The interview had ended, and it was time to take a few pictures.

“By the way, don’t take photos of the outside.”

Why not?

“I don’t want people to know where I live. Not everyone.”

He has a biology degree and spent a good chunk of his career in public education.

So of course Brad Stefanoni now runs a coffeehouse downtown. 

No pigs in the house.

That was his wife’s only rule once he decided to try this.

“So we built the first shop out in the garage,” said Matt DeMoss, owner of The Meat Shed. “We’ve kind of just built up from there.”

The Meat Shed, located at 2401 S. Rouse, is a meat market and deli with a mission of carrying “forward the food traditions of our proud southeast Kansas heritage.” Like many businesses in Pittsburg, it’s the manifestation of its owner’s passion to provide high quality products to the Pittsburg community.

 Opening a business is exciting. And risky. And scary. And stressful. 

Unless you don’t give yourself time to feel any of that.

“We gave ourselves 30 days to open,” said Darcie Shultz, owner of Books & Burrow. “We didn’t really have time to be scared.”

It was November 2020. Darcie and Dave, along with their daughter Rylie, had just moved back to the Midwest after some time in Connecticut. They landed in Pittsburg. Bought a building. 

They knew this would be a unique thing for Pittsburg. 

It’s eclectic. Like them. 

“One of the main questions we had at the start was whether Pittsburg would understand what we’re trying to do,” said Stephanie Beitzinger-Watts, who co-owns White Elephant Emporium with her sister-in-law Danielle Beitzinger. “We got our answer fairly early on. The response was overwhelming.”

White Elephant Emporium at 804 N. Broadway features, in the owners’ own words, “fabulously unique home decor.” And as the name suggests, most of it is previously-owned items that the owners “rescue and revive.”

 At the risk of getting super cheesy with something that’s actually incredibly not, the story of Main Street Axe Company is a bit of a Hallmark movie. 

(And since this is being written in December … let’s go with it.)

It was called ReNu Medical & Spa from the beginning. 

But in the beginning, there was no spa.

“I knew I wanted a spa, that there would be a spa. I just didn’t have the space when we first opened. But I knew it would happen eventually.”

Dr. Jacqueline Youtsos, ladies and gentlemen. 

 They never drank coffee. Didn’t like it. 

Ew. No. 

So you can imagine the family’s surprise when Dennis and Leah Posterick said they’re gonna be coffee roasters in Pittsburg, Kansas.