HANNIBAL — Among Hannibal's youngest entrepreneurs, 20-year-old Kendell Locke is already in business season.
Her business is Hula Bowls, which she operated in Hannibal during the spring and summer of 2023.
Now, the Marketing and Entrepreneurship major is looking forward to May. In the same month, she will not only receive her bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, but will also be reopening her own business, Hula Bowls, for its second season. The store is located on Veterans Road between US 36 and West Ely Road.
The business presence will be very different this year, he said.
When she opens her business on May 18, it will be in a new building. “I designed the building with the help of Mr. Shellenberger's drafting class at HCTC. “Since then, all the building contractors have followed it,” she said.
Instead of the shed-type building that housed the Hula Bowl last season, this year's building will be 30 x 40 square feet and will feature indoor seating and outdoor decks on two sides, as well as sun and shade seating, as well as a drive-thru. It becomes possible. There is ample kitchen space, allowing employees to perform many preparation tasks on-site, such as blending bases.
“I started Hula Bowl because I wanted to have something to put on my resume. I wanted to get into a pretty competitive graduate program,” she said. To make her resume stand out, she “started experimenting with different ideas and businesses that I could do over the summer.”
When she graduated from Hannibal High School in 2022, she had already racked up college credit hours through dual enrollment. She says, “HHS is very good at giving students the opportunity to earn credit.In college, you take 120 hours of classes, but I transferred with 54 hours and was placed on other credit-earning placements.'' I took the test.
She takes advantage of summer school and mid-term courses to complete her bachelor's degree program in two years instead of four.
During class, she said, “I did a lot of market research. I go to school for marketing and entrepreneurship. I used these projects to learn about my business.''
“I settled on the acai bowl,” she said. “There aren't a lot of healthy drive-thru options in Hannibal, and there aren't any allergy-friendly options. That's what Hula Bowl is, so we thought this was something the public was looking for.”
“I was more right than I thought,” she said. She started her vacation last summer by herself and three of her friends. “We already had a schedule in place for the summer. After our opening weekend, we realized we needed more people. Our company grew quickly and ended the season with 25 employees.
Two more additions are in the works.
First, starting May 18th, Hannibal's Hula Bowl will be open year-round. And his second location will open starting in June at 3000 N. Broadway in Quincy, Illinois, right next to Papa His Murphy's.
health products
The Hula Bowl is a spin on the acai bowl, which “already existed,” Kendell said. In addition to bases made with acai fruit from the Amazon rainforest, we also offer dragon fruit, mango, and coconut bases.
Build your combo by adding toppings like granola, fresh fruit, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips on top of the base. We have a menu and can customize it to suit your needs.
“We hand-cut all the fruit we sell. We do it very quickly. The time we spend cutting fresh fruit is worth it for the final product,” she said. “No one likes thawed frozen fruit. It's not that good.”
Last year, they obtained fruit from every available source. This year, “we're working with all the fruit vendors and wholesalers in the area,” she said. Still, unpredictability in customer orders can cause major disruptions in the supply chain. “One day, everyone started buying blueberries, so I had to buy more. It fluctuates so much.
“Last year, I would go running for more fruit or call my mom or grandma for extra help. This year, I have more space, so I'm buying more in bulk. If we run low on inventory in one location, we'll move it from another location. That way we won't have any issues with running out of things.”
good thing
This year, “a lot of things are going to be the same,” she said. “Last year we got into a rhythm that worked really well. There's still a lot of things going through trial and error. I try to be open and flexible to the opinions of my employees. They're more in the field than I am. , understand what's working and what needs to be reevaluated.
“I love my staff. The people who work there care about success as much as I do. I couldn't have asked for better people. My customers love it too.”
Hannibal's location near Hannibal Regional Hospital “was great. Many of our customers are hospital employees. Starting this summer, we will open at 6 a.m. to allow more hospital staff to commute.”
To encourage other young people to start businesses in Hannibal, she created a scholarship for entrepreneurial students. She offers her $1,000 in start-up capital to Hannibal High School students interested in starting a business. “We're looking forward to seeing who applies. They have to create a super basic business plan, including a simple competitive analysis, and submit it along with their business idea. We'll have a few people take a look at it. We hope to continue this every year. Hannibal is growing, new businesses are coming in, and there's a lot of potential. I want to foster further growth in any way I can.”
Kendell Locke is the daughter of David and Sarah Locke of Hannibal.
