Tag: TJ Roberts

Closing KCK’s Black-owned coffee shop opens opportunity for Kinship to brew bigger, owner says

By Tommy Felts / February 1, 2025

When TJ Roberts posted on social media about closing Kinship Cafe, a Black-owned coffee shop in Kansas City’s Strawberry Hill neighborhood, he was surprised by the outpouring of support — a morale boost that not only gives him the spirit to keep fighting for the business, but expand it, he said. “When we posted about…

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Kinship Cafe owner paves plans to take ownership of his coffee shop (with a little help from his community)

By Tommy Felts / May 23, 2023

In April, TJ Roberts was at risk of losing his coffee shop to a parking lot. Now, Roberts is standing his ground, with the help of his community, to purchase the building that houses Kinship Cafe.  “It was a very dark couple of weeks, but now there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Purchasing…

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Cafe finds kinship with KCK entrepreneur, sourcing coffee expertise amid celebration of Black excellence

By Tommy Felts / February 24, 2023

The evolution of a 107-year-old eastern Jackson County service organization is still brewing in Independence as BlendWell Community Cafe pours coffee and deeper connections through a celebration of diversity — and partnership with an entrepreneur across the state line who shares its mission, said Doug Cowan. “In 2015, we bought this building and we started…

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TJ Roberts, Kinship Cafe

Chamber’s new ‘Superstars’ roster brings exposure to 2,000+ KC small businesses 

By Tommy Felts / February 21, 2022

Editor’s note: The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce is a non-financial partner of Startland News, which serves as the media partner for the Small Business Superstars program. An excited TJ Roberts took a quick break from shoveling snow Friday in the parking lot of his Kansas City, Kansas, coffee shop to post his elation…

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TJ Roberts, Kinship Cafe

Why KCK’s ‘dopest, 7-fingered, adopted, biracial business owner’ is serving kinship, coffee at his new cafe

By Tommy Felts / August 18, 2021

When a new coffee shop in KCK’s Strawberry Hill neighborhood opens this fall, the space is expected to feature more than just specialty roasts — with financial literacy programming, community workouts and hip hop yoga sessions on the menu. “It’s never been about, ‘How can I make the most money the fastest?’” said TJ Roberts,…

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