After running A-Lotta-Stuff at Stan’s for nearly 20 years, Lori Siegel is closing its doors at the end of August. The property, located at 6700 Kaw Dr. in Kansas City, Kansas, has ties to the Siegel family that run back to the 1950s. Siegel, who is retiring, has run and managed the location as a thrift store since 2005.
The nearly seven-decade family connection to the property on Kaw Drive began after Siegel’s father, Stan Simon, built Stan’s Market there in 1955. He’d managed his father’s grocery store, Simon’s Market, on Quindaro Boulevard, after his father had passed but moved to open Stan’s Market on Kaw Drive for business prospects.
Stan’s Market was successful until a fire destroyed it in 1962. An Associated Press article from Oct. 3 of that year said that 50,000 shotgun shells in the store exploded in the fire, and firemen fought the flames for nearly two hours.
“[The fire] pretty much devastated our financial [well being],” Siegel said. Associated Grocers bailed Simon out and built a larger building, but Siegel said that they wouldn’t let her father be a grocer anymore. He then became a merchant, renting the grocery store to Associated Grocers and starting his own dry goods store.
The dry goods store later became an Ace Hardware store, and Simon ran it until May of 2003. Siegel helped liquidate her father’s hardware business, and, after some remodeling, decided to start a thrift-and-upcycle store in the building.
Siegel’s connection to her dad has held strong throughout all the years. She keeps a picture of her parents above the door frame on the inside of the store, and said that every day, someone comes in with a story about her father and their experience at the store.
Her father’s legacy will be carried on even after the store closes. The “STANS” sign outside the shopping outlet had been there since 1955 and is being moved to the Lumi Neon Museum with a plaque explaining the history behind the sign. Saving this piece of history helps Siegel with the transition; knowing his name will be preserved helps her move on to the next chapter of her life.
During the past 20 years, Siegel was able to partner with both The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah Sisterhood and the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). Her partnerships used A-Lotta-Stuff at Stan’s as a vessel to help community members get rid of items when downsizing, divorcing or clearing possessions of a deceased relative. She did receive Judaica when working with the Jewish organizations, although she said it “is not a big seller out in Wyandotte County.”
“I give a percentage [of the income from selling items received in the partnerships] back to both [organizations] for their charities,” Siegel said. “I feel like I'm helping them to help my community out here. It's kind of a nice circle of money or circle of life, so it comes back. Hopefully it goes to some of the needy families.”
Running the store as a woman holds a lot of significance for Siegel. When Siegel went to business school at the University of Kansas, she recalls that there were not many other women in business at that time. Even today, Siegel feels that it can be challenging to run a business as a woman and that there still can be a stigma around it.
“[While] being a woman in business, it’s difficult to have children and raise children and have a husband and do all of your domestic duties,” she said, “so I have been blessed that my family has stood behind me.”
Siegel also implements Jewish principles of honesty and truthfulness into her business practices. If someone gives her the incorrect amount of money, she’ll correct the situation. If Siegel sees a customer struggling, she’ll have them pick out a few clothes or other items that will help them.
Although she’s worked closely with the Kansas City Jewish community, she does not have many Jewish customers other than Siegel’s close friends. Despite this, she said it has been a pleasure for her to work with the community and meet so many people.
“When we go to services, or we do something with a Jewish theme in it, my husband often says, ‘How do you know all these people?’” Siegel said. “...[it’s] because I've really worked with a lot of Jewish families to help them. Sometimes you meet people for a reason, a season, or for a lifetime.”
In the May 15, 2009, issue of The Chronicle, a community member wrote an editorial calling A-Lotta-Stuff at Stan’s a “secret resource” and Siegel a “one-woman dynamo” who treated her with “care and a sense of humor.”
“With a caring heart and a concern for both the family and those in need,” the editorial read, “[Siegel] made an emotional time for me into a little help for others.”
Even though Siegel is closing the store’s doors for good, she still plans on helping clients out when she can by finding places for their items to be resold or helping out with a transition phase. As she heads into retirement, Siegel plans on spending time with her children and grandchildren who no longer live in the Kansas City area.