Made in KC

Three-peat threads: 30+ Super Bowl-bound Chiefs fan fits (haters will say the refs wrote this)

With the Chiefs ready to stand on business in the Big Easy, Kansas City fans — at home or at the big game — will need to dress for the win they want. Here’s how small business owners from across the region stand ready to help them suit up ahead of the Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl…

Best-selling tea towel maker’s business model hangs by this thread: ‘the more I give back, the more I’ll succeed’

​​Elene Banks, founder of Kansas City-based Absorb-Lumen, turned her boutique clothing store into a mission-driven business that puts eco-friendly kitchen essentials in the spotlight, all while giving back to the community through a charitable business model. “It was a happy accident,” Banks said, “We started a boutique online and tried to carry tea towels from…

This top maker got his start with a social push; but the real influencers behind the Craft E brand: his wife and family

Enrique Hernandez, the creative force behind Craft E. Embroidery, proved that dedication and creativity can transform a hobby into a thriving business — earning him the title of Made in KC’s top maker for 2024. “It hasn’t really settled in yet,” Hernandez said about winning the award in mid-December. “But it feels good.” ICYMI: Made…

Skip shopping and shipping: Your guide to last-minute, KC-made gifts you can still get in stores

Forget naughty and nice: one Kansas City-pieced business has a puzzling present for each person on Santa’s “weird and mellow” list. Locals can still find them on KC-area store shelves — while they last. Birdie — a sister company to Stefanie and Tim Ekeren’s popular Kansas City Puzzle Company — packs each eye-catching box with…

How KC’s most iconic new art installation became this season’s must-have holiday ornament (plus where to find the 14-inch version flying)

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a jazz bird in a pear tree,” sculptor Willie Cole said in a singsong voice.  The artist behind “Ornithology” — an eye-catching and newly iconic installation suspended within Kansas City International Airport since its new terminal’s debut in March 2023 — this fall…