News Stories

Dave Lindahl, HyperKC

HyperKC owner found freedom in KC’s ‘softest’ tee — and a new career as his own boss

If Kansas City has an abundance of anything, it’s wearable pride, said Dave Lindahl.  “Charlie Hustle invented it,” added Lindahl, owner of HyperKC — a local apparel company that channeled the New York-transplant’s passion for KC into an all-inclusive brand that celebrates local artists and serves as a de facto welcome center for out-of-town visitors…

Chocolatier Christopher Elbow: Neighborhood favorites need KC support to survive 2020 (and 2021)

Hours before opening to hungry Black Friday customers, workers at Christopher Elbow’s Fairway Creamery were busy crafting decadent donuts and savory on-the-go breakfast favorites. Salted caramel gingersnap cake. Strawberry rosé and chocolate blackout yeast raised. Avocado toast with a sunny side up egg on top. The morning easily could go either way, staff members said:…

Illustration by Elyssa Bezner

Shop small: Five clicks to KC-made creations you’ll likely only find online (not sold in stores)

Editor’s note: Startland News searched the web to find some of Kansas City’s rising products — sold largely online — as part of the newsroom’s five-part holiday gift guide that identifies locally made goods and supports the call to shop small. Click here to read the multi-day gift guide as it develops. When it comes to holiday…

Westside Storey illustration by Elyssa Bezner

Shop small: Five ways to wear (and wash with) KC pride from Westside Storey’s historic corner

Editor’s note: Startland News perused Westside Storey’s 1920s-era corner shop as part of the newsroom’s five-part holiday gift guide that identifies locally made goods and supports the call to shop small. Click here to read the multi-day gift guide as it develops. What began eight years ago as a boutique antique shop quickly evolved into…

Tom Corbin

Tom Corbin Continued: Famed KC sculptor shapes decades of creativity into a work of art

Like many in the entrepreneur community, nationally renowned sculptor and painter Tom Corbin didn’t truly embrace his calling until hitting a wall at his uninspiring day job. “I was selling corrugated boxes, of all things, for a big corporation,” Corbin said of his first gig out of college — a “non-artful” diversion that nevertheless got him…