Charlie Hustle preps Oak Park Mall store as new owners evolve brand to fit Houston, St. Louis markets (and the world)

Kansas City’s iconic clothing brand Charlie Hustle has a new World Heart Collection in the works for FIFA World Cup 2026 — debuting the collection in June at its new Johnson County pop-up store.

Joey Mendez at Charlie Hustle’s flagship store on the Country Club Plaza; photo by Haines Eason

A year after buying the company, brothers Matt and Michael Gary are opening a Charlie Hustle location in Overland Park’s Oak Park Mall, at 95th Street and Quivira Road. A soft opening is planned for May with a grand opening in June with the new collection. The lease runs through the end of the year.

“We wanted to take advantage of the traffic that the World Cup brings to see how we do in Oak Park,” said Joey Mendez, manager of Charlie Hustle’s flagship store at 419 W. 47th St. on the Country Club Plaza, as well as the new location.

Charlie Hustle is taking the former Chico’s space on the mall’s lower level, near the center court. Chico’s closed earlier this year.

The pop-up spot will carry Charlie Hustle’s T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, hats and accessories, along with jackets in the fall.

Models display tees from Charlie Hustle’s new World Heart Collection in Kansas City’s West Bottoms; photo courtesy of Charlie Hustle

Founder Chase McAnulty was especially fond of vintage T-shirts. He started making similar styles in the basement of his parents’ home in 2011 and the brand quickly became known for its signature KC Heart T-shirts.

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce honored the company with its 2021 Small Business of the Year (Mr. K Award). It was the third time Charlie Hustle was one of the Top 10 Small Businesses of the Year, having earned recognitions in 2018 and 2019. (It did not participate in 2020 so it could focus on steering the company through the COVID pandemic.) McAnulty was named to the Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City’s Business Hall of Fame in 2023.

The Gary brothers bought the brand in April 2025 and serve as co-presidents.

ICYMI: Charlie Hustle’s new owners say iconic heart will remain as brand exports KC vibe to new cities

 

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Earlier this month, Charlie Hustle began rolling out variations of its KC Heart tee for the Houston market with “HTX” in place of Kansas City. An “STL” version — along with a collection designed for St. Louis customers — dropped this week.

“There is an opening in the marketplace for high-quality products with deep stories — not just production art flips,” Michael Gary told Startland News in a February story.

 

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Startland News contributor Joyce Smith covered local restaurants and retail for nearly 40 years with The Kansas City Star. Click here to follow her on Bluesky, here for X (formerly Twitter), here for Facebook, here for Instagram, and by following #joyceinkc on Threads.