After fire, ‘charming’ Brookside store will not reopen and ‘continue its legacy’

Brookside’s beloved The (New) Dime Store will not reopen following a December fire.

Owner Kim Harris posted a notice on Facebook Sunday, saying the decades-old variety store would be closing for good.

“It is with mixed emotions that I am writing to let you know I will not be reopening the New Dime Store in Brookside. I know there has been a long and rich history of this charming store, and I am saddened not to be able to continue its legacy.”

The New Dime Store has been struggling since the pandemic, with sales down nearly 30%. Harris’ husband and business partner, Kevin, died unexpectedly in October. Then the December fire wiped out her inventory, mostly through smoke damage.

Replacing the goods could take months with disruptions in the supply chain due to COVID-19, Harris said in the Facebook post. In December she was still waiting on some May orders.

“So I have made the difficult decision to close the business,” she said.

Harris couldn’t be reached for additional comment.

Customers posted such messages as: “One of the best stores in KC. I will truly miss bopping in for gift wrap or a kitchen utensil or sewing notions. You were one stop shopping with the charm of yesteryear. Be well.”

And: “The Dime Store has been a fixture of my life ever since my parents let me walk to Brookside by myself, and I’m sad to see it go.”

It has served generations of Brooksiders since it was founded around 1940, when it switched from a grocery store to a general merchandise store. Shelves held a hodgepodge of items — crafts, toys, puzzles, kitchen and garden tools, pillows, stationery, candles, candy, gifts and seasonal items.

But over the years, customers mostly liked seeing the owner/operator behind the counter. From longtime owner Bob Arfsten to current owner Harris.

It struggled after Arfsten died in 2002, and four years later the landlord sued for back rent and possession of the space. But new owners kept it going, even doubling the space at 314 W. 63rd St.

After the fire, a GoFundMe campaign sought to raise $5,000. It raised more than twice the amount before Harris asked that it be shut down. She said others dropped envelopes of cash at the door.

“For so many people, this wasn’t just a store. It was a memory,” said Sean Ackerson, executive director of the Southtown Council and director of the Brookside Business Association, which set up the GoFundMe account. “It was part of what we did as a family. Toys helped. The arts-and-crafts helped. But the candy was the attraction.”

Harris has been grateful for the show of support.

But now that she is closing the shop permanently, she has asked GoFundMe to return the donations, and she’s tracking down the cash donors to return their offerings.

“I have been deeply touched — almost overwhelmed —­ by you and the others who so generously contributed to the GoFundMe. ... This was a staggering show of support, that could probably only happen in Brookside,” she said on Facebook.

Officials with the Kansas City Fire Department said the cause of the fire was undetermined.

This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 12:20 PM.