The Story of Shop Beautiful

First: some background:

Shop Beautiful was founded by sisters in Kansas City, Missouri at the height of the Great Depression. It was the go-to place for gifts and, being  pre-internet, the Shop was a gathering place for the neighborhood women. A place to see and be seen- and to hear the what was happening in Kansas City society. Opening in March of 1936, it remained in Brookside until 2018. A darn good run!

Our mother bought the store in 1967. Her purchase was financed by a settlement she negotiated when her (male) business partner died suddenly and she was forced out of the business they had run for many years. I don't know if buying a business founded for women-by women appealed to my mother after experiencing discrimination, but she had three daughters and it sure thrills us!

I am the middle daughter and I helped my mother expand into another affluent suburb just across the state line in 1987. Initially in Leawood, Shop Beautiful moved to Overland Park in 1990 and enjoyed thirty years in the Hawthorne Plaza shopping center. The mathematicians out there probably realize that that brings us to the year 2020. In other words: Covid.

My little sister and I were negotiating our lease extension when the world shut down. We moved everything to a warehouse and made the pivot to online sales thinking we would reopen "after" the pandemic. It's not clear when "after" will be and, as it turns out, we really like selling online.

All of this is to tell you that we have been providing terrific customer service for generations. We are online only now, we love to sell and we would love to have your business. Check out our online store at shopbeautiful.com

Be sure to join our email list to be notified of sales and receive promo codes.  

We look forward to helping you,

Shop Beautiful