‘What the heck is that?’ Five things at Holiday Mart you maybe haven’t seen before

At Kansas City’s annual Holiday Mart shoppers expect to see the usual soup mixes, cashmere scarves and sparkling jewelry.

But mixed in with those booths are those “shopping stoppers.” Amid the Holiday Mart hustle and bustle, shoppers pause and ask, “What the heck is that?” Usually that is quickly followed with, “I’ll take five of them.”

We’ve picked five items that have been drawing crowds of curious folks at this week’s 30th annual event.

1. The Tubby Massager: The kneading massager, which can be handheld or used with a chair, fits in a box.

2. The Knapbag: The self-inflating chair, couch, bed or float is easily tranported in a small bag.

3. Mangobeat: This natural wood speaker and cell phone amplifier requires no batteries and has no wires.

4. BullseyeBow: You can take aim with this toy bow and arrow set.

5. The Original MakeUp Eraser: The soft cloth removes makeup with just water.

Holiday Mart is one of metro’s largest and longest running nonprofit shopping events. The four-day event runs through Sunday at the Kansas City Convention Center and is expected to draw 20,000 people.

More than 200 local, regional and national retailers have stations selling fashion and accessories, home decor, children’s clothing and gifts, beauty products, and specialty food and drink items.

Since it was founded in 1988, the event has raised $10 million to help support area organizations, including Harvesters - The Community Food Network.

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 4:20 PM with the headline "‘What the heck is that?’ Five things at Holiday Mart you maybe haven’t seen before."