Plum Bazaar
You know how it is when you’re in another town and you visit a really cool store and you say, man, I wish we had one of these in Emporia?
Well, lucky us, we do have one of these in Emporia.
Plum Bazaar is owned and operated by the Kelley sisters. They have combined their two businesses, Dayton’s Hobby and the Tallgrass Frame Shop, which were adjacent shops in the 800 block of Commercial.
“We opened on July 11,” Susan said.
Plum Bazaar is in the 600 block of Commercial, between Graves Drug Store and Stanley Jewelry.
Near the end of June, the stores had a box brigade. Townspeople stood in a line up the block, passing along boxes, person to person.
The Kelley sisters are nice people, active in the community, and others wanted to be a part of the move. (I wanted to help, too. I had heard about the box brigade in advance, but then somehow missed out on it.)
“We’re still unpacking boxes,” Susan said. “We just need more time to get organized, but that’ll happen.”
Most recently, the building housed the Outfitters store, before that, Litwin’s, and before that (before my time here), it was McClellans (sp?).
Here’s Susan Kelley.
Sara Kelley.
And that’s Sally in the red blouse.
The new place is spacious. There’s a beautiful floor and they’ve painted the green ceiling whitish (2 coats.)
Art supplies.
Dave talks with Casey Wilson who has some outstanding outdoor photography. Casey works at Tallgrass Art & Frame (now a part of Plum Bazaar.)
And here are three of Casey Wilson’s stunning landscapes. He’s also quite a wildlife photographer and has great photos of deer and birds and hunters on his wesbite.
Emporia is fortunate to have this store. Oodles of stuff (wait ’til you see the beads), personal service, lots of color. Stop in and check out the new place!
MORE photos will follow. Stay tuned.
Filed under: E-town on August 2nd, 2008
The Kelleys are great Emporia merchants who put customer service first. They are down town boosters and are always doing something to benefit Emporia’s quality of life.
I hope the Plum Bazaar becomes a destination business, retail tourism, like Bluestem Farm and Ranch and Madelyn’s. It sure is the bead capital of Kansas.
Has Sally moved back to Emporia? I haven’t talked to her but maybe once in the past few years. It seems like sometime back she got married and moved to another town, forgot where.
Susan Kelley was a big help to me in my early days in Emporia. That was a hard time of my life, very hard, and I don’t think she knows it, but she really helped me smooth out the transition some. Took me a few years to really acclimate though.
Janet
That looks like my kind of store! WHY haven’t I been there? (cleaning out closets to make room for more stuff!)
I really like all the space and light. the old store was crowded and not well lit. This is much better!!! Good for them! I liked the Kelley sisters the few times I’ve met them.
Don’t the girls still have a Plum Bazaar in down town Branson, Mo????????
I have not been there yet this year– but I think they are still there!!!!!!!!
Yes, they do.