Kansas City home furnishings retailer at the Plaza closing: a ‘gut-wrenching’ decision

The Country Club Plaza’s large and locally owned home furnishing store, RE: is closing.

The owners said their lease is up but they blamed the ongoing impact of the pandemic and other factors for not renewing it.

“It’s just time. It’s really hard. Traffic isn’t the same and our building is in need of repairs,” said Chrysy Huff, owner with her husband, Jeff.

In fall 2017, they took a 21,274-square-foot space at 4704 Wyandotte Street that had previously been a Restoration Hardware store and before that the much larger Plaza Theater.

They plan to start a liquidation sale on April 8 and close on April 11.

In a statement, Plaza officials said: “We continue to patiently curate the right mix of tenants to ensure the ongoing success and longevity of the Plaza. The right tenant lineup will always include beloved local businesses, popular national brands and emerging retailers that resonate with our loyal customers. Tenants may close for any number of reasons, but great new retailers and restaurants will come to take their place. With differing lease terms and other business considerations, this type of change takes time.”

RE:, which had been known as Restoration Emporium, was founded in 2012, and its sister company, KC Furnishing Co., opened in 2018, in the West Bottoms. They are now in the Crossroads, 1717 Washington St.

“We’ve suffered a lot over the last two years but it is not all bad news,” Chrysy Huff said. “Our manufacturing business is booming. And people are coming back to the smaller, independent, more boutique-feeling stores. Our family works here and I think that is comforting to people. But we love the Plaza. It was a gut-wrenching decision to make.”

The Plaza also recently lost several other longtime tenants:

▪ Kate Spade New York closed at 321 Nichols Road after more than a decade.

▪ Michael Kors closed in a prime corner spot at 4747 Broadway.

▪ Sister retailers Victoria’s Secret and Pink closed in a corner spot (with their own entrances) at 455 Nichols Road. Victoria’s Secret had been in its spot since late 2000.

▪ Brighton Collectibles closed at 213 W. 47th St., on a bustling artery of the Plaza. It opened in 2001.

The Plaza currently has about two dozen empty spaces. The west side of the Plaza also has an empty lot waiting for Nordstrom to relocate from Overland Park’s Oak Park Mall. It had originally scheduled a 2021 opening but has pushed back the date twice, blaming the pandemic. In late January, Nordstrom said it still planned a fall 2023 opening.

The Plaza said it has welcomed new tenants recently, including Archive, Jill Marie Boutique, LensCrafters, Razzleberry, Sugah Rush Berries and Sweet Kiss Brigadeiro.

More tenants are coming including Club Pilates, Pure Barre, Ice Cream Bae, Lovesac, Psycho Bunny and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition.

This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 1:40 PM.