The Arcade in Downtown Dayton has another new tenant — it now offers a cashless grocery within its entrance.
The storefront has around 1,000 square feet of shopping space, with a grab and go concept.
Beyond Grocery stands in the space of the former Startup Grounds within the Arcade Innovation Hub powered by PNC.
The store opened April 15. It will operate in a cafe style for its first year, owner Jaye Willoughby said.
"A lot of the business owners have been here for years," she said. "So having a space here to come down to and then it being closed, they were very welcoming for us to be in this place, which has been really great for us."
Willoughby graduated from Ponitz Career Technology Center in 2013 and remained local while attending the University of Dayton. After graduating, she continues to work with the university as the University of Dayton Alumni Community Leader.
"I've been in this role for two years and so a part of me being community leader — is kind of merging the two. Merging the business aspect of me being owner of Beyond Grocery and then the community aspect of me being the community leader into one space. Because I am blessed to have this space where people can sit and do whatever they want to do."
The University of Dayton has about 500 students that attend the Arcade Entrepreneur’s Center for class every semester, according to a report from Dayton Daily News.
Willoughby said she plans to invite students, whether they are taking classes at the Hub or not, to make connections and network at her storefront.
"It matters a great deal to us how those interactions and connections occur," said Scott Koorndyk, president of the Entrepreneur Center and executive vice president of the Arcade Innovation Hub. "It matters a great deal to us the kind of environment that people feel when they walk in. And so that's why we were so passionate about Jaye and Beyond Grocery, because she's got the natural connection based on what she does."
Willoughby said she opened this business in the Arcade because it offers a unique platform to kick-off her own entrepreneurial ideas.
“I knew that if I was gonna take an innovative idea anywhere, it should be to the arcade for innovation," she said.
The store is a good addition to the Hub Koorndyk said. It offers a quick access point for 150 companies that come through their doors every day.
"Of all of the operations that we've had in the space, none has attracted the kind of clients at the volume that Jaye and Beyond Grocery have. No question," he said. "She's created an energy, a buzz, a real loyalty that none of our other operators have ever really been able to capture."
Phase two at Beyond Grocery will include QR code lockers with heating and cooling capabilities, Willoughby said.
"(It's) a concept that is already happening in bigger cities. But we're trying to figure out how to create that in a food space where they are refrigerated versus heated and those types of things," she said. "So we're still figuring out the specifics on that."
Willoughby is working with the University of Dayton and UD Alumni to run the storefront. So far they have seen an average of 60 orders a day.
“That could be from just a drip coffee to someone wanting our 11 o'clock lunch experience," she said. "We have a different vendor every day that caters lunch.”
In addition to offering locally sourced lunches, Willoughby is working with about 10 local businesses and vendors to provide staple products. That includes Miller's Grind and Brew coffee, Side Piece Soul Cafe, Boss Potato and Jazzi Delights Bakery.
"The easiest thing that Beyond Grocery could have done to be sort of a grab and go space is put a bunch of packaged food up there and done just a fine operation," Koorndyk said. "But Jaye's commitment to us as people in the building, the members of the space, Jaye's commitment to other small businesses in this community, and Jaye's commitments to entrepreneurs in general is really inspiring. She's an entrepreneur who's serving entrepreneurs."
Willoughby said opening and stocking the store cost over $30,000 and was funded by the University of Dayton, her Willoughby Firm and other investing alumni.
A grand opening will take place in August with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
