Oak Park Mall adds two local retailers

Go into almost any shopping center and you’ll find some of the same national names on the storefronts — American Eagle Outfitters, Gap, Victoria’s Secret and the like.

But one way the malls can set themselves apart and draw from customers from throughout the metro is by signing locally owned retailers like two new tenants in Overland Park’s Oak Park Mall at 95th and Quivira.

“Working with locally-owned businesses in a mall environment is a focus for our overall leasing plan,” said Sean Phillips, spokesman for Oak Park Mall. “Not only does it add unique offerings and solidify Oak Park Mall as a shopping destination, but it also provides us with an opportunity to strengthen our ties in the community by supporting local entrepreneurs.”

21G Art With Soul

As the son of Hallmark artists, Chris Sembower had long planned a similar artistic career.

But in 2007, while a student at the Kansas City Art Institute, his father passed away from progressive multiple sclerosis. Sembower’s grades dropped and he left school. But he didn’t give up on an art career and worked as a freelance graphic designer.

He also used his artistic talent to help him through the grief process. His family had long gathered around the TV for Kansas City Chiefs games so he picked sports as a theme. First he did sketches from images that made an impression during a game, or something he wanted to illustrate like motion or energy. Then, he painted those sketches digitally.

For example, he said Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals is known for his big hits, so in his piece called “Shockwave” he tries to make the viewer feel the force of that impact.

“I call it old school technique with new school technology,” said the 29-year-old Sembower.

He began selling the works online a year ago and also put on temporary shows at galleries throughout the area. But he wanted even more exposure. In March, he took a 2,000-square-foot spot in Oak Park Mall, on the upper level by Nordstrom.

“They look really good online but they look a million times better in person,” he said.

He named his new gallery 21G Art with Soul after Massachusetts doctor Duncan MacDougall who in the early 1900s devised experiments to measure the soul, deciding that they weigh 21 grams on average.

His brother, Kyle Sembower, operates the gallery, which now specializes in sports and pop culture themes, as well as custom works. The works range from about $50 to $500.

Danae & Dakota

Demetria Jackson has gone from working at a Oak Park Mall chain shoe store as a teenager to owning her own shoe store there as a 32-year-old single mother of three.

Jackson was only 12 years old when she became her family’s fashion stylist. Then as a 15-year-old she got paid to work in fashion with an after-school job at Bakers shoe store.

She went on to earn a degree in fashion merchandising and fashion design from Johnson County Community College in 2006. A year later, she opened her first retail shop, Dy-Mons Ruff, in downtown Kansas City, Kan. Jackson later owned and operated her first Danae & Dakota shop in The Landing shopping center, naming it after the middle names of her two daughters.

When she wanted more foot traffic, she relocated to Oak Park Mall earlier this year. Bakers and Wild Pair, national chains which had offered similar styles, had closed stores in the mall as part of a national downsizing.

But Jackson convinced mall officials that there was still a need for a shoe store selling trendy but value-priced footwear, handbags and accessories. Since opening in February she has added clothing, and earlier this month she relocated to a larger space next to Hollister Co.

Her 6-year-old daughter Zien Danae, and one-year-old-daughter, Zendaya Dakota, sometimes come to work with their mom. Her 12-year-old son, Willie Fields, often helps out behind the counter.

“I tell people to never give up, to focus on their dreams, it’s never too late,” she said. “One thousand people might turn you down but you keep going.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2015 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Oak Park Mall adds two local retailers."