West Plaza updates: New cafe opening soon, Sheehan’s Irish Imports moving to Waldo

Two brothers plan to open a new West Plaza restaurant and bar.

Ryan and Kit Boje, who grew up in Johnson County, will open Journeyman at 1121 W. 47th St.

It will have a full espresso bar and a cafe serving a farm-to-market menu. Items will include egg plates, breakfast wraps, and breakfast sandwiches in the morning, as well as small plates for lunch, along with smoothies, juices and espresso drinks all day. In the evening, it will offer small plates, craft cocktails, wine and craft beer.

“The focus will be on the ingredients. It’s knowing everything you are putting in your body — from coffee in the morning to the cocktails at night and everything in between,” said Kit Boje. “Made from scratch good stuff, as locally sourced as possible, nothing processed.”

The brothers plan to open Journeyman by the end of the year.

Hours will be 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It has a small parking area in the back.

“I’m building this for this neighborhood. We expect a lot of walk-up foot traffic,” said Kit Boje, who has lived in the West Plaza area for three years. “We do all kinds of cool stuff like PorchFestKC. If I was going to drop a dream restaurant into a spot this would be it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a restaurant before so we are putting a lot of work into it.”

One “huge plus” is the new redevelopment, West Hill, across the street on the site of the former E.F. Swinney Elementary School. West Hill will have 71 market rate apartments. A November opening is scheduled.

Meanwhile, Sheehan’s Irish Imports will be leaving the West Plaza/Westport area after three decades.

The late Peggy Sheehan started selling imported Irish hand-crafted items out of her south Kansas City home in 1985 and then a couple of years later she opened a small retail shop in Westport. In 1989, Sheehan relocated the shop to a much larger space at 1412 Westport Road.

Now two of her daughters, Katy Sheehan Morris and Molly Sheehan Corkill, own the shop. The sisters plan to close the shop Saturday. They are in negotiations for a new space in Waldo, near Gregory Boulevard and Oak Street, and hope to reopen there in early October.

Sheehan’s Irish Imports is on the first floor of the 5,922-square-foot building on Westport Road and another longtime tenant, Standard Improvement Co., operated on the top floor. Officials with Standard Improvement Co. couldn’t be reached for comment.

The building was for sale and is now under contract by Block Real Estate Services LLC.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 4:39 PM with the headline "West Plaza updates: New cafe opening soon, Sheehan’s Irish Imports moving to Waldo."