KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Since Kansas City was founded in 1838, the town has served as a center of merchants, innovators, and friendly neighbors. Nearly two centuries later, the same sentiment applies to this city on the Missouri-Kansas border. No surprise to locals. But to the rest of the world, the town has a bad name. Products that make people proud of their hometown are flying off store shelves and changing the lives of small business owners.
“We were a hidden gem,” says Jessica Palm, vice president of the Kansas City Regional Development Council. “But we are in a golden age.”
At Parisi Coffee Shop in Union Station, Palm explains his plans to make this metropolis a global destination. And to the city’s credit, it’s going well. First, a beautiful airport terminal opened in February 2023. Then there’s KC Current Stadium, the world’s first women’s professional sports venue. Consider Google’s $1 billion deal for its facilities. Added $4 billion factory for Panasonic. And the relationship between global superstar Taylor Swift and Chiefs player Travis Kelce is blossoming.
“This week we’re going to experience what we call ‘Kansas City kindness,'” Palm said. Her office has arranged interviews with small businesses affected by Swift’s relationship with Kelce. She foreshadows the residents’ Midwestern charm. “People here will take the shirt off their back.”
And she’s right. I experienced it twice. Once last year, at a Chiefs-Eagles game, drizzling rain and poor jacket choice sent me into a trembling frenzy. The fan next to me took off one of his coats, handed it to me, and said, “I’m not going to freeze you.”
Below is the second time.
KC will never be “outdated”
Since Swift first appeared at a Chiefs game on September 24, 2023, locally owned clothing stores have begun creating products for Swift fans, not just football fans.
MORE: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship timeline: How an NFL game shaped the superstar couple
“I went to the game and the excitement was unbelievable,” Pink Dinosaurs owner Elle Steadman said. “The customer and I were both like, ‘There has to be something inspired by Taylor.'”
The University of Missouri fashion major and mother of three boys and a girl used her creative thinking to create a trucker cap that read “Red Era,” friendship beaded heart sunglasses, and I designed a cute red sweatshirt that says “Little Old KC Football (Who Are You Scared of)?” (as it should be).
“Our online presence has increased by 170%,” says Steadman, 41. “My Instagram followers stayed at 26,000 for a long time, but after[Swift]competed, they went up to 41,000.”
Swift has never worn Pink Dinosaur apparel, but she has purchased it from other local favorites.
“She changed our lives,” said Chris Harrington, 39, owner of West Side Story.
In October 2023, Harrington and his girlfriend Kathryn Cacho shipped a box containing five vintage sweatshirts to locations associated with Swift’s team. Cacho had the foresight to secretly wear a white No. 87 beanie that she had knitted herself. Swift wore several sweatshirts and a unique beanie in several games last season. And once word got out that West Side Story was to blame, the vintage store saw 10 times its previous sales in the days that followed. Cacho’s beanies sold out in minutes. She had to limit online requests to 300.
“I just finished pre-ordering,” Cacho said almost a year later. “It was just me, my sister, and a small team. We’re still taking orders, but we’re only 20 beanies apart.”
And it looks like Swift isn’t done wearing their clothes just yet after wearing a T-shirt dress for the Bengals vs. Chiefs showdown.
Harrington and Cacho cannot confirm that the singer was wearing the exact item, but the same dress was on the rack the week before the game.
“So last year’s honeymoon period, which we thought was going to last a week or a month, became kind of the identity of our store,” Harrington said. “(Swift) has allowed us to dream bigger. We are looking at other locations. We would like to expand our office space and inventory space.”
Other local clothing stores experiencing a boom include hipster spot Fetch. Overland Park specialty store, We Got Your Back Apparel. Made in KC is a 10-store franchise.
Then there’s EB & Company, the boutique that sold the number 87 gold jersey ring Swift wore to the AFC Championship.
“It was bananas,” said owner Emily Bordner. “I’ve been in business for about 12 years, and when Taylor put on our ring, everyone started tagging us.”
The shop quickly sold out of the 200 rings in stock, so Bordner launched a pre-order option that tallied requests for an additional 5,000 pieces. For five months, the store rushed to ship rings to meet demand.
“(Swift) and Donna (Kels) helped me buy my dream home this year,” Bordner said. “It’s very exciting, but as a business owner, going into this season, we thought, ‘How do we prepare for year two?'” We’re definitely learning as we go. ”
Borderner’s sales increased 83% over the year. EB and Co. increased wholesale customers by 3,000%.
“once in a lifetime” date night
Piropos, an Argentinian-style restaurant, is deeply rooted in TnT’s love story. Named after the Argentinian saying, “If beauty is a sin, it will never be forgiven,” this 23-year-old brick and mortar was one of the couple’s first date spots.
“Kelce has been here many times, especially when he came with his family after winning the (2022) Super Bowl,” owner Christina Worden said. “It was just a normal night. Nothing big happened.”
The night Kelce and Swift showed up, Warden told the staff not to take pictures or text them to friends.
“One night around 8:30 p.m., I got a call from my manager saying, ‘Taylor and Kelsey are here,'” Worden said. “I told them, ‘Okay, don’t get excited. Treat them with respect. Give them space.'”
One of Kansas City’s unspoken rules is to be respectful of celebrities who are out and about.
When Kelce showed up at the Trader Joe’s near his home in Leawood, Kansas, the store was quiet as the tight end checked out. Everyone was smiling and staring, but no one approached him. Kansas City is small enough that you can text every neighborhood, but the locals are (most of the time) polite and will leave Starr alone.
“We wanted to keep this confidential,” says Sheila MacDonald, a marketing consultant at Piropos. “We wanted them to feel safe and not have to worry about a bunch of paparazzi coming and interrupting them.”
Hidden in the banquet hall, the couple ordered empanadas, mahi-mahi, and a special wine called Chateau Ramote.
“We sell more of that wine than any other wine,” McDonald says. Since then, the banquet room has featured Swiftie brides who changed in the bathroom and wowed guests with pop-up weddings, as well as bloggers who wrote about what TnT would have experienced.
Bakeries will bake
You can’t spell donut without “TS”. The local donut spot, where Kelce is a regular customer, is selling a special 30-pack for Swift fans with a sweet tooth.
“Last year, before the Elas Tour came to Kansas City, we launched a 30-pack of mini donuts, and it beat every other campaign we had ever run in terms of pre-orders,” said Donutology. Marketing Director Abby Meyer says. . “Most people aren’t going to eat 30 mini donuts at once, so we played up the whole Taylor-gating experience.”
The pack included a variety of donuts named after Swift’s lyrics. “Caramel is a Cat,” “Guilty as Cinnamon,” “Lavender Glaze,” and “Loving Him Was Red Velvet.”
“We sold 20,000 more donuts on top of the donuts we normally sell,” said Donutology owner Andrew Cameron, 36, who is once again seeing orders pile up for the fall football season. say. “This year we have an all-new Taylor Swift pack.”
McLain’s Bakery, a nearly 80-year-old company, is opening its sixth location on Swift Street in northern Kansas.
“And our fifth location is on Travis Street,” says owner Molly Rothman. “This is not something we planned. We signed those leases in the spring of 2023.”
This shop sells custom-made “Lover” cakes and handmade heart sweets. One of their best sellers is a frosted cake with two hands on it. One wears Swift’s red nail polish and the other wears Kelce’s Chiefs gloves.
“If you look at the numbers for the 2022-2023 football season and the numbers for the 2023-2024 football season, our cake shop team’s sales have increased by 40%,” says Rothman, 38. “I have a lot of confidence in Taylor.”
“There’s not a day that goes by that I walk through the cake aisle and don’t see Taylor Swift stuff on display,” says Cassidy Garr, director of guest experience.
“A member of the community”
Mayor Quinton Lucas will take 15 minutes between meetings at City Hall to talk about Swift’s impact on the town.
“She’s the most unique worldly person I’ve ever seen that people just want to be around,” Lucas says. “I’ve met other world leaders and entertainers, and people want to be around her and are so happy when they’re around her.”
Lucas has rubbed elbows with the superstar several times since she settled into his city. It’s impossible to speculate whether she’ll move to the Midwestern town full-time, but she’s grateful that Kelce brought Swift to KC.
“I’m proud that he’s made her a part of the community,” Lucas said. “They stop where we stop. They drive around like normal people. He’s dating a really cool girl, so he bought a cool house.”
At each stop on the Erath tour, Swift has donated “a large amount” to local food banks. Harvesters, a community food network serving both Kansas and Missouri, received a call from Swift’s team ahead of the July 2023 concert.
“It contributes to a lot of things,” says Jillian Williams, Harvesters’ philanthropy director. “We have a large organization that covers many counties. We have cicadas that deliver food to rural counties. … (Swift) also shined a light on us and raised awareness. And every time you tell us about us, we donate more.”
“Sharing the KC love”
I went to KCTV5 on my last day in town and spoke with anchors Kerrigan Arnold and Shane Konicki. Last time, I forgot my winter jacket. This trip I wore dress socks.
After I said that, Jessica Palm of the Community Development Council disappeared from the dressing room, and a few minutes later, a pair of space-themed socks appeared. As I rounded the corner and started walking towards my car, Palm followed me. “Brian, you need socks. Socks are one of your main anchors.”
It’s easy to see why one of the city’s slogans is “KC Sharing the Love” when you look at how the community uplifts each member and literally lends clothes. The town has embraced Swift’s influence and long-standing relationship with Kelsey, and local residents are hopeful that she will eventually be able to call Kansas City home.
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USA TODAY Network’s Taylor Swift reporter Brian West on Instagram, TikTok, and X as @BryanWestTV.