KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
As hundreds of thousands of soccer fans plan trips to Kansas City for FIFA World Cup 26, the city is looking for local businesses to fill vacant retail spaces.
This is a story KSHB 41 has covered since the Open Doors! program was announced. As business owners learned about the grants, we caught up with them to find out their plans to create storefronts.
2026 FIFA World Cup
Kansas City Open Doors grants help local businesses ahead of upcoming World Cup
For some of these business owners, it will be their first brick-and-mortar store.
Since 2020, Kansas City native and entrepreneur Morgan Irvin operated her interior design business on social media.
That model will soon change.
"Behind me is my new business space for the next six months," Irvin said while standing in front of an empty space in the city's 18th and Vine District.
Irvin turned to the Open Doors! initiative to add a storefront to her online business.
She said she was awarded a funding subsidy for rent and a $10,000 grant to build out the storefront, something she wasn’t sure would happen without help.
"Being able to afford this space, they made it affordable for me to bring my dream to life," Irvin said. "I like, I'm so indebted and grateful for it."
Her business, Boxx Decor Co., is a service customizing boxes with items adding style to rooms in homes or offices. The boxes are curated by Irvin to cohesively design the space.
While a brick-and-mortar store always was a goal, it wasn't always an option.
"Honestly, it would have took me a while just to be honest." she said. "I mean, it, like I said, it can be pretty expensive trying to purchase one of these spaces. And just having your life outside of this. I have a big family outside of this. I'm a mom of six."
The timing of this also matters, as the city aims to fill these spaces ahead of the World Cup. Irvin said the amount of space provided exceeded her expectations.
"I was really blown," Irvin said. She also shared she would have been fine with a 10-by-10 foot space.
Not only is the space large enough to accommodate the needs of her business, it's also close to where she grew up.
"I think it is amazing because like I literally drive through all the time, and I'm like, it's so much we can do with all these spaces," Irvin said. "I'm just excited to be able to bring that, especially to the Vine District. This is 64108. I grew up at 64109."
The main areas of the initiative are targeting vacant spaces in the Crossroads District, 18th and Vine District and around Main Street.
"To bring my vision back home means everything," she said. "And I get to show little people just like me walking around here — I walk the same streets, that you too can do it."
She said with the help of the city's initiative, she's able to show her daughters how to make dreams come true.
"I'm showing them like you can really make it and hopefully I can open the doors for them and they don't have to go through what I went through to be able to get to this point," Irvin said.
A full list of the businesses awarded grants is expected to be released May 1.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
