Startups

SewKC at Collective Ex

How an elastic team turned an early tip about face masks into SewKC’s saving grace

By Tommy Felts / October 30, 2020

Editor’s note: The following is the third in a series of stories about Kansas City fashion companies putting their own creative spin on the often-utilitarian face mask. As demand for face masks surged this spring, a massive and sustained influx of traffic and orders at SewKC crashed the Crossroads creatives’ online retail engine — forcing the…

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Johnny and Michele Dawbarn, SewKC

Married to collaboration: SewKC couple stitches meaning into each hand-sewn design

By Tommy Felts / October 30, 2020

Michele and Johnny Dawbarn’s symbiotic studio space in the Crossroads allows the always-evolving creative duo to do more than finish each other’s sentences. It stitches ideas to passion, threading a common mission through their businesses, they said. “When you sew-” Johnny began. “You bring two things together,” finished Michele, co-founder of SewKC with her husband.…

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Arvelisha Woods and India Monique, Mattie’s Foods

How two hungry vegan sisters went from making queso to their own storefront on Holmes

By Tommy Felts / October 29, 2020

Arvelisha Woods and India Monique just wanted to style hair and eat nachos, the duo said, breaking into laughter.  “It all started with being hungry,” Monique recalled, with Woods emphasizing the “hungry.” The sisters behind Mattie’s Foods went on a fast in 2015 as part of their mission work. They took what they loved the…

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Cosentino's Downtown Market, Kansas City, Missouri

Overland Park startup partners with Cosentino’s for time-saving automation in KC grocery stores

By Tommy Felts / October 27, 2020

As a way to compete and thrive against major retailers like Walmart and Safeway, independent grocers are turning toward software that automates manual tasks — resulting in reduced errors and increased efficiency, John Epperson said. Such software exists because Epperson, co-founder of Overland Park-based Retail Software Solutions Group, saw a gap in the market and…

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Jeff Dunn, Redivus Health; photo courtesy of Pipeline

Redivus Health earns ticket to Germany-based accelerator thanks to seeds planted by Plug and Play

By Tommy Felts / October 26, 2020

Plug and Play promised regional connectivity when the international network of accelerators announced plans for a Topeka-based program, and it’s already paying off for one Kansas City-grown startup — before the Kansas accelerator even launches.  “Don’t ever turn down an opportunity to meet somebody or be introduced to somebody — because you never know where things are…

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