The Hyde Parker · Bernard, managed gumball machines in Midtown and founded the company. They sold...

A publication of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association Volume 40, Issue 4

The Hyde Parker April 2013

A 160+ year history in Missouri

Bitterman's: A family business saga

To survive after a quarter century in gumball machine vend-

ing, Alan Bitterman realized in 1980 that he needed a new

business model, one focused outside Kansas City. Yet even

as Bitterman Family Confections began to change, the com-

pany never left North Hyde Park.

Today, with three buildings, 40,000 sq ft. of space on

Gillham Road, 35 employees and a nationwide wholesale

distribution network, Alan, at age 75, is still moving the

company in new directions -- from social media sales, to pri-

vate label candy packaging to a 7,000 sq ft. combination

candy and antique store that opened in October.

"Sales have been very good. We've been very pleased," Alan

says of the foot traffic patronizing Bitterman's Eye Candy.

"The area has gotten a lot better, and the opportunity was

there. We see lot of young couples moving into the neighbor-

hood. Almost every week, someone comes in who is new to

the area, a lot of folks from Armour."

Half the retail store's sales are from antiques and retro

knick-knacks for offered by local artisans, the rest, a line of

300 varieties of candy, chocolates and treats neatly stocked

on vintage display cases. It's a local version of World Mar-

ket, set in a plain-looking former Borden's Ice Cream Co.

research plant. Bitterman's wholesale candy business, the

mainstay of the company, is located in a former H.E Miller

Dodge and Plymouth showroom two doors down.

Alan has seen a lot of change since 1936, when his father,

Bernard, managed gumball machines in Midtown and

founded the company. They sold peanuts for a penny a twist

at Kansas City drug and grocery stores. At age 16, Alan

says he started out with 100 gumball machines, a 1949 Ford

and a $500 loan.

"The ability to be flexible and response to change" drives

success, he says. Continued on pg. 4

Alan has been

in Midtown

since attend-

ing the former

Bancroft

School as a

youth. Vintage

wood display

racks offer

candy for

sweet tooths of

all ages.

Inside

Hyde Park snowbirds

between the storms

A doctor and a barista buy 36th Street

McKecknie house photo by Rita Schafer

UMKC planners offer ideas

Dreams for Armour & Troost

A UMKC planning team funded by the Mid-

America Regional Council has come up with three

redevelopment scenarios to transform the intersec-

tion of Armour Boulevard and Troost Ave.

The suggestions include tearing down the existing

BP gas station and northeast corner convenience

store and adding several three-story apartment

buildings along Troost south of Armour.

Potential options presented by urban planner Vicki

Noteis at a meeting at UMKC March 14 included

anchoring the area with artists’ space and a com-

munity garden at Harrison St., replacing the gas

station with medical offices and enlarging/replacing

the Sav-A-Lot supermarket with a larger grocery.

Another option presented is to build apartments at

the vacant corner Harrison/Armour lot currently

owned by an affiliate of MAC properties. Continued on pg. 3

THE HYDE PARKER Volume 40 Issue 4

HPNA Member Honor Roll We periodically recognize Hyde Park Neighborhood Association members. For membership questions, con-tact Clara Keller, Treasurer at 816.960.4669.

Households Claudette Schiratti, Mary Erio & Bill

Onasch, Jeanette Schmeltz, Seth Gunderson & Ashlee Smith, Lori &

Joe Denes, Ken & Millie Krna Patrons

Ann and Frank Uryasz

Doug & Susan Borge Commercial

Notre Dame de Sion

HPNA Audit Committee Report

The Hyde Park Neighborhood Association Audit

Committee, consisting of Lori Denes, Cecelia Dillon,

Gene Morgan and Clara Keller provided its report on

March 11 to the HPNA Board. The audit showed that

the Association’s reported 2012 results were consis-

tent with generally accepted accounting principles.

To view the report, go to www.hydeparkkc.org. Con-

tact any committee member if you have comments.

Gillham snowbirds

earn top perch in

photo contest The dark-eyed Junco to the right is this year’s

top bird in our second annual Hyde Parker

photo contest. The bird, a type of sparrow, is

perched on a fence picket on Gillham Road on the

morning of Feb. 25 just before this year’s second

large snowstorm.

Congratulations to homeowner Stacey McCully for

capturing the image, which earned her a $25 gift

certificate from City Pets to be awarded at our

April HPNA general membership meeting.

Stacey also sent us the photo to the right taken the

same day of a male cardinal set in the snow-

covered tree branches along Gillham Road.

Overall, Jackson County residents reported 71

varieties of birds during the 2013’s international

Great Backyard Bird Count in February, with the

most reported species locally being the American

Coot, which resembles a duck.

Wild turkeys, wrens, goldfinches, hawks, crows,

doves, chickadees and robins also caught bird-

watchers’ eyes at places that included the

Discovery Center on Troost and Walnut Street in

Old Hyde Park, according to results shown at

birdcount.org.


Landscape & Irrigation De-Landscape & Irrigation De-

sign, Service and sign, Service and

InstallationInstallation

Complete Landscape Complete Landscape

MaintenanceMaintenance

Turf ProgramsTurf Programs

Aeration & OverseedingAeration & Overseeding

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Seasonal ColorSeasonal Color

Winter, Spring, Summer, FallWinter, Spring, Summer, Fall

All you have to do is Call!All you have to do is Call! Phone 816.763.2400Phone 816.763.2400

[email protected]@constantcaregm.com

Since

1990

Troost Continued from pg. 1

Noteis said that current prop-

erty owners have not been in-

volved yet in the project, but

that the UMKC team would be

seeking their perspectives.

The gas station has been a

source many police calls for ser-

vice while the nearby Marquette

building just east of the site has

been derelict for years.

One variation of the proposals

would make the Harrison & Ar-

mour corner lot a community

garden and convert the former

drug store at the Troost & Ar-

mour corner to mixed use space.

MARC says it plans to evaluate

the student recommendations

and add its own analysis.

KU students look at Hyde Park for class marketing project

A group of University of Kansas journalism students are

making Hyde Park’s ability to attract and retain resi-

dents the focus of a semester-long class project.

Led by Robert Basow, Associate Professor at KU’s

William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Com-

munications, the class has been interviewing HPNA offi-

cers and neighborhood residents to get a flavor of what

makes our area a desirable place to live.

To build on HPNA’s award-winning marketing and public

relations record, illustrated by successful events such as

the Hyde Park Homes Tour, the class will make strategy

recommendations to the HPNA Board and membership in

May after submitting a report to Basow.

At KU since 1987, Basow has led global student market-

ing projects focused on areas such as China, the Balkans

and Africa. Prior to that he had a 20-year marketing ca-

reer at pet food maker Ralston Purina.

“Our goal is to ultimately bridge any negative perceptions

of Hyde Park” says Christine Therese Hartigan, a class

member. “Once we have our primary research completed,

we will solidify our goals for the project.”

At HPNA’s general membership meeting on March 19,

several students led a focus group of association members

to solicit reaction to a slide presentation of images and

concept messaging about Hyde Park.

Commenting on what makes Hyde Park unique, Central

Hyde Parker and native Minnesotan Paul Stevermer said

our neighborhood has been the most welcoming commu-

nity of the more than 20 he and his wife, Debbie, have

lived in around the world as a U.S. naval family.

HPNA elections postponed

Due to the lack of a quorum at the March 19 general

membership meeting, officer elections for vacant

positions will be held at the April 16 meeting at 7pm at

Central Presbyterian Church.

Per HPNA bylaws, at least 20 paid members need to vote

in person at a meeting in order for an election to be valid.

We were three people short in March.

Current officer vacancies include 2nd Vice President and

Central Hyde Park representative. As of late March,

members Gene Morgan and Paul Stevermer were run-

ning unopposed for these two seats, respectively. Inter-

ested candidates may contact any board member or can

be nominated from the floor on the day of election.

“Most of the time I was lucky to get to know two or

three people in our whole neighborhood before we

had to move,” he said. “Within a month of moving

here (from the Washington, D.C. area), I had met

everyone on my block (on Holmes).”

In a report provided to The Hyde Parker, the student

team said it expects to gather qualitative and quan-

titative data with an e-mail survey to residents in

the weeks ahead.

The report added that “on the survey will be qualita-

tive questions that can be translated into identifiable

data. Lastly, we will include open-ended questions to

get a better sense of how unique respondents feel

about their neighborhood. The survey will be distrib-

uted through online and possibly in person, by using

the Hyde Park resident database, city contact infor-

mation and personal contacts throughout the area.”


A candyman keeps good taste in North Hyde Park

Bitterman’s Eye Candy store shown above is at

3107 Gillham Rd. at a former Borden’s ice cream

plant. It is just south of the flower shop on 31st

Street. The company’s long-time marketing tag-

line...Have A Sweet Day!

Continued from pg. 1

As businesses on Troost and Main closed up, Bitterman

reached out to a bigger audience without leaving a region

that his family has called home for generations. A family

marriage certificate from St. Louis dated Sept. 24, 1852,

hangs in the company's offices, along with many old pho-

tos and candy memorabilia.

One vintage photo is the entrance of the former Commu-

nity State Bank at 3131 Troost, showing a large cache of

pennies that the Bittermans brought in from gumball ma-

chines that accidently spilled onto the sidewalk. By the

1970s, high inflation meant it took six cents to buy what

a penny could buy when Bernard had started the com-

pany with 10 gumball machines.

"The bank left. I stayed," Alan says. (Community State

merged with another bank during the 1974 recession af-

ter having built a new branch in 1960 at 3330 Troost that

is now a vacant building).

An alumnus of Southwest High School and the former

Bancroft Elementary School in Manheim Park, Alan

traces his family's regional retailing roots to the 1870s,

when one ancestor had a general store in Junction City,

KS near Fort Riley, at the time home to the 7th Cavalry

Regiment. A store photo is also on the wall.

"The family followed the soldiers" Alan says.

The Gillham store is the Bittermans' third retail location

since the 1970s, when the company had candy-only

stores on 17th & Oak and 31st & Oak. The new store is

far larger and builds on a merchandising concept Alan

says was pioneered in Midtown by Urban Mining.

Over the years, the family has accumulated a lot of

candy-related toys, point-of-sale displays, unique adver-

tising and collectibles from long-time clients such as

Russell Stover. In fact, some heirlooms have, in the past,

been on loan to the American Craft Museum.

Alan's adult children, Stewart, Leslie and Cassandra,

and Marilyn, Alan's wife of 55 years, are all involved in

managing the business. In fact, in the 1980s, Marilyn

introduced Jelly Bellies brand jelly beans to Kansas

City, becoming the Los Angeles firm’s first

U.S. distributor.

The Bitterman corporate board room has a modest table,

with a large Hallmark-created candy puzzle mounted on

the rear wall and a vintage navy blue metal Confection-

ary sign dominating the room. The topic de jour on a

sign board: How much of the $19 billion a year in U,S.

retail chocolate sales should the Bittermans pursue as a

business goal?

Relative to mass market chocolate distributors such as

Russell Stover, Godiva and Fannie Mae, Bitterman has

succeeded by being a niche business, with a focus on

marketing small batches from U.S. manufacturers the

way a microbrewer is to beer.

Gummies seem especially popular these days, Alan says,

and Bitterman's catalog features 27 varieties including

butterflies, flowers, and red, 12-flavor gummy bears.

One new source of wholesale business the company is

hoping to tap are schools and non-profits doing fund-

raising, he notes.

Store hours of Bitterman Eye Candy & Vintage Market

are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and

from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Volume 40 Issue 4 THE HYDE PARKER

From Kansas and a coffeehouse to a Hyde Park home

Couple plan to restore, wed at McKecknie property Planning a wedding always involves hard work

and patience. For Dr. Richard Suminski and

his fiancé Allie Quaiver, a barista, the next six

months will likely involve refinishing floors,

painting, remodeling bathrooms, electrical

work and maybe redesigning the driveway at

720 East 36th St.

The couple purchased the 107-year-old John

McKecknie-designed home from the Jackson

County Board of Services for the Developmen-

tally Disabled in early March. Within a week,

they moved in with a U-Haul.

Richard and Allie plan to tie the knot in Octo-

ber and hold their wedding reception at the

Central Hyde Park property. The 4,366 sq ft.,

eight-bedroom, five-bath unique three-story

and carriage house had been a group home

since the 1970s.

An octagon staircase and original first floor

oak woodwork are intact, but nearly every

room needs updating. Water damage is evident

on the third floor, and Allie says an alarm sys-

tem is oddly wired. The prior owner found the

property costly to maintain amid increased

regulatory expenses for group homes.

“We want to restore this place as much as pos-

sible to its original layout and feel,” Richard

says. “We have a five-year plan.”

The biggest discovery so far is a hidden ser-

vants’ staircase. Some walls that partitioned

living space for privacy have already come

down, creating new places to explore for the

couple’s three cats –Rambo, Suzzie and Helga.

Richard is a physiology professor at the Kan-

sas City University of Medicine and Biosci-

ences (KCUMB) and moved from Kansas City,

KS, while Allie moved from a Paseo Blvd.

home. They met three years ago at her job at

the Main Street Starbucks. She’s originally

from Omaha and he’s from Pennsylvania.

“I was riding my bike from work through the

neighborhood one day and somehow I had this

feeling that here is where I would live,”

Richard says.

“We’re really happy we found it” Allie adds.

During the late 1920s and 1930s, 720 East

36th was owned by Joseph Layton Mauze, a

pastor at Central Presbyterian Church, and an

author of religious books. The home’s original

owner was Charles Graniss, a railroad execu-

tive. Its architect, McKecknie, was noted for

his pioneering work in the use of concrete.

Hyde Park: A Faculty Favorite

For many academics such as Richard, our neighborhood is viewed

as a great oasis to live, learn and think. Last year, two musicians,

one a horn professor at UMKC, moved here from suburban Vir-

ginia. Professors of history, dentistry, art, architecture, family

medicine and environmental studies also call Hyde Park home.

Catherine Thompson, a medical researcher and Central Hyde

Park homeowner since 1978, says the presence of so many nearby

and growing health care institutions makes our neighborhood an

increasingly popular choice for doctors.

“Everything is within 5-10 minutes even during rush hour. We

are close to Hospital Hill (Children's Mercy Hospital, Truman

Medical Center, and the UMKC School of Medicine), St. Luke's

Hospital and KU Medical Center. Hyde Park is also very near the

Linda Hall Library and Rockhurst University — all places where

health care professionals can access journals and resources for

professional development.” Catherine explains.

___________________________________________________________

“We want to restore this place as much as possible to its original layout and feel. We have

a five-year plan.”

____________________________________________________________

At KCUMB, Richard says the first and second year medical stu-

dents he teaches are generally more apt to discover Hyde Park

than his peers, who for the most part commute from the North-

land or Johnson or Wyandotte Counties.

“People don’t realize the great life they are missing,’’ Allie says.

For Richard, our area’s public health challenges have also been a

source of research. In 2007, he co-authored a study of more than

400 Midtown and East Side Kansas City renters that showed a

strong correlation between living in highly concentrated, subsi-

dized housing and higher rates of obesity.

The study recommended less density, more public green space for

exercise and increased security measures around apartment

properties so that people feel safer spending more time outdoors.

Richard Suminski and his fiancé Allie Quaiver try to hold a pose

with their yellow lab Cosmo and Suzzie, one of the new Hyde Park

couple’s cats. They purchased the 1906 concrete porch home shown

above in early March and are converting it back to single-family use.

THE HYDE PARKER

The Hyde Parker is a monthly newsletter published

by the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, Inc.

Monthly Meetings —

Central Presbyterian Church, 3501 Campbell HPNA Board: Second Mondays, 6:30 p.m.

General Membership Third Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.

Crime and Safety The KCPD Central Patrol of-

fices on Linwood Ave have responsibility for Hyde Park. These officers can be reached at

816.719.8044 daily, Officers meet with

neighbors monthly at 7pm on the last Thursday from January to October.

The HP Playgroup: Wednesdays 10am to

noon. Contact Becky Nelson at

[email protected]

Your 2013 HPNA Board Volume 40 Issue 4

The Hyde Parker contact information

Editor/Publisher Mark Dillon [email protected]

Photographer Crissy Dastrup [email protected]

Hyde Park Neighborhood Assoc., Inc. P.O. Box 32551

Kansas City, Mo 64171

Meetings & More President Angela Splittgerber 531.3899 [email protected]

1st Vice President Chris Harper 547.7308 [email protected]

2nd Vice President Vacancy [email protected]

Treasurer Clara Keller 960.4669 [email protected]

Historian Wayne Tomkins 531.7777 [email protected]

Recording

Secretary

Tina Wurth 931.7837 recordingsecretary@

hydeparkkc.org

Corresponding

Secretary

Mark Dillon 960.1492 correspondingsecretary@

hydeparkkc.org

North Area

Directors

Joe Denes

Abigail FitzGerald

853.8557

785.383.

2566

[email protected]

Central Area

Directors

Jill Burton

Vacancy

522.8535

[email protected]

South Area

Directors

William Dowdell

Jessica Hogancamp

703.9340

585.5628

[email protected]

Westport Middle and High Schools

KCPS Repurposing Update

Saturday April 6 9am to Noon

At Redeemer Fellowship, 3921 Baltimore Ave.

Hear revised presentations from two developers and

offer your comments.

The Hyde Parker · Bernard, managed gumball machines in Midtown and founded the company. They sold...

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Transcript of The Hyde Parker · Bernard, managed gumball machines in Midtown and founded the company. They sold...