YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
After nearly two decades in operation, KeenBean Coffee Roasters LLC is poised to open its second Mount Vernon shop this summer.
Husband-and-wife owners Darrell and Tracy Bradshaw say they’re targeting a May launch for a new coffee shop at 701 Hastings St. The roughly 1,600-square-foot store site is across State Highway 174 from the town’s high school and intermediate school.
Darrell Bradshaw estimated startup costs for the new shop will land under $100,000, which includes renovation of the building, a former three-bay car wash. He said contractor Jason Prater of All About The House is handling the construction work.
The project marks the second converted structure for KeenBean, as its longtime shop at 1031 S. Market St. also was formerly a car wash. The new shop is on the north side of town, with the original store on the south side.
“We’ve run out of storage space. We have cups stored in three different places because they can’t fit where we are right now,” Tracy Bradshaw said, noting the new shop would have a drive-thru and walk-up window. “That will all be consolidated in one space with storage, roasting and production, as well as a full kitchen and espresso bar.”
Interest in growing wholesale business is another reason they’re adding the second shop, Darrell Bradshaw said. Company revenues were around $600,000 in each of the last two years, he said. Roughly $40,000 was from wholesale last year.
“We haven’t been positioned to really go and beat the bushes. Pretty much all of our wholesale accounts now have come to us and requested us,” he said, noting KeenBean has around 10 wholesale clients, including Springfield restaurant The Wheelhouse LLC. “As we have this other location, my hope is we can go out and actually be more proactive and try to find some new business.”
In 2001, the Bradshaws began door-to-door selling KeenBean wholesale beans and syrups to coffee houses and gift shops before opening the first retail shop in 2005, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.
Aside from its Mount Vernon shop, KeenBean also sells from a mobile coffee truck at the Farmers Market of the Ozarks in south Springfield. The owners say the truck is not at the market this winter but will be back in the spring.
The Republic School District is on track to open its Intermediate School for fifth- and sixth-grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.
Chick N Max plans Springfield debut
Developer seeks approval of C-Street project, including Missouri Hotel renovation
Executive director hired at The Victim Center
Biblical history attraction planned at former Andy Williams theater
Photo Gallery: New Fire in the Hole debuts at Silver Dollar City