There are many things I love about living in Kansas City. It has great food, an amazing arts community, fabulous sports teams (Go Royals!) and now it is a vintage-lover’s heaven. At least on the first weekend of every month anyway. First Fridays have long been a big event in KC. That is the night that the galleries, shops and artistic havens in our Crossroads District stay open late and welcome the public with special events. Then, a few years ago, an store specializing in vintage and antique furniture, Urban Mining, opened – but it was only open First Friday weekend. People came in droves to see the high quality antique and vintage items.
A postcard image of the West Bottoms in it’s heyday as livestock central.
Then, a new antique store, Good JuJu, opened in the old warehouse district in town, the West Bottoms. Again, they were only open First Friday weekends. A few more vintage stores followed suit and now there are warehouses filled with antiques – treasures as far as the eye can see – but most of them only open on First Friday weekends. Antiquing in the West Bottoms is now a city-wide pastime, and it can be pretty crowded, but it is worth it to find that special piece!
Recently, my friend Deb Dusenberry, who owned the store Curious Sofa, opened a new vintage venue in Top Hat Mercantile. I am so excited about this because Deb finds amazing vintage pieces and creates the most inspirational spaces. Another great stop in the West Bottoms is Bottoms Up, where my friend Carol Spinski from Raised In Cotton has a booth. Below, check out some images from a recent First Friday shopping trip in the bottoms.
There is even a new fabric store, Modern Makers, which specializes in fabric lines like Cotton & Steel and FreeSpirit. I was excited to see that they carry my Crossroads Denim fabric line as well as Indygo Junction patterns and books!
I love the whole concept of First Friday weekends – the anticipation that builds up as the different stores share their finds on Facebook, the race to get down and see what you can find, and of course, the inspiration of seeing so much product beautifully displayed. I also love that so many people are up-cycling furniture breathing new life into old objects. If you are planning on visiting Kansas City, I highly recommend scheduling your trip so you are here over First Friday weekend. It’s not to be missed!
