Vincent Rodriguez wins over customers by bringing together two of his passions: bicycles and coffee.
Vincent Rodriguez is hardly the first entrepreneur who wanted to build a community around his product.
But he is one of the lucky few who have managed to pull it off in a seemingly effortless style. Step inside his bicycle shop, Velo+, in Old Town Lenexa and you immediately feel a unique vibe. That’s in part because it’s not just a full-service bike shop. Velo+ is also home to Maps Coffee Roasters, a premier wholesale and retail coffee roaster.
The aroma of coffee beans fills the shop. Freshly roasted beans pop like popcorn in what Rodriguez calls the “Tesla” of coffee roasters. Customers sip coffee while wandering through the showroom of custom-fabricated steel bicycles and bicycle brands not normally available in many Kansas City stores.
As popular as his shop is now, Rodriguez is ready to take his vision to the next level. He was one of 17 entrepreneurs selected to participate in the second cohort of
ScaleUP! Kansas City, an elite program designed for small, growth-oriented businesses.
ScaleUP!—which is a partnership of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Innovation Center and the U.S. Small Business Administration—offers classes, peer mentoring, professional guidance and more. The class is open to businesses in markets capable of supporting more than $1 million in sales.
Velo+ and Maps Coffee Roasters fit the program perfectly. The business is poised for growth, and Rodriguez, business advisers believe, has the background to make that happen.
He spent 18 years working for Starbucks, including time as a district manager, where he learned how to motivate employees and develop leaders.
“He not only has the vision to grow this thing—and he’s growing it beautifully—but he has the technical ability,” said John Addessi, a consultant at Johnson County Community College’s Small Business Development Center.
Addessi points out that Rodriguez knows how to build relationships with customers, but also understands numbers.
“A business like his, especially when he’s talking about wholesale, you can’t miss by very much,” Addessi said. “You’ve got your fixed
expenses, you’ve got your costs and ingredients, and what’s leftover is pennies on the dollar.”
Bikes, Coffee, and Sometimes Beer
The community vibe within Rodriguez’ shop appears effortless, but it’s part of a carefully designed strategy.
When Velo+ opened in 2013, Rodriguez knew he had to deliver a different experience from a big-box retailer. He wanted to be part of the “do-it-yourself” maker movement building steam across the country. So he combined the two things he loved: building bikes and roasting coffee.
“My elevator speech is nothing more than, ‘We’re a unique bike shop: We roast coffee. We’re makers. We make bikes. Come visit us,’” he said.
The public got it. On a recent Saturday morning, there were customers buying bikes and others checking out the steel fabrication area, where you can watch bikes being handmade. Others popped by for a free cup of coffee—Rodriguez charges by the bag and gives away the cup. Still, many left with a bag or two of coffee.
Customers regularly linger to talk with Rodriguez and the shop’s two employees. Depending on the night, people often show up after a ride to taste the beer Rodriguez brews for fun.
Some stop by to check out the custom-made hats, bike bags and other products created by local artists and sold at the store. Rodriguez decided that being part of the maker movement meant giving others a stage inside his store to shine.
Normally, business advisers tell clients to pare down their offerings and simplify. But Addessi didn’t dare intervene—for good reason.
“I bike. How often do I have to go into a bike shop? It might be two or three times a season,” he said. “He’s giving (customers) a reason to be there a lot more often than that.”
What’s Next?
Rodriguez is now preparing for the next phase of his business, and ScaleUP! will be a big part of that. The class has already helped him realize that he could hone his marketing, legal, branding and human resource skills. For instance, he’s been collecting email addresses for years, but has done nothing with them. ScaleUP! has given him some ideas for how to incorporate them into his marketing campaigns.
The program is also helping him think deeper about his long-term goal, which is to build a flagship store in Kansas City within two years. He envisions a full-scale bike shop with an espresso bar, food and possibly chocolate. Eventually, Rodriguez would like to franchise.
In the meantime, he’s building Maps Coffee substantially. Last year, he made $400,000 in revenue from the bike side and about $50,000 from coffee. Next year, he expects to clear more than $300,000 from coffee. He’s working with several high-profile Kansas City companies to create partnerships with his coffee. Rodriguez expects to make some major announcements about the products soon.
Until then, he keeps telling new customers to pop by the store for a visit. He might not be there every day these days, but he promises there will be a community waiting to greet you.
