Top emerging business finds its bliss as city uncorks bookstore’s ability to serve wine 

A city ordinance change is expected to move one of Kansas City’s only Black-owned bookstores closer to its chilled brick-and-mortar location — popping the cork on Bliss Books & Wine’s ability to serve its namesake beverage once the Midtown storefront opens.

“People have been waiting a very long time for this storefront and have been working with us to get it done,” said La’Nae Robinson, who co-founded Bliss Books & Wine in 2019 with her sister, La’Nesha Frazier.

La’Nae Robinson and La’Nesha Frazier, Bliss Books & Wine; and Greg Moore, Charlie Hustle

Originally debuting as an online bookstore with sporadic pop-ups at vendor events across the city, Bliss Books & Wine aims to open its 3,500-square-foot physical bookstore experience later this year in Midtown.

A notable fault in the sister’s plan: They first needed the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri, to pass Ordinance No. 220516 to allow them to apply for a liquor license to serve wine.

Robinson and Frazier overcame that obstacle Thursday, with the assistance of Councilwoman Andrea Bough, who represents Kansas City’s 6th District-at-Large.

“It was a relief,” Frazier said. “We can finally move forward with our dream and business plan. Everyone was very supportive, and I’m feeling really grateful.”

The ordinance’s path to approval ran through the city’s Regulated Industries Division, the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee and finally the KCMO City Council.

“After over two years of work to better our code in multiple areas, it was exciting to see another milestone achieved!” Bough wrote on her Instagram. “I had the pleasure of working with Regulated Industries, neighborhood representatives, law department, staff from [KC BizCare], the ABAG committee and great business owners like La’Nesha Frazier to address how to protect our neighborhoods’ voice and provide the opportunity for small businesses to to seek approval for new business concepts.”

The victory for Bliss Books & Wine comes on the heels of another big win: being named Kansas City’s Emerging Business of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

La’Nesha Frazier and La’Nae Robinson, Bliss Books & Wine, speak with event-goers April 21 during the Chamber’s Small Business Showcase at Union Station. Bliss Books & Wine was later named a Honeywell Fan Favorite from the event.

Click here to read more about how Bliss Books & Wine also was named one of the Chamber’s Honeywell Fan Favorites in the run-up to the Small Business of the Year award.

“I really don’t have the adequate words to describe the feeling of when they called our name at the Chamber luncheon,” said Frazier, referring to the KC Chamber’s June 15 Small Business Celebration. “We were over the moon. We were shocked. We were nervous. It just really means a lot that the community and our peers recognize us and all of the hard work that we are putting into this business. To know that we are on the right track, it keeps driving our why.” 

That “why” for Bliss Books & Wine is to create a gathering space where everyone is able to find their bliss and share their talents with the community, the sisters explained. From poets who want to read their work in front of others to book worms looking for a new page-turner, the duo has been able to connect with a variety of individuals. 

Click here to read about the origins of Bliss Books & Wine.

“We just did a pop-up event at the Juneteenth Celebration, and there’s one lady who brings her daughter to a lot of our events because she loves to read,” Frazier shared. “She just lights up when she sees all the books, and we get to watch her whole world opening up as she’s reading. She’s only eight years old, and she gets our why. 

“… When we say representation matters, it’s difficult to put into words how much it matters,” Frazier continued. “This little girl is seeing two Black women own a bookstore, and she can see herself in the books that she’s reading. That’s amazing. Because then you think, ‘I can write a book. I can own a bookstore. I can do all these things that I never knew were possible.’” 

Click here to check out the other award winners from the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Celebration Awards.

While Robinson and Frazier work to get their storefront open, the sisters plan to continue hosting and assisting with community events, they noted. For the second year, Bliss Books & Wine will be a retailer for the Aug. 4-6 Romance GenreCon 2022 at Woodneath Library Center.

“Several local and national authors will be coming to Kansas City,” Robinson said. “It’s going to be a great affair, and we love helping our libraries.”

This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn