A look at Zona Rosa’s new home furnishing store

Most retailers love it when they make a sale. But it can sometimes be a bittersweet experience for a partner in the new Brownstone.

Marla Brand stocks her Zona Rosa shop with the same mix of antique, vintage and new furnishings she has in her Kansas City home.

Some pieces she purchased wholesale from the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, which she attends twice a year. She also scours flea markets and estate auctions in four states during the Historic National Road Yard Sale, as well as estate sales and auctions in the Midwest.

Some neglected pieces she has brought back to life, like a l950s era dining room table, now repainted a cherry red with upholstered seats featuring the U.S. flag on white canvas.

“They are like my rescue animals. I have my home filled so now I can enjoy them here,” she said.

Until someone buys them that is.

The shop, which opened in late June at 7211 N.W. 86th Terrace, currently has such items as a $225 oak drafting table; vintage high school metal lockers; old glass plate negatives including one of a Scottish waterfall that feeds Loch Ness; barbecue sauce from a Liberty company and other specialty food products; jewelry including refashioned necklaces using vintage religious symbols; a rocking horse-shaped ceramic planter; vintage doorknobs and more.

“You can have some pieces from Restoration Hardware and then add these other pieces that are more unique so it doesn’t all look the same. That tends to be boring,” she said.

The Brownstone’s roots date back six years ago to when the Brand family started watching American Pickers — a reality show where the hosts travel across America searching for rare artifacts.

Youngest daughter, Madeline Brand, then 14, persuaded her father, Eddie Brand, and Marla to go to estate sales and auctions as a hobby. They filled up a truck and trailer at their first auction, then sold the items in a West Bottoms booth under the name Artistic Legacy.

A couple of years ago, Madeline, a dancer since she was a preschooler, left to pursue a dance career, first in Florida, now in New York where she also is modeling, and auditioning for commercials.

Three years ago Marla Brand and her oldest daughter, Jessica McKenna Brand, took over half a store in Excelsior Springs for Brownstone.

But the area didn’t attract a lot of traffic during the week, so the women only opened it on Fridays and Saturdays to take advantage of the tourist trade.

But their new Zona Rosa shop, which opened in late June at 7211 N.W. 86th Terrace, gives them daily foot traffic. It also is close enough to the airport to still get tourists but close enough to residential areas that it draws regulars.

The family, including Madeline, redecorated the former Wet Seal space to give it a European vintage feel. They tend to play music dating from 1940s big band to 1960s Rat Pack during store hours.

“It’s not a standard strip mall. It has a small-town feel and to me this is like you are coming in my home,” said Marla Brand.

This story was originally published October 5, 2017 at 12:25 PM with the headline "A look at Zona Rosa’s new home furnishing store."