Joseph Gidman Talks Taking a Chance on C-Street

It takes a lot of heart to become an entrepreneur, but it takes an analytical mind to succeed at it. Joseph Gidman is one of the rare ones who possesses equal parts of both.

Between 2011 and 2013, he was working on a business plan for his first restaurant. His mother, Claire Gidman, had recently inherited some money, and she approached Joseph about becoming an investor and business partner. Searching for the concept’s home became a family affair, and they found what they thought was the perfect space in a strip mall on Battlefield. It was going to be a fast-casual concept to match the bustling nature of the Southside. 

But one Sunday morning after completing a pre-signed lease, Joseph awoke with a pit in his stomach. He called his parents. “They had woken up with the same feeling,” he says. “In our guts, we felt like we were making a mistake.” His dad asked him if there was any other place he’d been considering, so Joseph told him about a space on Commercial Street. Joseph’s friend Greg Johnson worked at Southern Bank at the time and had previously approached him about opening a restaurant at 234 E. Commercial Street. Initially, he had dismissed the idea, mainly due to the old stigma of Commercial Street and the Northside. 

But something was telling him to give it a second thought, so he and his parents headed there that same day to peer into the windows of the historic building. 

“We could see everything on the inside and kept thinking, ‘This would be perfect,’” he recalls. “But we also kept thinking, ‘Not a good location, not a good location.’”

Andy Walls, owner of The Savoy, just so happened to walk by in full zombie gear, ready to participate in the popular event, Thriller on C-Street. Although his appearance definitely startled the Gidmans, he explained that the owners had given him the keys to the building and asked if they wanted to look inside. The moment they walked in, they had an overwhelming feeling. This was the place. 

They got the contact for the owners and went over to Big Momma’s Coffee & Espresso Bar. Joseph spent the next hour counting how many people came into the coffee shop. Not only that, he paid attention to how many people had iPhones and MacBooks, which were two reliable signs of a business professional in 2013. He was also surprised at how many people came in on bicycles, which he knew meant they had to live close. 

“The place was consistently busy, and I realized there was a market for a restaurant up here that nobody was tapping into,” he says. “That’s when I started looking deeper. I looked at how close it was to the city government, to Paul Mueller Company, to the industrial park off of Division Street and to hotels on the Northside.” 

And that’s the short story of how Cafe Cusco came to be on Commercial Street. 

Expanding All Across C-Street

One idea Joseph had even before Cafe Cusco was for a tea and spice shop. After initially doing the research and running the numbers, he realized it wouldn’t be sustainable on its own, so he shelved the idea. But when he opened Cafe Cusco, he suddenly had a need for spices and tea. The only way to receive a wholesale discount on these items for the restaurant was to buy them in large quantities, which meant that opening a tea and spice shop started to make a lot more sense financially. 

“In the past, I had worked for Darden Restaurants, which had owned Red Lobster at the time,” he says. “One of the things that they had drilled into us was the idea of buying power. They would own all the different boats they caught the seafood on, and then they’d source that seafood for their restaurant. They would get the best at the cheapest price, and then they’d sell the rest of the seafood to other people.”

He realized the tea and spice shop could follow a similar business model. He could get a bulk discount on the spices and tea he uses, and sell the rest to the community.

In 2014, Commercial Street advocate Mary Collette approached Joseph about opening a business at 209 E. Commercial Street. This building that neighbored her event venue, Historic Firehouse No. 2, was about to go up for auction. She was willing to purchase the building, with the idea that Joseph would buy the building from her at fair market value when he was able. This would be the spot for what is now Chabom Teas + Spices, which opened in 2015. 

The origin stories of his other businesses follow a similar theme. Joseph has an idea, analyzes it carefully and teams up with friends, family and other community members who believe in Commercial Street to make it happen. He opened Van Gogh’s Eeterie at 334 E. Commercial Street in 2018, and seven years later, he opened his newest and biggest Commercial Street project to date: La Roux Bistro. 

When contractors unexpectedly unearthed the hidden structure at 300 E. Commercial Street in 2017, it altered the course of the building’s future. It was originally going to become the home of a wine bar, but now, with three stories,  the project was too large. Multiple other culinary entrepreneurs would consider opening a concept there in later years, but ultimately Joseph was the only one uniquely qualified to see it through and transform it into La Roux Bistro.

His Unwavering Commitment to the Northside

There’s no denying that Joseph’s businesses have played a pivotal role in Commercial Street’s renaissance, and others have taken notice. In 2024, the Missouri Division of Tourism honored him as the recipient of the Tracy Kimberlin Hospitality Award at the Missouri Governor’s Conference. This award recognizes an individual or business that has demonstrated excellent customer service.

But still, Joseph felt that he needed to do more to commit to the area. “I had been putting all my time and money and effort and passion on the Northside, but I still didn’t feel like a ‘real Northsider’ since I was living in another part of town,” he says. “I felt like an imposter.” 

In late 2024, he sold his home in Phelps Grove and bought a house in Midtown. Commercial Street is the northern border of this neighborhood that’s filled with Victorian and Craftsman homes. It’s Springfield’s largest remaining concentration of historic residential architecture, according to the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation. This move is a testament to how much Joseph truly believes in the Northside’s potential for growth and the role his businesses will continue to play in it. 

“Chains and corporations put millions of dollars into testing things, training and research before they put out a product,” he says. “But when you’re a mom and pop, you basically have a dream, and there’s no book. It’s all trial and error… I fail a lot more than people realize, but I just don’t give up.”