Customers at most kitchens spend about $20 an hour to rent the space, and in many cases need to purchase insurance that could run a few hundred dollars a year. Jones spends about $25 an hour for the kitchen rental, and product and kitchen insurance is about $600 a year. Another thing the shared-use kitchens have in common is their hours.
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Rent-a-kitchens sizzling
Offering facilities by the hour has become a cottage industry. For clients, they're key to a successful recipe.
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"It's a 24/7 operation," said Alexis Leverenz, who opened Kitchen Chicago after leaving Wall Street investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. with dreams of starting her own business. "People come in here at all times of the day and night, and it is thrilling to watch them trying to start their own businesses."
Leverenz said she has had a constant stream of interest since opening three years ago, and has even gotten some calls from people interested in starting their own rental kitchens.
A call to Leverenz for advice helped persuade Soraiya Nagree to strike out on her own. She and her husband opened Kitchen Space about four months ago in Austin, Texas.
They've outfitted Kitchen Space with three main areas -- a demonstration kitchen, a catering kitchen and a baking kitchen -- all with stainless steel appliances for the few dozen customers who have signed on. They also introduced a bit of technology to the concept, enabling customers to schedule their kitchen time online, and opened up an adjacent center where e-mail and other business can be done.
"For us it's a business, but for others it's an incubator for their own business dreams," Nagree said. "It all kind of meets here."
