Coffee Shop Feasibility Study in the Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area

Brand-driven coffee borrowing on both sides of the state line

Kansas City is one metro with two states in its name, and its coffee shop and snack bar record reflects both. The files show 75 loans for FY2017 to FY2026 and $31.5 million approved. A median of $349,200 comes in at 1.46x the national class median, while the middle half spans $143,000 to $552,000. Franchise share is 52.0%, meaning a majority of borrowers carry a franchisor, which puts the franchise disclosure and royalty terms squarely inside any feasibility study.

How concentrated the class is

Kansas City is 29 of 612 for coffee shop loans among metro and micro areas, and coffee is 6 of 39 inside the area. A location quotient of 1.39x says local lending tilts toward coffee more than the national pattern does, which can reflect strong café culture and also heavy competition. The program count tells a working-capital story: 7(a) accounts for 70 loans while 504 accounts for just 5.

Johnson County leads

Johnson County, KS tops the county list with 33 loans, ahead of Jackson County, MO at 20, Clay County, MO at 7, and Cass County, MO and Platte County, MO at 5 apiece. Emprise Bank and United Community Bank (SC) each appear as 7(a) holders on 5 loans, with $2.9 million and $2.3 million respectively; SBA's file names the current holder, so treat those as holdings, not as a profile of either bank. FY2025 is the big year: 22 loans and $9.7 million. Earlier years read FY2017 at 6 loans and $1.4 million, FY2018 at 5 and $1.5 million, FY2019 at 9 and $2.1 million, FY2021 at 6 and $3.4 million, FY2022 at 8 and $1.1 million, FY2023 at 8 and $2.7 million, with FY2026 at 5 and $3.3 million. FY2020 and FY2024 are withheld for thin counts.

Missing outcome figures

For Kansas City coffee, cancellation and charge-off alike stay unprinted, since the cohorts are thin; do not infer low risk from the gap, and neither value is zero. Loans enter the metro through project county under the 2023 delineation, matched on name; a county that cannot be matched leaves its loan out.

Questions the Kansas City study answers

Demand has to be built from daypart traffic at the actual site, since drive-through and commuter patterns differ sharply between suburban Johnson County and an urban Jackson County corner. A study should compare cost of buildout and equipment, the franchisor's required fees if any, and state-by-state payroll and tax differences. Coverage ought to be tested at the median and at a top-quartile loan, and the appraisal should separate the lease, improvements and equipment.