In early October, a bright red truck sat in the parking lot of The Golden Scoop's shop at 103rd Street and U.S. Highway 69. It was still waiting for its new wrap. The Johnson County Post described it as the start of a bittersweet change: by the time the Golden Scoop name went on the truck, the nonprofit ice creamery would have one fewer storefront.
The shop it was giving up was the first one, at 9540 Nall Ave. in the Nall Hills shopping center, which was scheduled to serve its last cones on Saturday, Oct. 31. In mid-October, Chatime's boba shop at 10150 W. 119th St. had its last day open to customers, and the Post's October roundup listed both shops among the month's closings.
Neither business shrank. Both owners decided their customers were easier to reach at games, office parties, festivals and markets than behind a storefront door. On the same few blocks of downtown, a third closing shows what kind of business still needs a fixed counter.
The Golden Scoop's original shop had a neighbor less than 3 miles away
The Golden Scoop employs adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who it calls Super Scoopers, and it opened on Nall in April 2021. According to the organization's Oct. 5 announcement, the opening drew lines that wrapped around the strip center, and the shop outgrew its space almost right away. A second, larger location with a drive-thru followed at 10460 W. 103rd St., less than 3 miles away. With two shops that close together, the team saw a chance to "stop waiting for Kansas City to come in, and go meet it."
CEO Amber Schreiber told the Johnson County Post the business had seen the numbers moving that way for years. Catering and wholesale grew every year, while dine-in customers became scarcer across the food and drink industry. She also gave the Post a second reason: the Super Scoopers want to be out meeting people.
"We wanted to meet people where they were at," Schreiber told the Post. "And also to get our super scoopers out into the community, telling their stories, mingling with the people at the events and working on social skills."
The plan called for the Super Scoopers at Nall to transfer to the 103rd Street shop on their same shifts. The truck has a wheelchair lift and a lowered serving window, so people with mobility disabilities can work it and order from it more easily. Schreiber said the change could mean more hours for current Super Scoopers, and more hires if demand for the truck grows. In the announcement, she said, "our mission was never about four walls."
The truck serves ice cream and coffee. It's meant to show up at festivals, office parks, schools and sporting events, and it will run year-round when the weather allows. The Sherman Family Foundation and the Junior League of Kansas City helped pay for it, and the nonprofit has said it plans a ribbon cutting this fall. Golden Scoop pints and cups are already sold in area grocery stores.
Chatime went mobile to bring people into the shop
The Golden Scoop planned its move. Chatime got there almost by accident.
Lauren Aust-Yuen and her husband, Sonny Yuen, own the Overland Park Chatime franchise, which they took over from its previous owners. This spring they started a pop-up boba bar called the Popping Pearl, at first just to spread the word about the brand. Aust-Yuen told the Johnson County Post the mobile and catering work was "a grassroots marketing effort" meant "to drive business back to the shop."
It worked the other way around. Other businesses started asking Chatime to bring boba to their events, and people at those events asked when Chatime would come closer to where they live. "The real opportunity is to leave the four walls and to really go out to where the business is," Aust-Yuen told the Post.
Popping Pearl works weddings, showers, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, graduation parties, corporate events, conferences and festivals. In an April profile, the Post reported that Aust-Yuen builds a menu for each event, including drinks planned around the show at Starlight Theatre.
The new Chatime trailer is set for next year. It will serve the drinks the shop was known for at school fundraisers, weddings, farmers markets and seasonal festivals. Until someone takes over the lease, the owners plan to use the 119th Street space as a commercial kitchen for the mobile business. Aust-Yuen said she isn't ruling out another storefront, and that time on the road could help show where one would make the most sense.
Two owners, a mile or two apart, used the same phrase about leaving the four walls behind. In both cases, the business was already growing outside the shop before the shop closed.
Where things stand
| Storefront | Now | Next | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Golden Scoop | 9540 Nall Ave., final day set for Oct. 31 | 10460 W. 103rd St. shop with drive-thru; truck available to book | Ribbon cutting planned this fall |
| Chatime | 10150 W. 119th St., closed in October | Popping Pearl pop-up boba bar for events | Chatime trailer next year |
| Overland Park Shoe Repair | 7522 W. 80th St. | Finishing repairs already dropped off; no new work | Closing Dec. 31 |
On the 103rd Street shop's listed hours, the drive-thru stays open an hour later than the counter on Fridays and Saturdays. The current schedule:
- Monday: noon to 7 p.m.
- Tuesday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Friday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in-store, drive-thru until 8 p.m.
- Saturday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in-store, drive-thru 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you want the truck at your own event, the Golden Scoop on Wheels page lists host-paid events starting at $600, guest-paid bookings at $350, and sponsored community events starting at $600. For a block party or a school fundraiser, that changes the question. Instead of asking where the nearest scoop shop is, you're asking whether the scoop shop can come to you.
The counter downtown that can't go on the road
Overland Park Shoe Repair, at 7522 W. 80th St. downtown, isn't moving anywhere. Henry Barbosa has been behind its counter for about four decades. He started working there in the late 1980s, bought it by 1990, and is the fifth person to own it. The Johnson County Post's profile describes a line to the door within an hour of opening, and a sign on the counter saying work will be ready after 4 p.m. on the promised day, "unless the shoe dude is running behind."
The shop shows why some businesses can't follow customers to events. Barbosa works alone. He does every repair in the workshop at the back and greets every customer at the front. The work goes well past cosmetic fixes. Longtime customers have brought in shoes for orthopedic reasons, such as needing two different heel heights. Scooping ice cream or pouring boba works at a festival. A shoe repair needs drop-off, workshop time and a pickup counter in the same spot.
Barbosa told the Post he never had to do much to keep the shop busy. "I just open the door, and that's what happens. People come in." He's retiring on his own terms. The last day for drop-offs was Oct. 31, and the shop stays open through Dec. 31 while he finishes the jobs already in. If you dropped off a pair before the cutoff, December is your window to pick it up.
Downtown has a place to find businesses that move
If more local businesses leave storefronts for trucks and trailers, they'll need regular places to set up. Downtown Overland Park now has one. The Overland Park Farmers Market moved from Matt Ross Community Center to Clock Tower Landing, and the city reported attendance roughly double last season. The new heated indoor space lets the market run year-round. Visit Overland Park lists Clock Tower Landing at 7950 Marty St. with more than 100 market vendors. The city has already pointed people to food trucks there, telling guests at its Sept. 12 movie night to visit food trucks or downtown restaurants.
The next several weeks at Clock Tower Landing:
- Friday, Nov. 20: The Mayor's Holiday Festival runs 5 to 8 p.m. downtown, with the tree lighting at Clock Tower Landing from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Santa, children's activities, vendors, music and food trucks are on the list.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: The last regular Saturday market of the season, 8 a.m. to noon.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: No market.
- Saturdays, Dec. 5, 12 and 19: Holiday Markets from 8 a.m. to noon, with the usual produce, treats and specialty finds.
Clock Tower Landing is a few blocks from Barbosa's shop on West 80th Street. If you're picking up repaired shoes in December, you can stop by a Holiday Market on the same Saturday morning.
The changes on your corner, like a tenant leaving, a truck taking its place or a long-time shop closing, also shape how buyers see your street. I keep track of these changes in Overland Park so homeowners know what buyers will notice before a listing goes live. If you're curious where your home stands this season, Trent Gallagher can walk you through it. Request Your Complimentary Home Valuation.
