Kiojae (pronounced Kae’ O Jay) Educational Supply Store was a dream that Anquenette Thirdkill never thought would come true.
She ran her own in-home daycare for 11 years while taking childcare and business development classes at St. Louis Community College in the late 1990s.
She contacted the Small Business Administration seven years ago with her business idea, but she did not have the resources or knowledge to follow the plan through.
Kiojoe, she said, started as a vision to create a single source of education supplies for those caring for children.
In doing daycare, Thirdkill and her staff would often have to travel to get supplies or shop online, where resources were often very limited.
“In the African-American community if you ask someone if they have ever heard of an educational store or if they have been in one, the answer is usually ‘no,’” Thirdkill explained. “That was one of the major reasons why I wanted to bring one to the inner city.”
Thus, Kiojae was born.
Conveniently located in the Central West End, Kiojae is educators’ one stop shop for arts and crafts, reading materials, teaching supplies, and toys and games for children, ages birth through eighth grade.
With help from Grace Hill Women’s Business Center and Habitat for Neighborhood Business, she developed a business plan for her store.
She told 4th Ward Alderman Samuel Moore about her business idea, and he pointed her in the direction of Habitat for Neighborhood Business.
The nonprofit agency opened a small retail incubator about a year ago at Olive Street and N. Taylor Avenue.
A health food business has moved in the area in addition to the education supply store. A couple of other business ventures are also in the works, said Terry Donohue, a Habitat board member who retired from Enterprise in 2006.
The center in the Central West End will operate as an incubator where business owners will have mentors, support with starting up and growing, and below-market rent.
Tenants will pay 50 percent of the market rate in the first year, about 70 percent in the second year and 90 percent thereafter.
“Anquenette is the exact type of person we are trying to recruit to help with opening businesses in the northern part of the city,” Donohue said.
It’s risky to start a business in a weak economy and in a low-income area, but area residents have to travel miles for cafes, pet shops and supply stores. He figures an education supply store in the neighborhood makes sense.
The organization is now working to open a larger retail incubator near the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Whittier Street on St. Louis’ North Side in efforts to revitalize the surrounding Ville neighborhood.
“In the 10 years that I have known Anquenette, she seeks knowledge; she’s relentless in questioning; she wants answers; and she helps make us do what she wants,” said Lynn Steele, director of economic development at Grace Hill.
To better assist in its efforts of Welfare to Work training and business development for women and minorities in underserved communities, Grace Hill opened the Larry Parker Business Development Center – which includes the Women’s Business Center, where Thirdkill was also taking classes.
“Over the years, I’ve watched her grow and develop from telling me that ‘I can’t speak to people’ to now you can’t stop her,” Steele said.
Thirdkill placed her son, Cornell Jr., as a member of her marketing team. Her brothers even chipped in to help her renovate the place. The grand opening on April 9 was actually her grandson’s birthday.
Kiojae’s ribbon-cutting celebration at 521 N. Taylor Ave. was bittersweet. Thirdkill’s father passed away just that morning.
Where did the name Kiojoe come from, anyway?
From Thirdkill’s two granddaughters, Nyakio (which is African) and Najae (which is French). Ironically, the store’s name, Kiojoe, came out to be Korean! It’s an acronym for Knowledge Is Our Joy And Expertise.
Currently the store operates online (www.kiojae.com), offering more than 20,000 items from different vendors.
Thirdkill said, “I guess they had a little faith in me.”
For more information, call 314-601-3883 or email info@kiojae.com.
