Nixa food hall fills vendor slots

Leah Callahan: Eleven food vendors are on a waiting list.

With several months to go before its planned fall opening, a Nixa food hall and entertainment venue has its 10 on-site food vendors signed to leases.

Nixa couple Rich and Leah Callahan announced plans late last year for 14 Mill Market, their $3.7 million venture on 3.6 acres near the city’s Main Street. An April 8 groundbreaking was held for the project, which calls for a 12,000-square-foot building to house the food hall and its vendors, as well as a 40-seat bar.

The food vendors will surround a common area for customers with an estimated indoor seating capacity of 220 and additional seats outside. Outdoor entertainment options will also be offered, including a stage for musicians and space for games, such as cornhole and bocce. The property sits near the intersection of South Water Street and Highway 14, aka Mount Vernon Street.

Leah Callahan said getting the 10 food vendors on board well in advance of a targeted October launch is “a great relief.” Vendors applied for consideration on the 14 Mill Market website and were asked to submit their food concepts and images of their menus.

“Over the last several weeks, we’ve become fully leased. We currently have 11 people on a waiting list,” she said, adding 35 applications were received. “Since the groundbreaking, we’ve gotten a lot of new interest.”

The 14 Mill Market vendors include:

• Abby’s Acai Co.;
• D’Vine Deli & Wine LLC;
• Fresh Poke LLC;
• Lindsay’s Kitchen;
• Mac Shakey’s LLC;
• Nat’cho Ordinary Taco;
• Queen City Soul Kitchen LLC; and
• Travellers House Coffee LLC.

The final two vendors are both unnamed concepts from Chip and Billy Greene, franchise owners of Springfield area Village Inn restaurants, Callahan said. One venture will focus on burgers, while the other will serve crepes and waffles.

Each vendor will occupy 320 square feet in the building and signed a one-year lease for an undisclosed rate, Callahan said.

“We knew that the food hall was a brand-new concept to this area, so we didn’t want to start out with leases that were too long,” she said. “After the year, we’ll reassess the situation with each restaurant.”

Most spaces will be just a shell with a commercial hood, including a three-bay sink, hand-washing sink and a countertop, Callahan said.

“Other than that, the restaurants will come in and deck those out how they need them to function for their own kitchen,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of excitement from the restaurants.

Acai expansion
Abby Voelker, who co-owns Abby’s Acai Co. with her mother, Kayme Voelker, said 14 Mill Market is a great opportunity to grow a small business. Their food truck, which started in August 2020, operates weekly at Farmers Market of the Ozarks and has a menu featuring overnight oats and organic acai sorbet with toppings such as granola and fruit. It also sets up at weddings, baby showers, community events and businesses.

The Nixa native said she’s “extremely excited” about being a part of a new concept in her hometown. As Voelker doesn’t anticipate any additional equipment needs to open in 14 Mill Market, she estimated startup costs will probably range $3,000-$5,000.

“It’s exactly what we were looking for,” she said. “We didn’t want to do a storefront on our own yet. We’re not ready for that.”

Voelker said she and her mom have been experimenting with a variety of healthy smoothie bowl options in anticipation of rolling them out at the food hall.

“We’re definitely going to expand our menu quite a bit. We’ll have a bunch of different types of bowls besides acai,” she said, adding plans are to continue the food truck and hire three people by the fall.

Getting ready
While Abby’s Acai Co. has sold out of a food truck for nearly two years, Lindsay Kirtlan said 14 Mill Market will be a big step forward for her home-based Springfield bakery, Lindsay’s Kitchen LLC. She started the business in September 2021 and has sold fresh cinnamon rolls, as well as mixes for brownies, muffins and pancakes, at Farmers Market of the Ozarks once a week.

“It’s going to change everything for our little business,” Kirtlan said, noting in Nixa she intends to sell take-and-make products as well as fresh baked goods.

She also plans to add chicken pot pie and quiches to her menu.

“Honestly, I’m still kind of in shock. It almost doesn’t seem real,” she said, upon getting word from the Callahans that she was selected. “I wish there was a better word than humbled.”

The married mother of four is the lone employee for her bakery, although she gets occasional help from her husband, Chad, a pastor at Life.Church. She expects to hire up to three additional employees by opening day, estimating startup costs of roughly $80,000, mostly consisting of restaurant equipment purchases.

“Bringing on help will be monumental,” Kirtlan said.

In the lease, the Callahans are requiring all 14 Mill Market eateries be ready on launch day. Additionally, all must be open during the food hall’s operating hours. Preliminary plans are 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, Callahan said, adding the bar will stay open until at least 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

“That is why we wanted to settle on these 10 restaurants early on,” she said. “Right now, they can take the time to order kitchen equipment and start making their designs for their spaces. But we don’t want people to walk in and having one or two concepts be closed for whatever reason.”

Callahan said vendor variety is a goal, citing research on what kinds of food concepts worked well together under one roof. Professionalism and customer service were also emphasized when speaking with applicants, she said.

“The food hall is so customer facing. It’s important that if somebody does a really good job with food, we need them to be really good with customer service as well,” Callahan said.