Community Builders of Kansas City has added three new employees to CBKC Eats, its subsidiary formed to provide healthy food options in underserved areas. It owns and operates KC Sun Fresh on the Boulevard located at 4209 E. 50th Terr. and KC Sun Fresh at Linwood, 3110 Wabash Ave. in Kansas City, Missouri.
Laura Hohlbaugh brings 16 years of experience working for Target Corporation where she managed one of the most successful stores in the company’s portfolio. She joins CBKC Eats as chief retail operations officer in charge of operations, sales performance, payroll planning, P&L, guest service, recruiting, training and onboarding. While the job description is similar to that at Target, the roles are anything but.
“At CBKC, there is a mission and I am working toward a purpose and doing good,” she explained. “Whereas my previous job was sales-oriented, I feel like here I’m more people-oriented. I’m developing and training employees and integrating with customers and community. Here you’re not just working towards a corporation’s bottom line; you’re working so that people have healthy food to put on their tables and feed their families, and that motivates me.”
Additionally, she explained that coming to work on the East Side felt like coming home.
“My family has owned a business in this community since the 1970s and I worked there from fourth grade until college, so I really grew up in this area,” she said.
Hohlbaugh says her goal for both stores is to increase traffic and sales.
“We don’t need to turn a huge profit but we do need to keep the stores alive for employees and communities,” she said.
Olivier (O.T.) Kabuya has always had a strong desire to make a positive impact in the local community. That is why he joined CBKC Eats as store director for KC Sun Fresh on the Boulevard. He had followed CBKC’s work in the area and was impressed.
“The organization speaks for itself,” Kabuya said. “It is dedicated to building communities and has a 30-year track record to prove it.”
Kabuya also had two CBKC employees recruiting him. He worked with Hohlbaugh at Target and it was she who originally reached out about the position. Michael Dayton, assistant to CBKC’s president, has been a mentor to him for 20 years. The two met at church and Dayton took Kabuya under his wing, supporting him throughout his career. He also encouraged Kabuya to come work for CBKC. Kabuya said once he met Emmet Pierson, president and CEO, the deal was sealed.
“I was very impressed with Emmet,” he said. “It was clear right away that his passion for and commitment to this community are unparalleled.”
As store director, Kabuya is charged with planning, day-to-day operations and executing strategies that ensure the store’s efficient operation and set the foundation for CBKC Eats to grow and expand.
Kabuya is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has lived in the U.S. since 1994. He speaks seven languages fluently.
For Tony Gutierrez, the grocery business is in his blood. He started in the industry at the age of 16 as a sacker at Lipari Brothers Thriftway in Kansas City, Kansas. For the past 30 years he has worked his way up through various departments and roles, gaining experience in nearly every facet of the business. He brought that expansive experience to CBKC when CBKC took over the Lipari Bros. Sun Fresh store at the Linwood location in February of 2022.
Gutierrez is store director of KC Sun Fresh at Linwood, responsible for all departments, operations and sales. When in the store, he can be identified as the guy wearing a cool hat. Gutierrez shares that the Linwood store is doing well.
“Today we’re doing great — our store is beautiful; vendors tell me it looks better than some Johnson County grocery stores,” he said. “We have a good customer base because we always have what they need in stock and our selection is excellent.”
Gutierrez appreciates that his job and the store are integral to the community.
“If we weren’t here, this would be a food desert and that, along with my co-workers, is what gets me going every morning,” he said. “I know that the community and my employees depend on this store and that fuels me to work hard every day.”