29 5 / 2012
"Here at mash handmade, buying local is more of an ongoing commitment to the community than a red circle on a map."
Amanda Tholen Long, co-owner of Mash Handmade
http://www.kcsourcelink.com/blog/sourcelinkblog/2012/05/29/shopping-local-(by-putting-away-the-map)
16 5 / 2012
Shop Fauna: Origins
A few years ago, I was planning a trip to Chicago. I was visiting a med student friend, and though she knew the city, she didn’t have time to do things like wander around neighborhoods and stop in to little shops along the way. I love finding the hidden gems in new places: local boutiques that are popular with residents, coffee houses that make an area unique, and places that I wouldn’t be able to shop at at home.
Surely, the internet could help me out. From basic searches, I found out that Wicker Park was popular for indie shops. I could find out how to get there and even find the names of some shops. But I wanted more. I only had a few days in the city and planned to spend one afternoon in one area, and I wanted to find shops that I knew were my style.
There was nothing online that expressed the actual feeling and style of these shops.
Shop Fauna is made to fill that void. We only list independently owned, local shops. Our shop listings are image-heavy, so you can get an idea of each shop by browsing the site’s pages for neighborhoods, boutiques, bakeries and coffee shops. It’s like window shopping online.
I hope you find something new as you’re browsing Shop Fauna. We want to support these local businesses and help them thrive. If you’re interested in leaving testimonials for your favorite shops and getting their news and updates, you can sign up to be notified when our user accounts are ready.
If you’re a business owner, hop on over to our business sign up and get your shop listed!
- Nadine
12 1 / 2012
A foodie kind of weekend
Image from The Business of Pie Pinboard by Petticoat Pies (local!).
Two great events are happening on Saturday, and we’re having trouble deciding between them.
First, there’s the Coffee enCounter hosted by LAB 5702, from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday. For the coffee aficianado or just the coffee curious, they’ll have several activities set up:
This event will take place at the new offices of About The Coffee (a division of Service Call) and The LAB. We’ll have several activities set up including:
- Latte art demos and practice, which allows baristas to get behind the La Marzocco GB5 espresso machine
- A culinary approach to the coffee flavor wheel and breaking down flavors
- Pour over bar set up with the Hario, Clever, Aeropress and Chemex available
- Coffee being used 7 different Kansas City, Topeka and Springfield roasters
- Dissection of an espresso machine and workshop
- 3 Kansas City food trucks with good grub
And then there’s the RecordBar’s Pie Contest, at 2 p.m.
Like last time, there will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, People’s Choice, and a few extra tossed in.
Prizes will be different this time and rest assured, they will be worth it.
The kitchen will be open for delicious treats while the judging occurs and don’t forget everyone will need to participate in tasting all of the pies to determine the People’s Choice
Prizes will be awarded at 430pm (or when the judging has ended)
I don’t know if you picked up on that, but it’s pie. For free. FREE PIE. Plus prizes if you enter (and anyone can).
Theoretically, you could get to both of these events and have a foodietastic Saturday. If you do, godspeed. You are a Kansas City Food Event Warrior, and I salute you.
- Nadine
04 1 / 2012
Lots of great Kansas City spots featured in Imbibe Magazine this month.
There’s a feature in this month’s Imbibe Magazine, featuring Kansas City’s beer, cocktail & coffee scene. We are proud to be on the list with such fine coffee & beverage craft purveyors & companies. There are good things in store for the people of Kansas City.
We are excited about being part of the culture that attracts folks to Kansas City for a supreme beverage experience, and/or career, as well as that which makes our city a great place to abide in. We have only scratched the surface of quality of beverage life here.
Here’s to it, and thanks for being part of it!
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19 12 / 2011
“I feel like Kansas City is such an entrepreneurial city and we support that on a large scale but on the small sale it’s (kind of) hard to find that the newest restaurant is unless you read about it in The Pitch or where the newest gallery or place to go or shop is…”
Jess :: CartWheel
09 12 / 2011
Starting a business is fun, exciting and new. Much like inception, an idea becomes planted in your head and slowly blooms and grows throughout your core and you become attached; you feel like if your idea dies, then a part of you dies with it.
As the Shop Fauna team leaves the honeymoon phase and begins the difficult task of number crunching, given that none of us emerged from business school, our lofty ideals are slowly hitting the ceiling of reality. “How much growth is expected? What are your costs? How long will it take you to break even? How much of the market share do you pose yourself to gain with this particular business model?” are some of the hard questions being asked of us.
And while these questions started off as annoying rock pellets being thrown at our “baby”, we decided to pick up these discarded rocks, pocket them, and learn instead of looking at our wounds, hanging our heads low and walking away.
Glass tables are a blessing, they allow us to create life size excel spreadsheets with various colored markers. It allows us with each flick of the wrist, with each stroke to the table, to see Shop Fauna grow into a company that we didn’t think possible. With three charts spread out before us, we here at Shop Fauna see the value and potential growth of what started of as just an idea. And an idea, with the right incubation and environment can spread like a virus.
Shop Fauna, our baby, this potential viral explosion for socially conscious consumers has merit. But if we don’t get the business model right, if we don’t consider every obvious and obscure angle, then what is this idea worth? Is it worth fighting for?
Nadine, Lesley, Mia, Steve and Andrew believe in Shop Fauna. We believe this idea, this website is filling a gaping void in the industry. But only we can move it forward and timing is everything.
- Mia
08 12 / 2011
"As big businesses like Amazon push for customers to purposefully walk away from supporting local business, I’m anticipating a backlash that would be the perfect audience for this type of site."
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07 12 / 2011
An excel spreadsheet was opened and juggling naturally followed.
07 12 / 2011
what our team has been to the Sprint Center to see
What musical acts have our team members been to the Sprint center to see?
Lesley - Backstreet Boys
Mia - Michael Buble
Andrew - Paul McCartney
Steve - So You Think You Can Dance?
Nadine - Radiohead (future show!)
