FETTERMAN’S WILL OPEN A SPOT AT CREEKSIDE IN 2025
Two years ago, Scott Fetterman was working 14-16-hour days preparing to open the doors to his new business and was feeling fairly certain Platte City was ready for a deli and market. After all, Scott, a Platte City resident himself, was familiar with the joke around town about the limits of available restaurants—Chinese, Mexican and fast food–and he was confident in his skills combining quality ingredients to create custom sandwiches.
When opening day arrived Dec. 20, 2022, a line of waiting customers meandered through the Fetterman’s store at 2405 N.W. Prairie View Road and spilled out the door. That’s when he knew the taste buds of locals were primed for his fare.
“I tried to do a soft opening,” he said, referring to the concept of limiting the number of first customers, getting their reactions and adapting before opening to the public. “There was nothing soft about it,” he said. ”It was definitely a hard opening.”
Kassie Fetterman, Scott’s wife, and business partner who does marketing for the business, said the early crowd and customers since prove the support from “people who knew us and knew Scott’s heart and knew he’d offer a quality product,” she said.
Due to the popularity of the market, Scott said he was forced to take measures to reduce the length of wait time—including investing in equipment to make the process of building sandwiches faster and he took down the large banner-style sign advertising the opening of the 1800-square-foot store.
After two profitable years, the couple recently announced they’re ready to launch a new location, with more square footage to house a greater selection—this time in Parkville. A Creekside developer planted the idea when he asked if Scott was interested in opening a new location. Scott and Kassie had considered a second location someday, but “I wasn’t going to do another location yet,“ he said.
The couple ultimately decided the time was right. They expect to hire about 30 new employees for the new location, Scott said. The new building, which construction workers broke ground on about three weeks ago, will open at Rustic Lane and Elizabeth Street in the Creekside Development in Parkville, he said.
The larger space, at 3,200 square feet, will open in spring 2025 and will feature some new items not offered at the original location, including a drive-through which space prevented at the Platte City location. A case featuring some imported items, such as sandwiches and salads, will be much larger and will offer meal prep kits at the new location. Plans also call for an expanded version of the outdoor meeting/dining/game space available at Platte City.
Scott first stacked quality ingredients to create custom sandwiches as a 16-year-old, working at a deli and market in St. Louis, where he was raised. He remembered the rush of excitement he felt after watching customers smile and comment on the quality as they ate his creations.
He attended the University of Missouri-Columbia as a business major but dropped out to pursue working as a sales rep for Boars head, a high-end meat and cheese manufacturer.
“I just had this yearning for that type of work,” he said.
While he stops short of describing the market’s options as “health-food,” he focuses on products with few, or, in some cases, no preservatives, nitrates, artificial ingredients and colors. Scott attributes the ingredients and the option for customers to choose their own sandwiches as keys to the deli’s success. While the higher quality ingredients cost more, preventing many establishments from stocking them, Scott said he’s noticed customers appreciate the quality as “it just tastes better.” Besides, “people like to come in and customize,” he said. “That’s the fun thing about what we offer.”
Gluten free bread and wraps also are available and workers take steps to reduce cross contamination for those customers.
The store offers products Scott considers high end from manufacturers such as Blue Belle ice cream in 12 flavors, Messenger Coffee, bottled spring water and Lucky’s Kombucha, a fermented, sweetened, and effervescent black tea. In fact, Fetterman’s is one of a very few Kansas City area locations offering Kombucha on tap, he said. He even purchases some items from out of state, such as NY bagels, which he describes as chewy on the inside, but crusty on the outside and encapsulates a “depth of flavor.” He also stocks Liscio’s Bread from Philadelphia, well-known throughout the East coast. Customers from that area are excited to learn of the offerings and often comment, he said.
Although his first location is well-established, he continues to add new products based on customer recommendations. Mostly known for their Reubens, Italian sandwiches and hot pastramis, he recently added Philly cheesesteak, and they are proving to be popular as well, he said.
Scott said his business philosophy is a bit old-fashioned in light of today’s fast-paced, low-contact, self-serve options which sometimes encourage customers to order from kiosks. Instead, he trains employees to “chat it up” with customers. Another personalization strategy is taking orders using customer names rather than numbers. That way employees learn the names of customers and he encourages employees to shout out names enthusiastically.
“Customers really appreciate how personable we are,” he said.
Scott and Kassie are ensuring their three sons, aged 10, 13 and 16, experience working in the store, he said. The three each have taken pride in performing a role at the business, Kassie said. For example, their 13-year-old son works with his grandfather on Kassie’s parents’ family farm near Weston and has enjoyed selling vegetables and pumpkins he has grown, she said.
Scott said he hopes to someday take Fetterman’s regional and offer it as franchises. Kassie said she believes it will eventually come to pass.
“There’s not a lot Scott has said he’d do that he doesn’t,” she said. “He’s an idea guy and that’s one of the things I love about him most.”
