Interior designer Morgan Irvin says she never thought she’d have an opportunity to set up a brick-and-mortar business.But, as thousands of World Cup tourists prepare to descend on Kansas City this summer, a new program run by the city is helping her navigate the regulations involved in doing just that.Irvin already has big plans for her space located on the 1700 block of East 18th Street. She imagines creating fully-styled rooms with vibrant pillows and curtains to show off her business, Boxx Decor Co.
“I’ll have complete looks all across the showroom floor, because for girls, this is a big thing,” she said. “When we decorate, it’s serious.”Irvin applied for her pop-up space through the city’s Open Doors! program last fall. Kansas City Council launched the program in October, and more than 100 small businesses submitted their applications. It provides up to $10,000 in grants and rent subsidies to activate vacant spaces, specifically targeting a boost in cultural and commercial activity ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.Kansas City is investing $1.6 million in the Open Doors! grant program, and the short-term rental company Airbnb announced last week that it would be pitching in $100,000.
Interior designer Morgan Irvin has big plans for her storefront pop-up store in the Historic 18th and Vine district. She will be one of four new businesses in the area backed by the Open Doors! program.
For Irvin, it all adds up to her opening one of four new, Black-owned businesses in the Historic 18th and Vine district, all backed by the Open Doors! program.“I’m coming out a totally different person, business-wise, because I’ve had to learn so much to be able to keep up,” Irvin said. “I thought I was a business before, but now I’m a business.”Entrepreneurs as ambassadorsKansas City Neighborhood Services Department Assistant Director Nia Webster has been promoting the program.Webster said she’s still finalizing leases, but she’s connected 22 businesses, artists, and organizations with 18 storefront locations in the Crossroads and along the KC Streetcar line so far, and she’s planning to place 10 to 15 program finalists in other prime spots like Union Station between now and the World Cup. Webster said she’s trying to help an additional 52 small businesses through the program. Final placements will be announced the first week of May.“I don’t think anybody’s doing anything at the level that we’re doing when it comes to true, small business investment,” Webster said. “We are putting the business in front of you, and we’re promoting and marketing those businesses and saying: ‘Here’s Kansas City. Here is the city of entrepreneurs.’”Webster said leases for Open Doors! operators are generally 3 to 6 months, and could help building owners connect with potential long-term tenants.“We’re pretty much taking a risk off of you to kind of test each other out to see if you all like this, but also giving an opportunity for an entrepreneur to learn the process,” Webster said.
Tommy Felts
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Startland News Nia Webster, assistant director of the Neighborhood Services Department for KCMO, and Janá Wagner, division manager for the KC BizCare office, lead a World Cup ESO Lunch and Learn session in September at City Hall
According to Airbnb, Kansas City is expected to host 11,000 guests during the World Cup on its platform alone, generating an estimated $105 million in economic activity.“I’ve been monitoring this Airbnb stuff, because they had a $5 million fund for host cities and they were investing in different cities,” Webster said. “We were able to grab some of that.”The short-term rental company will also sponsor the Airbnb Small Business Guide, a digital resource developed in partnership with Open Doors! The guide will connect World Cup visitors to local businesses, restaurants and storefronts, according to a press release from the city.The efforts are part of Airbnb’s Host City Impact Program, the release says, a $5 million commitment to support projects in FIFA World Cup 2026 host cities that are designed to bring long-term opportunities and enhance the visitor experience.“Kansas City’s entrepreneurs are some of its best ambassadors, and Open Doors! is giving them a platform at exactly the right moment,” Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City President and CEO Tracey Lewis said in a statement announcing Airbnb’s contribution. “This investment is about making sure that when the world arrives, the economic opportunity reaches the entrepreneurs and small business owners who are the heart of this community.”
