A second PRARIE VILLAGE SHOPS logo montage is presented in living color. It features trademarks of stores in business during the 2010s.
The center's first Starbucks Coffee opened, in this freestanding building, in August 1998. Today, the space is leased by Einstein Brothers Bagels.
Photo from Johnson County, Kansas
THE VILLAGE Macy's pulled up stakes in early 2020.
Photo from Johnson County, Kansas
Above, we see the two most recent logos for the KCK shopping complex. During the 2010s, it was promoted as simply THE VILLAGE. By the year 2020, the official moniker had morphed into THE SHOPS OF PRAIRIE VILLAGE.
Graphic 1 from https://www.lane4group.com / Lane4 Property Group
Graphic 2 from https://www.firstwash.com / First Washington Realty
Our fourth -and final- VILLAGE plan illustrates the shopping hub of the year 2024. The newest structures have been built in the center's northeastern periphery. These consists of a 5,000 square foot -three-unit- store strip and offices for a UMB Bank branch.
A current birds-eye view of THE SHOPS OF PRAIRIE VILLAGE includes locations of the center's iconic Clock Tower and The Homesteaders statue.
Photo from Google Earth
In October 2020, a renovation of the mall's abandoned Macy's building was officially announced. The 120,000 square foot structure would be reconfigured with a Genesis Health Club, leased office spaces and relocated Hen House Market. The health club backed out of the deal in April 2022, apparently scuttling the entire plan.
Drawing from the GRI Prairie Village, Limited Liability Company
PRAIRIE VILLAGE SHOPS
Mission Lane and Tomahawk Road
Johnson County (Prairie Village), Kansas
Kansas City, Missouri's J.C. (Jessie Clyde) Nichols was one of the 20th century's most innovative real estate developers. His Country Club District, a housing plat implemented between 1906 and 1950, was the nation's largest planned community ever built by a single developer. The District's de facto downtown was its COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA; one of America's first suburban shopping centers. Its first businesses opened in March 1923.
In developing the Country Club District, J.C. Nichols ushered in several city planning innovations. Landscape architects were consulted to lay out broad, curving avenues. All streets were paved. Small sections of greenspace would often be decorated with statuary and fountains. On the negative side, all residential property was bound by discriminatory covenants.
In all, the Country Club District encompassed 6,000 acres. Its subdivisions on the Missouri side of the state line included Brookside, Crestwood, Sunset Hills and Westwood. Kansas-side communities were Fairway, Mission Hills and Prairie Village. Platted in 1941, Prairie Village would eventually encompass 1,781 homes. The community was named after the historic Prairie School, a Johnson County landmark built in 1882.
An auto-centric shopping complex was developed on 10 acres in the northern sector of the plat. PRAIRIE VILLAGE SHOPS was designed by Nichols Company architect Edward W. Tanner. Its storefronts were decorated in the style of Colonial Williamsburg. Eleven inaugural tenants opened their doors between May and July 1948. These included John S. Watkins Drug, Ed Cox Bakery, and a (7,300 square foot) Pay-Less supermarket. Six additional stores welcomed first shoppers in November 1948.
In 1950, the National Association of Home Builders recognized Prairie Village for being the "Best Complete Community Development in the United States." In February 1951, the locality was officially incorporated as a third-class city. Second-class city status was achieved in January 1953, with Prairie Village becoming a first-class city in 1956. In Kansas, a third-class city has a population of between 1,000 and 2,000 inhabitants. A second-class city has between 2,000 and 15,000, with a third-class city's population exceeding 15,000.
Getting back to PRAIRIE VILLAGE SHOPS...the Pay-Less supermarket had re-opened in a larger store on September 20, 1951. Encompassing approximately 18,000 square feet, the building's completion established the footprint of Building 1. In June 1957, stores in the Pay-Less chain -including the PRAIRIE VILLAGE unit- were rebranded by Safeway Stores, Incorporated.
An expansion of the shopping hub, extending it southward over Brush Creek, was on the drawing board for several years. By the spring of 1955, construction was underway. When completed, the open-air East Mall addition would cover approximately 103,800 leasable square feet and house eleven stores beneath its awnings.
Among the first operational tenants was a 2-level (30,000 square foot) The Palace ladies' wear emporium. This store was open for business by May 1956. Adjacent tenants included Smith Drugs, a George Muehlbach & Sons grocery, Prairie Village Public Library and 2-level (14,000 square foot) T. G. & Y. 5 & 10.
Plans for a bona fide anchor store were announced in February 1957. Kansas City, Missouri's The Jones Store chain would build a 2-level -with basement- facility; this added to the south end of the East Mall (a.k.a. Building 2). The (93,800 square foot) Jones Store was officially dedicated on October 30, 1958. With its completion, PRAIRIE VILLAGE SHOPS covered 17.4 acres and encompassed approximately 354,300 leasable square feet. It was now the second-largest retail complex in the J.C. Nichols Company portfolio (this following Kansas City, Missouri's COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA).
Major buildings in the PRAIRIE VILLAGE complex remained unchanged during the 1960s. A rooftop parking deck at The Jones Store was rebuilt as a third retail level in the early 1970s. The store now encompassed around 120,000 square feet.
Safeway's Kansas City supermarkets were sold in January 1988. The PRAIRIE VILLAGE unit was rebranded, as a Super Food Barn, in early 1989. It closed for good on March 25, 1994. The local Hen House Market chain assumed the store space, renovated it, and commenced operation on February 11, 1995.
Meanwhile, the exterior of PRAIRIE VILLAGE SHOPS had been given a face lift. As part of this renovation, components of the original Colonial Williamsburg motif were carried over and improved upon. Decorative towers were rebuilt, dormers, new awnings and signage installed, and a 53-foot-tall Clock Tower added to Building 2. The remodeling project got underway in June 1989, with the revitalized shopping center being dedicated on November 11th.
The J.C. Nichols Company merged with Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties in July 1998. Ownership of the complex would change on two more occasions. In May 2009, the Kansas City, Missouri-based Lane4 Property Group became its proprietor. Bethesda-based First Washington Realty took the helm in August 2014.
In September 2010, The Prairie Village City Council established the first of six Community Improvement Districts. A 1% sales tax was levied, which would be collected for 22 years. Accumulated funds would be used to reimburse the owner(s) of the renamed SHOPS OF PRAIRIE VILLAGE for various property upgrades.
As part of CID-related renovations, improvements were made to the Mission Lane thoroughfare. Moreover, a new (6,200 square foot) retail building was constructed, with Chipotle Mexican Grill, Etiquette Boutique and a relocated Starbucks Coffee leasing space. Storefronts in existing buildings were also retenanted. New businesses included Pinot's Palette, Beltone Hearing Aid Service and a new US Post Office.
The Jones Store, a charter Mercantile Stores division, was bounced between a couple of retail holding companies between 1998 and 2005, eventually ending up as a Federated Department Stores operative. THE SHOPS OF PRAIRIE VILLAGE store was rebranded by Macy's on February 1, 2006 and was permanently shuttered in March 2020.
Sources:
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Times
The Shawnee Mission Post
https://ims.jocogov.org / Johnson County, Kansas
https://www.globest.com
https://kcyesterday.com
https://jocohistory.wordpress.com
https://artsandculture.google.com
Katie Keckeisen, Johnson County (Kansas) Museum
https://www.jcprd.com / Johnson County Museum, Johnson County, Kansas / "Final Historic Resources Survey Report"
https://growingourhome.wordpress.com
https://sah-archipedia.org / Society of Architectural Historians
https://shawneemissionpost.com
https://www.groceteria.ca / Groceteria
https://www.supermarketnews.com
https://www.henhouse.com
http://www.prairievillageshops.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://shopsofprairievillage.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://shopsofprairievillage.com
https://theclio.com
https://prairiepta.org
https://www.pvkansas.com
https://smeharbinger.net
https://www.lane4group.com (Lane4 Property Group)
https://www.firstwash.com (First Washington Realty)
