Startups roll dice on downtown

As the summer season heats up, businesses are testing the waters in downtown Springfield with a slew of developments coming down the pike.

Rendezvous at Boca Mocha
Targeting an early July opening in the former home of Rendezvous Coffee Lounge is Boca Mocha Coffee & Café, 320 Park Central West. Co-owner Michael Trimble hopes to avoid a similar path that led to the downfall of the company’s coffee predecessor.

“It’s going to be totally different than Rendezvous,” said Trimble, who with his wife, Rachel Trimble, owns Boca Mocha along with Timothy Kelly and Jessica Owens-Kelly.

Trimble said he also isn’t fretting about the shadow of downtown competitors Mudhouse, The Coffee Ethic and Starbucks.

“You never focus on your competitors,” he said. “I really think with the right love and the right passion, anything can succeed.”

Trimble, who was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and originally started Boca Mocha with his wife while living there 2003–07, said his previous connections will allow the Springfield startup to import coffee from Haiti.

The café, leased from Scott Murray, will offer Haitian dishes alongside other food items during breakfast, lunch and dinner, and alcohol also will be available.

Rerico side dish
Veteran restaurateur Angel Kim is aiming to open by July 4 his newest ventures, Blu Sesame Asian Diner and Takeout and the accompanying Side by Side Dessert Lounge, at Wilhoit Plaza, 431 S. Jefferson Ave., Ste. 172.

Kim – who, along with family members also owns The Argentina Steakhouse on East Republic Road, Rerico Brazilian Grill near Battlefield Road and U.S. Highway 65, and Springfield Catering Co. – said he was encouraged to bring a restaurant to the downtown area by Jeff Schrag, a partner in Wilhoit Plaza owner Matt Miller Co. Schrag, too, has a recent downtown Springfield startup, Mother’s Brewing Co., at the intersection of Walnut and Grant.

Kim said he invested about $110,000 into Blu Sesame, which will serve a variety of Asian cuisine in the $5 to $8 range. Kim said the dessert lounge will give his wife, Song Kang, a chance to blossom their catering company by offering custom ice cream sandwiches, yogurt cupcakes and wedding cakes.

“We’re focusing more on comfortable, really quick eating,” Kim said.

Matt Miller, co-owner of Matt Miller Co., said the company has been in talks with an another seven or eight businesses to fill vacancies at Wilhoit Plaza.

“We were in a little bit of a bubble downtown, but we didn’t see any growth in the last two
years,” he said. “Now, we’re starting to see that growth, the phones are ringing and it’s getting fun again.”

Harbell Sports Bar & Grill
Renovations have begun on the former Har-Bell Athletics Good building, 315 Park Central West, where father-and-son Jerry and Derek Bumgarner are prepping a future bar and grill.

Derek Bumgarner, 23, will manage the property at 315 Park Central West, which is expected to open within five months, said Jerry Bumgarner.

Through DBJB Properties LLC, the Bumgarners acquired the Har-Bell Athletic Goods building from Brian Tucker, who until recently had leased the space to Kesslers Team Sports, said Bob McCroskey, owner of Bob McCroskey Real Estate, who handled the property transaction.

“I think it’s a good location, and the building was priced right,” said Jerry Bumgarner, who declined to disclose the purchase price but said the deal closed below the Greene County assessor’s 2011 appraised value of $298,800. “I think here next to the theater and (with) downtown traffic, it’s eventually going to get better.

“If you’ve got good, cold beer, good food and you’re competitive, people will come.”

Bumgarner, who owns Springfield-based Jerry Bumgarner Trucking, said the first and second floors are about 3,600 square feet each, and three loft apartments would be added on the upper floor within three years.

Jack Ball Architects PC has been contracted for interior and exterior design work. President and principal Chris Ball said the restaurant would seat up to 125 people and include a sidewalk café.

Bumgarner said he is in the process of incorporating a name for the bar and grill. According to a city building permit, renovations are being performed for Harbell Sports Bar & Grill.

On the move
Classic Boards, which opened in 1998 and previously operated at 1775 S. Grant Ave., moved June 1 to a downtown location at Wilhoit Plaza, 431 S. Jefferson Ave., Ste. 107.
Owner Brian Oliver said the shop sells skateboards, street cruisers, longboards, footwear, apparel and art created by local artists.

Oliver said the 750-square-foot space is perfect for the shop’s products, which also include handmade clothing by his wife, Kim Oliver.

“We felt like it was a smart business move,” he said. “Everybody’s either closing their doors or making the necessary changes not to.”

The downtown area, Oliver said, is attractive to skaters because of its landscape, buildings and general atmosphere.

“It’s almost like it’s asking to be skated,” he said. “You go to the ocean to surf. If you’re not at a skate park, you go skate on the street.”

Another company making its downtown debut in mobile products is Kiss My Gas Scooters, a purveyor of motorized scooters.

Co-owner Joe Berrer said the $40,000 startup is scheduled to open July 2 in 2,100 square feet at 212 S. Campbell Ave.

“We’ve never done this before,” he said of the store, where last week staff unloaded a 26-scooter shipment. “I’ve been in sales, my wife has been in banking, and we decided we’re going to do our own thing.”

Berrer worked as a salesman at Friendly Ford and his wife, Shanna, was a teller supervisor at Commerce Bank.

The store will start out selling 49cc scooters but will add higher-powered 150cc scooters when its motorcycle dealer license is obtained.[[In-content Ad]]