring: top-selling silk florals, along with lamps, checkered canisters, rugs and trays with scalloped edges, and many, many Easter bunnies, all “to add more charm to your home,” Zach said.
“We went on kind of instinct,” he said. “But then Allan might say, ‘We just did that last year, why don’t you think about this?’ There was a lot of trust there.”
Meanwhile they were working on the purchase. The couple tapped their relatives and close friends who were accountants and lawyers. A fraternity brother of Cecil’s now worked at Country Club Bank where they combined their savings with a SBA loan.
“We started officially talking about it in June, we moved back in September and I started working in the store in October,” Zach said. “The deal was finalized Jan. 1. Kind of fast and furious.”
J’adore founders Stever and Michael Richardson can relate.
“Instead of a business plan we just had a passion,” Stever said.
When the “big bank” bought the “little bank” they were working at, they stayed only nine months more before they “had enough” and set out to work for themselves.
Their passion was visiting European antique stores with a French friend who would exclaim “J’adore!” when she found an exceptional piece.
“I wasn’t going to be put in a box,” Stever said of the changes at the bank. “I had discovered the romance of France and wanted to bring it to Kansas City.
With their European connections, they were able to scout the best home furnishings for sale but they depleted their savings. Their 40-foot container of antiques from France, Germany and Belgium was on a boat in June 1998 and would be in Kansas City in August. So they quickly snapped up a spot near their Brookside home.
Mothers would drop their kids at the Blockbuster down the street and come in to shop, along with health care professionals traveling 63rd Street to jobs at nearby hospitals. In a pre-Internet world, they relied on area publications to get the word out.
They called J’adore a “mini department store” focusing on furniture and home decor with a European flair, along with homegoods such as towels and glassware. They expanded to the corner space in 2003 and then expanded again to a coffee shop space facing Oak Street, while still keeping that “small store feel.”
“We have worked very hard to develop relationships and provide a welcoming atmosphere,” Stever said. “There’s not a week that goes by that people don’t come in and say, ‘I just needed a place to feel good today.'”
J’adore Home & Garden
So Zach and Cecil are cautiously making changes.
“We plan to maintain the store’s character and authenticity. We will just refresh it for a new generation,” Zach said.
They relocated the design department to its own section in the back (the former coffee shop) to give it its own profile. Some customers think it is a new addition to the store.
An alcove now features some of their favorite French bistro-inspired kitchenware.They also improved the POS system so they can better track sales.
The shop, at 400 E. 63rd St., started closing on Mondays during COVID but it is now open Mondays through Saturdays. They’re now staying open until 7 p.m. Wednesdays for J’adore Late Nights with wine, pop-up vendors and special deals. A couple of other neighboring shops will soon join in for the once-a-week event.
The couple said they would be lost without the staff. The six employees have been there from four to 15 years, and a few more longtime workers join in at the holidays. Stever also plans to keep coming in a few days a week.
“Twenty five years of history and it is all a blur,” he said. “But the shop is in good hands. I have a new life, the shop has a new life. It couldn’t work out better.”
Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follower on X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.
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