It was announced a while back that you were opening The Hub coffee shop and BMX shop. So to start this all off, how long has this all been in the works for you now?
The day after Valentines Day my fiance and I were sitting with our best friends @ a certain corporate coffee shop and we started talking about the future. One thing led to another and before you know it, we had all these ideas about what we wanted to do with our lives and what we felt led to pursue. I obviously want to continue to surround myself with BMX and doing a shop felt like the natural choice. I was already managing the shop @ Autumn Ramp Park in Joplin so I was learning a lot there…
What made you want to open a coffee shop along with the BMX shop?
The coffee side of things comes from the other owner, Jason. He has several years of experience in coffee shops stemming from when he was 14! Dude, when I was fourteen I was definitely poppin’ wheelies and mastering curb endo’s while Jason was learning how to pull espresso shots! Most recently he worked @ Autumn with me and turned a maintenance closet into a coffee shop…
I know Kevin Porter has Intelligentsia coffee as his main brand for coffee, along with being sponsored by them. Do you have anything like that going on there? What kind of coffee do you guys offer?
Kevin does have Intelli for his roaster and while that didn’t necessarily sway us entirely towards going with them, it did help that they support BMX in some fashion or another. I called Kevin and he had the sales rep get in contact with me. They sent us some stuff to try and if you have had a chance to try Intelligentsia then you can imagine why we went with them! Simply a great cup of coffee! They were awarded roaster of the year last year by Roast Magazine and they as a company and individuals have many other achievements under their belts! We will be rotating local roasters as well so that we can build the community of coffee up as much as possible!
What about the shop side of things. What brands do you offer there? Do you feel like having a coffee shop will introduce people to BMX, or the BMX crew to coffee?
I am focusing on Verde for the completes until we get to where we have reason to carry more than one company. I feel like Verde has it pretty well covered in the complete market though so it might be a while… We’ll see. As far as parts and other stuff goes I am almost able to order anything minus maybe a few companies. I am relying on special orders to build up stock and building a customer base out of quality work and word-of-mouth advertising. I just feel like that is how it’s supposed to be. A community of culture. I do feel like the two will integrate customers to an extent but combing two groups like this is just what made sense to us.
Is the shop doing any sort of work with the bikes like tune-ups and what not?
I will be doing repair work as well as sales. Think regular bike shop minus the spandex and gears. Just keeping the focus on the kids and building that group up is really important to me! I wish I would’ve had a place dedicated to me when I was 14, so we offer what was lacking. Kids don’t want to wait a week for a brake adjustment so why make them! Flip repairs as soon as possible…
Other than yourself, who else is involved with keeping things going?
Just Jason and I right now but the plan is to get our significant others involved with things as soon as possible!
How has the reaction to the shop been so far from the local community?
A lot of people think it’s the weirdest thing in the world having both together, yet others are totally pumped on it for sure. We kept hearing “ditch the coffee, it will be a lot easier” or “ditch the coffee and you could open in that location” but we were sticking together from the beginning and the whole concept really makes sense to us! It’s a matter of accountability on both sides. Jason and I feed off each other and we figured that out working together @ Autumn…
Do you have any plans on doing anything along the lines of video premieres or anything like that there?
We are planning on having premiers and other various events to build the scene for BMX. Street sessions and jams will happen in due time also… I mean I do have a 5000 sq/ft warehouse to ride as well…
Has the shop cut into your riding time at all?
We are open 88 hours on a regular week and so far I have been here every one plus some… Not a whole lot of riding being done but trying to find time for sure…
What are some of the goals you have for the shop now that things are up and running?
Just getting things to where we don’t have to be here every hour we are open is definitely a goal. Making sure we have those premiers and other events on the bike side and building up the group of riders in the area… There are lots of goals and some will be slow to happen and others I am sure will be more like weekly or monthly goals… We want to think outside the box from everyone else in Springfield! I’m 25 and Jason is 23 and we want to do this for a while so were ready to make it happen!
Finally, where are you located and what are your hours?
We are located in midtown Springfield, MO @ 811 N. Boonville Ave. Coffee shop opens up at 7 and stays open until 10 Monday - Friday and 10 until 6 on Saturdays. Bike side is open 11 until 6 Monday - Friday and same as the coffee shop on Saturdays.
