Katie Mabry van Dieren

Shop Local KC moving its flagship maker store to Brookside, expects flower business to bloom

Shop Local KC is closing its flagship Midtown location as it prepares to open a new storefront in Brookside Sept. 1, according to owner Katie Mabry Van Dieren. The retail gift and flower shop plans to depart its original location at 3630 Main St. as the building developer, Exact Partners, seeks to use the space…

Shop Local KC gets minimalist makeover as local maker retailer opens Leawood store

Katie Mabry van Dieren is no stranger to the Ranch Mart Shopping Center in Leawood, the Shop Local KC owner said, returning to her roots this weekend to open a second location for her Kansas City maker retail store. “One of my greatest childhood memories was riding my bike to Ranch Mart and either getting…

Shop Small: Five ways to give makers a smile as wide as the person opening your gifts from Shop Local KC

Editor’s note: Startland News explored Shop Local KC in Midtown as part of the newsroom’s five-part holiday gift guide that highlights locally owned shops and the makers within them. The items identified here were curated by Katie Mabry van Dieren, the founder of Shop Local KC the Strawberry Swing Indie Craft Fair. Featured stores, makers and…

Katie Mabry van Dieren, Shop Local KC

How Shop Local KC’s new Main Street storefront crafts opportunity for makers, Midtown

Main Street isn’t just a bridge connecting the Country Club Plaza to downtown Kansas City, Katie Mabry van Dieren said, detailing how she hopes her new retail gift and flower shop in Midtown will shatter stereotypes — along with showcasing makers. “Midtown has really been divested,” Mabry van Dieren said Wednesday afternoon from the Shop Local…

Juaquan Herron, Scarlet Knight

Not all entrepreneurs wear capes: Chamber’s ‘Superstars’ campaign unmasks heroes of KC business scene

A critical need is driving changes to one of Kansas City’s longest-running annual business events: support for every small business — no matter their scale or the neighborhoods in which they belong.   “This is a time like no other,” explained Vicky Kulikov, small business director for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, detailing changes to…