Big Grove Brewery, a microbrewery and full-service restaurant based in Iowa, plans to open its first Kansas location at the Macy’s redevelopment in Prairie Village.
This is the first new tenant publicly known to be taking one of four retail spaces available at the redevelopment site at 71st Street and Mission Road, which has been under construction since January.
Pending city approvals and construction, the brewery hopes to open by May 2026.
Bryan Farrell, director of marketing for Big Grove Brewery, said Prairie Village stood out to the Iowa microbrewery over a two-year expedition to find a new location in either Kansas City or the Omaha areas.
Farrell said Big Grove liked the city’s “neighborhood feel” and the pedestrian traffic witnessed by company leaders in the dead of winter earlier this year. Coupled with the site’s street-facing facade, the Macy’s redevelopment won over Big Grove.
“All of the things just kind of seemed to align,” Farrell said. “It came down to that and one other location, and we just like the neighborhood feel, the community feel of Prairie Village more.”
Anchoring the site will be Hen House, the only other known tenant for the Macy’s redevelopment. Hen House will move from its existing Shops of Prairie Village location into the bottom floor of the renovated space.
Big Grove wants to add a restaurant and patio
Big Grove Brewery plans to take one of the four retail spaces, 7060 Mission Road, available on the second floor of the Macy’s redevelopment, Farrell said.
The microbrewery will occupy roughly 12,000 square feet of a corner space, Farrell said. Big Grove Brewery’s Prairie Village location proposes the following space breakdown, as outlined in city documents:
- A production area to brew, ferment and package beer, occupying roughly 6% of the total square footage.
- A kitchen and restaurant, along with indoor seating and an outdoor patio space, totaling about 75% of the microbrewery’s footprint.
- A retail area to sell merchandise and packaged beer.
- Code-compliant off-street parking and landscaping.
The menu will be determined by head chef, brewer
Farrell said individual head brewers and head chefs at each of the company’s five breweries — four of which are in Iowa and one that is set to open within the next week in Omaha — develop site-specific menus.
Big Grove Brewery’s most popular food items include burgers and chicken sandwiches, but it also sells poke bowls, Farrell said.
Each location features a full-service restaurant and a family-friendly environment, Farrell said.
As for the beer, Prairie Village may have already gotten a taste of what Big Grove Brewery has to offer. In March, the company began selling “The Neighborhood Beer” in the area, including Rimann Liquors in Prairie Village and Ranchmart Wine & Spirits in Leawood.
This particular beer benefits the company’s nonprofit, Big Grove for Good, as $1 of every case sold goes directly to the charity. Big Grove for Good uses this money for two different grant programs, a community grant program and a micro-grant program, Farrell said.
The community grants are county-based, and Farrell said that Big Grove Brewery will find Johnson County organizations to award the two $8,000 grants.
Micro-grants, ranging from $250 to $1,000, are also available to communities where Big Grove Brewery beer is distributed, Farrell said, including in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
“The neighborhood micro-grants can go to anybody; we’ve had everyone from an event organizer here in Iowa City to a community garden to some different after-school programs,” Farrell said, adding that other ideas for micro-grants include a local lending library or even a wheelchair ramp for a neighbor.
A few city approvals need to happen first
The microbrewery hopes to open its Shops of Prairie Village location no later than May 2026, Farrell told the Post.
Before that, Big Grove Brewery needs its special use permit approved by both the Prairie Village Planning Commission and the Prairie Village City Council.
The microbrewery will go before the planning commission at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. If approved, then the special use permit will appear before the city council at a later date.
The city council meets on the first and third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at city hall, 7700 Mission Road.
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