Dec. 19, 2019

The Kitchen has a home.

The co-working and networking center for women envisioned by founder Jen Kolb will be at 4301 S. Racket Drive, not far from 49th Street and Louise Avenue.

It most recently was the consignment store Boutique Jillian.

“It feels like a big relief, and now the real work starts,” Kolb said.

She originally looked at downtown spaces, but as nothing came together and feedback from members built, she changed her approach.

“Accessibility was a huge issue. Parking was a huge issue. And nothing downtown was really checking the boxes,” she said.

Her new 4,000-square-foot space will allow for up to 75 members, conference space and a child care area.

She is interviewing for a director of child care and estimates she can accommodate eight to 10 kids upon opening, depending on their ages. There’s a four-hour time limit, and the service is available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, which is when The Kitchen will be staffed.

The child care will include “educational programming and events for the kids to keep them engaged and entertained,” Kolb said.

The Kitchen also will offer private rooms and host educational and social events.

“I feel like it’s a space for all women and for parents as well,” Kolb said. “It can be a business owner, a remote employee, a stay-at-home mom, anyone who needs the space to work on their work or a passion project, a community network that needs space. It’s really available to anyone,  and the possibilities are kind of endless.”

Kolb began her effort with a crowdfunding campaign that raised $10,000 and resulted in eight founding members.

“It allowed me to have the money I needed to find the space and get the deposits done,” she said.

She will run a special on memberships for a little while longer, she said. For information on how they are structured, click here. 

The hope is to be up and running in the new space sometime in February. Kolb plans to offer events and hard hat tours during construction so members and prospective members can follow along with the progress.

“I’m doing a little construction to get walls set up for the child care space and an extra conference room and will do a little face lift for the aesthetics, and then I’ll be ready to open up.”