Sometimes it’s not just about the bottom line. Parisi Artisan Coffee wants to make a profit with its first retail location, of course, but it also wants a flagship location that will showcase its products and give back to the community.
So the owners are taking two small spaces in Union Station. They plan a late spring opening in the historic station at 30 W. Pershing Road. “It gives us an opportunity to show who we are, and it provides a service for a civic location,” said Joseph Paris, vice president of Paris Brothers, parent company of Parisi. “If we were worried strictly about a return on investment it may not make sense. But we believe in what is going on down there.
Union Station also is home to an expanding list of new tenants, including the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Area Development Council. Paris Brothers is a specialty food company founded in 1983. It imports, manufactures and distributes products such as pastas, olive oils and cheeses to local grocery stores and many in the four-state area. It also sells to institutional suppliers such as Sysco Corp. and U.S. Foodservice.
Brothers Joseph and Salvatore Paris founded Parisi Artisan Coffee in 2006 using 100 percent arabica beans drum-roasted in small batches. Clients include the Raphael Hotel, the New Theatre Restaurant, Westport Coffee House, Café Europa and the Kansas City Ballet.
“Coffee for us was a natural progression. Way back when, we used to distribute Italian coffees, before espresso became a craze,” Joseph Paris said. Parisi also has one of the largest temperature-controlled, green coffee storage facilities in the country, in the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis underground industrial park. Coffee importers across the country store their green coffee beans there for distribution to roasters.
The brothers will test the retail waters with the Union Station location before considering other locations. The shop will not only offer coffee drinks, but food designed to go with specific drinks. The menu is still in the planning stages.
“Upscale items, a few surprises. Something to get your eyes and palate going,” Joseph Paris said. Plaza favorite signs 10-year lease Fans of the Country Club Plaza’s Granfalloon — rejoice. The bar at 608 Ward Parkway is sticking around. It signed a new 10-year lease that will take it to the end of 2020.
Not only that, this spring the owner will remodel, add an outdoor patio on the east side (taking six of the parking spots in that small lot), and introduce a new menu that will be a bit more upscale. The Granfalloon has been on the Plaza since 1977 and in its current spot for more than a decade. Tim Caniglia has owned it since 1994.
“I’m excited because we are getting a patio. That’s the big thing we have been missing,” Caniglia said. “And the last couple, three months, it has been really busy down here. I looked at other locations, and even though the rent is cheaper I was worried about traffic. Here, we are guaranteed traffic on certain months.”
Reports were rampant last March that Highwoods Properties planned to replace both re:Verse and Granfalloon. Re:Verse did close to make way for Coal Vines, a specialty pizza and wine bar that is scheduled to open in early February. Granfalloon’s lease was up in July and when negotiations weren’t completed then, Caniglia just extended his lease.
As for those rumors that Highwoods is in discussion with Chili’s Grill & Bar to open on the Plaza, not true, said Gayle Terry, director of marketing for the Plaza: “We have not had any discussions with Chili’s.”
Quick bites
•Firehouse Subs plans to open at Olathe Pointe, 15137 W. 119th St., Olathe, on March 1.
•Three tenants at the Legends Outlets Kansas City have closed. However, the center already has tentative agreements to replace them with tenants tied more to its new destination outlet concept.
The locally owned Los Cabos, A Mexican Restaurant & Rooftop Fiesta specialized in foods from Mexico and had an expansive tequila bar. There is still a location in Mission Farms in Leawood. The owners did not return phone calls. Pin-Up Bowl, a St. Louis-based trendy bowling alley concept, had a posh lounge serving 30 martinis. It opened four years ago.
“They asked us to move as part of their transition process,” said Joe Edwards, owner of the original Pin-Up Bowl in St. Louis. “We thank everyone who came. It was a nice time in Kansas City, Kan. — the customers, staff, vendors and the Legends were all top-notch.”
Wyldewood Cellars operated there for five years. “In my opinion it had extremely high overhead, it was not a good location and it was bad timing with the economy,” said Merry O’Callahan-Bauman, spokeswoman for the company. Legends Outlets Kansas City is at Interstate 435 and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kan.
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