The Kansas City streetcar's Main Street extension opened for riders on Friday, increasing the line by 3.5 miles and more than doubling its reach. Business owners along the extension are excited to see how it impacts their establishments.
Crows Coffee in the South Plaza is located right next to the end of the line, near the University of Missouri-Kansas City stop at 51st and Brookside. The coffee shop's owner, Zachary Moores, told KCUR's Up To Date that the streetcar is a big opportunity as he expects more foot traffic.
"I've upped our staff for every shift right now where we're trying to think of other smart ways to be efficient and push customers through in a way that still keeps our place a community coffee shop and engaging with customers," Moores said. "It's exciting. It's a really good problem to have. We want to do it well, because we want people to get coffee, get on the streetcar and have a smooth process."
Laura Norris, who owns the restaurant Ragazza located at 43rd and McGee, says the construction over the last few years has hurt business. But now that the extension is open, she is taking steps to try to capitalize on the streetcar stop outside of her business.
"I'm a natural worrier, so I worry that people are going to get on at 51st Street and go down to the Crossroads or go downtown and go sort of right by us, you know," Norris said. "So we've done some things to sort of attract, we installed a bunch of neon to make our place more visible."
- Laura Norris, owner of Ragazza and Enzo
- Zachary Moores, owner of Crows Coffee
- Tom Gerend, executive director of the KC Streetcar Authority
- Jodi Fortino, KCUR reporter
