Prairie Village is finally getting a brewery
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Who doesn't love a good patio? Rendering: Courtesy of Big Grove Brewery
Iowa-based Big Grove Brewery is coming to one of Kansas City's most sought-after suburbs.
Why it matters: The taproom and beer garden will go in at a former Macy's at the Shops of Prairie Village, livening up a corner of the popular retail district after years of vacancy.
Context: The old Macy's at 71st Street and Mission Road in Kansas was the shopping center's last department store when it announced its closing in 2020.
- Big Grove will be one of several tenants at the site, including a Hen House grocery store, which is relocating from a place nearby, the Business Journal reports.
- The Macy's building underwent a wall-breaking ceremony earlier this year, signaling that construction is finally underway.
Zoom in: Big Grove will be Prairie Village's only brewery, offering something new for a town that ranked No. 1 on Zillow in 2022.
The big picture: The expansion comes at a time when KC's brewery scene is reversing course, with three breweries shuttering this year and no new craft beer businesses for the first time since 2010, the KC Business Journal reports.
- The local scene's contraction follows a national trend as alcohol sales decline.
- "It's really hard to get a good fix on Gen Z as they become of legal drinking age," Bryan Farrell, marketing director for Big Grove, tells Axios Des Moines. "It does seem like they're drinking less than the generations before."
- The average age in Prairie Village is 41, according to census data.
Zoom out: Big Grove's KC expansion is one of two new locations, with the brewery also tapping Omaha, Axios Des Moines reports.
What to expect: Big Grove has a wide selection of beers, as well as hard seltzers and a locally inspired food menu.
- It also brews cannabis-infused sparkling water, which is made with a concentration of hemp-derived THC that is low enough to be legal in Kansas.
What's next: The brewery plans to open in summer 2026.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Big Grove's cannabis-infused drinks are made with concentrations of hemp-derived THC low enough to be legal in Kansas.