KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Businesses coming and going is nothing new for the Country Club Plaza. But another business will soon be on the way out.
RE:, a local home furnishing store, will join a number of retailers who have left the popular Kansas City shopping district.
“We are so sad. It was a gut wrenching decision to make,” said Chrysalyn Huff, RE: president.
RE: has been nestled in the County Club Plaza for about four years. Huff said the COVID pandemic plus other factors have led her to not renew her lease there.
“We are in a situation where our building is in need of a lot of work. It’s not our building, and the resources are not getting put into those space right now,” she said.
Big box stores like Nike, Victoria’s Secret and several designer retailers have also moved out, leaving several empty store fronts.
FOX4 asked FleishmanHillard, which handles public relations for the County Club Plaza, about how it’s handling the turnover.
“We continue to patiently curate the right mix of tenants to ensure the ongoing success and longevity of the Plaza,” the agency said. “The right tenant lineup will always include beloved local businesses, popular national brands and emerging retailers that resonate with our loyal customers. Tenants may close for any number of reasons, but great new retailers and restaurants will come to take their place.”
But as some businesses leave, others are joining the scene at the Plaza.
One of the newer Plaza retailers is Archive. General manager Anthony Madison said the store moved into the shopping district six months ago. He doesn’t believe the big box stores that have left will have a negative impact on his business.
“Even without the bigger names we still kind of, you know, everyone is still doing well,” Madison said. “I would say the big names definitely help a little, but they’re not mandatory, especially for the Plaza. They’ve developed this to be such an environment. It’s desired to come here, with or without Nike.”
While RE: won’t be on the Plaza for much longer, its Crossroads location will still be open.
“We are growing on the manufacturing side,” Huff said. “We have some exciting opportunities in this area we can’t talk about yet but we are excited about.”
Here’s the complete statement from FleishmanHillard about the Plaza:
We continue to patiently curate the right mix of tenants to ensure the ongoing success and longevity of the Plaza. The right tenant lineup will always include beloved local businesses, popular national brands and emerging retailers that resonate with our loyal customers. Tenants may close for any number of reasons, but great new retailers and restaurants will come to take their place. With differing lease terms and other business considerations, this type of change takes time.
We were pleased to recently welcome Archive, Jill Marie Boutique, LensCrafters, Razzleberry, Sugah Rush Berries, Sweet Kiss Brigadeiro and an expansion to Made in Kansas City Marketplace to the Plaza. We look forward to the upcoming openings of Club Pilates, Ice Cream Bae, Lovesac, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel The Exhibition, Psycho Bunny and Pure Barre and will announce other new tenants as appropriate in 2022.