One million antiques go on sale at Kansas City shop reopened for one last day
The sale at the Kansas City antiques shop, nay, building, on W. 45th Street — three stories tall and jammed with what its owners estimate to be one million items — was not to begin Wednesday until 11 a.m.
By 9 a.m., a line of 50 antique hunters were already standing outside in the raw, wet, 40-degree weather waiting to shoulder their way through the towering maze of furniture, glassware, clocks, statuary, lamps, paintings, crockery, mounted animal heads, and all other manner of curios and baubles amassed by the late antiques scion of W. 45th Street, Melvin Dwain Smith.
“Want to see the craziness?” Smith’s daughter, Jody Beynon, said, allowing one more visitor — no more than a couple at a time for safety's sake — into the sale, reluctantly held, and lasting two days for cash or Venmo only.
Thursday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m, will be the last of it.
When Smith, at 83, died in December, Beynon and her sister, Jami Pryor, had no intention of opening any of their father’s multiple shops again to customers. Smith owned several, all equally packed, and all in the West Plaza area along W. 45th Street between State Line Road and Wyoming Street.
Since his death, the family has been emptying them out in bulk.
“Basically,” Beynon said, “We’ve only been selling to dealers. That’s the way we’ve gotten rid of everything. It’s easier to sell in big mass. . .We have not been open to the public. Dealers only.”
Except, Beynon said, the public kept calling, urging her to reopen one more time. “So many people have been hounding us to get in,” she said.
Among them was Elizabeth Roberts, 31, who by day is the communications director of the Stanley M. Herzog Foundation, but who also has a TikTok and Instagram site @ourkansascityhome.
“I reached out to Dwain’s daughter after he passed and said, ‘Hey, I know your dad had a lot of cool stuff. Will we ever get the opportunity to shop again?’” Roberts said. “She said, ‘Well, I guess I can open up the store one or two more times. You can post it to your followers. We’ll see if anyone shows up.’”
Roberts posted on Sunday.
TikTok ‘went viral’
Beynon figured while they were packing and preparing to offload her father’s storehouse of antiques at 4501 Genessee St. — closed for five years and used mainly as a stockpile — having a few people in wouldn’t be a bother.
“She made a post about it,” Beynon said. “And it went viral. . . .We weren’t prepared for all this.”
Inventory is being offered for 50% or more off. Although the family only opened as a favor, Beynon said, she understands the crowd.
“So many people knew dad,” she said. “They want a chance to shop one last time. I mean dad was just a very charismatic person.”
Hour-after-hour, the line of 50 persisted, with only a handful of customers being allowed entry at any one time, and only under certain rules: No going in the basement. Too packed. No going upstairs. Too packed. Only material on the 1st floor is for sale and, for the most part, only items that are easy to access.
“Our biggest concern is upsetting people,” Beynon said, “that they’re going to have to wait in line. We just want people to know that we’re trying to get them in as soon as possible. But if you take a walk around in here, you’re going to see that it’s just like . . .”
Packed with goods.
‘Worth the wait, I hope’
Meghan Neuman and her mother, Nancy Neuman, came in from Leawood.
“We wanted to check it out. We were so excited to see it on social media,” Nancy Neuman said.
“I love to buy different things for my place,” Meghan said.
“She’s the one with style,” her mother said.
Stacy King, who runs her own online Instagram shop, Maison du Roi (as in King), came in from Lee’s Summit.
“I usually go to France to get antiques,” she said, “this is one of the sole places I used to be able to come to source high-end French antiques. So, very sorry to hear of his passing, but excited that his daughter is letting us in to shop.”
Konner Wales, 33, of Kansas City cradled a ceramic vase under his arm and held a brass teapot.
“I saw something on TikTok, there would be a lot of great deals here. I figured I’d stand in line and check it out. So far I’m about five items in.”
Outside, Lacey Mammen waited in the cold about midway through the hour-long line.
“I just bought my first house,” she said. “I just saw that there’s some wonderful, beautiful antiques, nice pieces in here. I saw a gal on TikTok share it. I’m just really excited. It’s going to be worth the wait, I hope.”
The building at 4501 Genessee remains up for sale. Smith owned several properties on the block. While some customers and area residents have said that they hope the properties will again house antiques dealers, others have said they would like to see different businesses, including restaurants.
Beynon said that neither she nor her sister, who have the buildings up for sale, are interested in being commercial landlords. It remains uncertain in what way the neighborhood will change or what businesses will come to occupy Smith’s former properties.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 5:01 PM.
