It’s December, so J. Rieger & Co.’s “O! So good!” slogan playfully transforms to “Ho! Ho! Ho! So good!” The distillery’s popular holiday-edition whiskey is on shelves, along with T-shirts, mugs and gift sets for the Christmas season. And it’s time for the company to mark another year of progress in its journey as one of Kansas City’s small business success stories. In some ways, the story began in 2014,…
Q: The Plaza is home to successful national brands, but local small businesses like Better Cheddar and Tivol have long attracted customers there as well. What are some of the developments you’ve seen in the last year in that local store category on the Plaza? A: At a time when retailers are increasingly selective about brick-and-mortar investments, the Plaza continues to attract highly sought-after brands. We focus on having the…
André's, 1955
Q: Please tell us a little about the collaboration André’s has forged with J. Rieger & Co. to offer chocolate shots and other tempting treats. A: Our collaboration began with Rieger when my husband, André’s grandson, executive chef and chocolatier René Bollier was invited to be a part of an event at the WWI Museum to highlight whiskey and chocolate in 2015. René created something new for the event to…
Tamara Day wears a lot of hats.  She knocks down walls. Designs and flips houses. Stars in a hit TV show. But sitting down in her latest venture, a home décor store and design studio in Prairie Village, Kan., Day says, “Really, I’m just a Kansas City mom with a small retail shop.” While her fans may consider that an understatement, Day thinks of the new store, Growing Days Home,…
Leopold Gallery is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Kansas City. In addition to featuring local artists at his Brookside brick-and-mortar space, Leopold founder Paul Dorrell works with clients around the world as an art consultant to bring their spaces to life by identifying the right piece of art or the right artist to create custom art. He has designed large art projects in spaces such as Arrowhead Stadium, H&R Block’s…