Plaza starts to reopen, shows signs of life after a week of protests shut it down

Friday afternoon with temperatures in the 90s, Tyler Enders was making quick work decorating the facade of his Country Club Plaza store.

Balloons in a rainbow of bright colors were overhead as customers came and went at Made in KC Marketplace. He stood atop a ladder to put up the finishing touches — signs such as ones that read, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. Maya Angelou.”

“It is important for us to be open with so many places boarded up,” said Enders, partner in Made in KC Marketplace. “We want to make it known that the Plaza is open for people to come to socialize and to shop. It’s great. We’re really excited.”

A handful of Plaza retailers and services started reopening Friday, nearly a week after Plaza businesses and roads were shut down during Kansas City’s George Floyd protests. Most facades were still covered with plywood. A few businesses were open by appointment only. The Cheesecake Factory had chains around its iron patio gates.

Tivol still had plywood covering its windows, but the store was open as a guard kept watch.

Larissa Graham has operated Larissa’s Plaza Tailor Shop on the Plaza for more than 20 years, relocating and expanding on the same block. She pointed to a couple of scratches on her front door, damage left from the protests. She thinks her cameras saved the shop from further damage.

“I don’t know why they hurt the small businesses. We are hard working people,” Graham said. “With the coronavirus and the protests, we cannot survive another problem.”

Jeff Molt, owner of longtime Plaza retailer Renner’s Fine Boots & Shoes, agreed. Closing down for two months for the COVID-19 crisis and then, after re-opening, closing for another week during the protests was just “piling misery on misery.”

“I haven’t figured out why we were closed in the beginning. Maybe they were worried about customers’ cars,” Molt said. “Wednesday and Thursday were uneventful. If nothing happens tonight we are probably good to go.”

Small and locally owned businesses said it was probably easier for them to reopen quickly since they have fewer employees and no corporate hurdles.

Graham said it was important to be back: “The Plaza is a unique historic place for Kansas City. You have to care about this place.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:51 PM.