Brewing The Idea For A Shop
Rodriguez spent 18 years at Starbucks, working up from a part-time barista to a multi-unit manager. Despite earning a six-figure salary, he decided to quit his job.
“I just wasn’t happy anymore.”
After months of research and scouting locations, Rodriguez opened Moka Velo in June. The shop is home to a coffee bar where Rodriguez will serve his own Maps Coffee Roastery coffee and a cyclists’ lounge where riders can rest. The mechanics area often transforms to a classroom in the evenings where Rodriguez and his shop manager David Dye teach classes on frame building, bike maintenance and coffee tasting.
Despite his new immersion in the cycling world, Rodriguez hasn’t forgotten his roots in coffee. Rodriguez took a roasting class from Boot Coffee Company in March to learn how to properly roast—something he never learned in his years at Starbucks. A coffee bar is located in the middle of the shop, and Rodriguez plans to buy a roaster soon to begin roasting his own beans in house.
“I would love to do some coffee profiling—get some die hard coffee fans and do some taste testing as well as one-on-one roasting sessions where you can pick your coffee, and I will coach you on how to roast it,” Rodriguez says.
Much like Rodriguez’s own desire to keep educating himself on frame building and coffee roasting, Rodriguez wants to provide educational opportunities for the community that has welcomed him so warmly in Lenexa.
“Educated, informed customers are going to be the ones that come back time and time again and become lifelong customers,” Rodriguez says.
Three weeks after opening up shop, Rodriguez hosted an introduction to frame building class that brought together 25 individuals to hang out in the back room and listen to Rodriguez talk about his philosophy and process of building bikes.
There was no course fee to attend. Rodriguez only asked people bring a six-pack of beer or a donation of canned foods, as part of his canned food donation program for local Kansas City food bank Harvesters called Tins for Tubes. (On a typical day, customers can donate canned goods and receive a tube in exchange.)
“What I’m really hoping to do is to build a collective community of Kansas City frame builders,” Rodriguez says.
Rodriguez has also hosted a bike maintenance, introduction to coffee, and women’s cycling classes in partnership with a local advocacy group, BikeWalkKC. Rodriguez has expressed interest in supporting the female cycling community and recently decided to sponsor a local women’s cycling club, Velo Vixens KC. As a new shop owner, Rodriguez says he needs all the help and support he can get, which is why he has reached out to the community to help sustain his business.
“I feel like I’m the new guy,” Rodriguez says. “I know a lot about operations and business, but I also know I need to ask for help. I need to create those connections that are sustaining. Working with other bike shops and community groups is important.”
Britton Kusiak of Volker Bicycles, is supportive of what Rodriguez is doing for the bike community and supporting frame building in Kansas City. However, he points out that Rodriguez is going to face a lot of challenges.
“I think what Vincent is doing is great,” Kusiak says. “He’s growing a community, hiring good people and working with people in the right way. He’s doing good work, but when it comes down to it, when you build someone a $2000 custom frame, the customer pretty much wants your children as well. There’s a lot of expectation that comes with it.”
Rodriguez is optimistic and hopes that within the next year, Moka Velo is the number one sought after shop in the area, for both the bikes and the coffee.
“We hope to be the shop that is engaged with our customers,” Rodriguez says. “I want to show them how to ride safer, enjoy their bikes more and be a community supporter of both bicycles and coffee. My hope is to take the opportunity to grow this brand and make it something truly special.”
Check out www.vrbicycles.com