Small businesses downtown began to expand in the past year to create a more local experience for citizens.
BonBons owner Cory Patterson decided to begin her ice cream and candy shop after her mother inspired her.
“My mom, who lives here in town, said, ‘We just need an ice cream shop, somewhere that has hand-scooped ice cream,’” Patterson said. “I knew they had done these shops here, and I thought that would be a really fun thing to have by the park.”
Parents emotionally inspired other Augusta business owners. M&J’s Coffee House owner Stan Kolbeck, named his business after his coffee-locing parents Maurice and Jeanette Kolbeck.
“Both my folks were huge coffee drinkers, so I started thinking about it then,” Kolbeck said. “I first started it as just an online store and talked my wife into doing it with me; the biggest challenge was finding a building.”
Kolbeck donates part of every sale to the Alzheimer’s Association and the Parkinson’s Foundation in remembrance of his parents.
Marketplace 67010’s owner Tonya Scott, fell in love with her friend’s market in Texas, and she decided to open one of her own in Augusta.
“We were able to stop there, and when I saw that store, I fell in love with it and wanted to bring it to Augusta, Kansas,” Scott said.
As the businesses became more popular, the stores began to expand their inventory to allow more business year-round. Patterson made changes in location and menu options since BonBon’s opening.
“We thought ice cream wasn’t enough, so we thought we’d do candy, chocolates and nuts. Through an organization we’re a member of, we started learning about boba and decided to add boba to our menu,” Patterson said.
Throughout several years, Marketplace 67010 began to expand their inventory to accommodate more customers.
“We started out with not very much inventory, even though we thought we had a lot,” Scott said. “I bet we probably had $100,000 worth of inventory, and now we have well over a million.”
Several owners struggle with theft, plumbing and weather issues. These issues cause problems with profit.
“As we’ve been in this old building, the plumbing from upstairs leaks down onto us on occasion, and we were closed for 10 days because the building doesn’t have enough electrical power for the subzero temperatures,” Scott said.
All of the business downtown started as just an idea, all of the owners managed to make their idea a reality using resources such as partnerships and entrepreneur programs at colleges.
“I think you should follow your dream, life is short so just go do it, ask questions, figure out how to do it, just live your dream,” Scott said.
