New brewery long searched for a Kansas City spot. Now it is opening in Johnson County

It’s been a long wait for Friction Beer Co. But the owners say that’s a good thing.

They have been looking for a spot for their new brewery for more than four years, coming close to opening in the Crossroads and the West Bottoms.

Now they’ve ended up on the Kansas side, taking most of the century-old former Hartman Hardware building in Shawnee for their brewery, with a taproom, beer hall and rooftop patio. They hope to open in spring 2022.

“I’m a big believer in timing is everything,” said Brent Anderson, owner with Nathan Ryerson. “If it took 4 1/2 years to get to this point it was all worth it. This is the best scenario in so many ways, from the building to the landlord.”

Anderson and Ryerson met in 2016 while watching an early morning English soccer game on TV.

Ryerson was sharing some beers that were not yet in the Kansas City market. He had been a longtime home brewer and planned to open Friction Beer Co., but realized he needed more expertise than just the brewing side.

Anderson had been in marketing and advertising, including a stint at Boulevard Brewing Co. He currently works as a creative director at a local advertising agency.

They teamed up, signing a lease for a Crossroads space in late 2018. Then a key investor dropped out, and that nixed their plans.

But they kept doing tastings and talking to folks, including a West Bottoms property owner who was interested in becoming an investor. They even hired an architect to do a layout of the space in late 2019.

“Then the pandemic tanked the whole thing. We were going to hunker back, lick our wounds and start small,” Anderson said. “We helped out our friends by buying their beer.”

A contractor friend introduced them to officials at the Shawnee Economic Development Council, and from there they started looking at spaces in the city before signing for the Hartman Hardware site.

They are taking most of the 7,294-square-foot building at 11018 Johnson Drive. The brewery and taproom will be on the first floor, and a beer hall with a barrel-ceiling and a rooftop patio will be on the second.

They will concentrate on pale ales, IPAs and stouts, but also offer such “crowd pleasers” as blond ales and seltzers. They also will see what their customers want and then “put their spin on it.”

The brewery will have about eight employees at first and hire additional workers as it expands days and hours.

“We really want this to be a gathering place, and you don’t have to be a beer drinker to want to hang out. We’ll have something for you,” Anderson said.

Russell Pearson, redeveloper of the building, said it opened about a century ago as a masonic lodge with a dance hall on the second floor. Then the Hartman family took over, living on the second floor for a few years and operating the hardware store on the first.

There also was a drug store with a deli on the corner. The space later long housed Shawnee Shoe Repair & Tailoring (it relocated nearby in Shawnee).

Pearson is looking at food operations and specialty retailers for the corner space.

Friction Beer will add to a burgeoning brewery scene in Shawnee, including Servaes Brewing Co. and Transport Brewery, both on Johnson Drive, and Pathlight Brewing on 75th Street.