Community Highlights: Meet Mollie Lothman of McLain’s Market Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mollie Lothman

Hi Mollie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
McLain’s Bakery was founded in 1945 by the McLain’s family in Waldo as the local neighborhood bakery. It evolved over the years and in 2014 our family purchased the business. We had lots of ideas and dreams to expand the bakery, both with product lines and with locations.
Over the last 11 years we have opened up several more locations, with 6 current McLain’s locations as well as our coffee shop, Sway Coffee Roaster. We have added in hot breakfast food, a lunch menu, full coffee service and roasting, expanded the cake department and have had a blast being part of the community here in greater Kansas City community. We love what we do and enjoy making life’s moments a little sweeter for KC.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We have learned a lot over the years, and have definitely had our fair share of challenges. Growing from 4 employees to over 250 has brought lots of hardships and learning experiences. The biggest challenges by far were learning to grow and change time and time again during Covid. It was defintely a make it or break it time for the entire hospitality industry. We were lucky to be a fast casual concept and spent those 18 months or so constantly being willing to think outside the box, try new things and listen to our customers. We came out much stronger as a company.
Our current challenges are food and supply costs going up. We are actively watching those and are trying to be smart about what to adjust in terms of sourcing and pricing. So much of running a small business is learning to problem solve, the sooner you learn to anticipate problems and view them as an exciting challenge to overcome the more enjoyable the journey is.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
McLain’s Market Inc. is focused on making life’s moments sweeter. We do that providing spaces and places for people in the community to gather while enjoying great food, wonderful coffee, and a fun environment. We pride ourselves on providing a great work environment for our employees, and they focus on providing a great experience for our guests.
We specialize in pastries, cakes, cookies, breakfast sandwiches, great coffee, salads and sandwiches for lunches, and an extensive events and catering menu.
McLain’s products are weaved into so many peoples day to day lives. We are honored to get to be a part of baby showers, first birthdays, work milestones, weekend outings, graduation parties, engagements, and all the wonderful reasons to celebrate life.

How do you think about happiness?
We love to see people using McLain’s as a space for lifes moments. From the mundane Monday morning coffee to a special birthday lunch. We work hard to provide a great space, and good food and drink for all of lifes day to day moments.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mclainskc.com
• Instagram: @mclainsmarketkc
• Facebook: McLain’s Market