Tag: Alan Tipton

‘Buy, buy, buy while we can’: This KC toy store is stockpiling Christmas gifts now as tariff reality unwraps 

By Tommy Felts / May 29, 2025

Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton are feeling even more thankful right now for the large, dry basement at The Learning Tree — the independent toy store they own in Prairie Village — amid worries over tariffs on Chinese imports and how they’ll impact prices from toy manufacturers. The best they can do to prepare: stockpile…

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Passing the keys, passion: How a new wave of small biz owners plan to preserve beloved local brands

By Tommy Felts / March 28, 2024

Some have been customers; some employees. Now they’re the new owners of popular local restaurants and retail shops. As founders step aside, fresh sets of entrepreneurs step up in hopes of carrying on the goodwill and loyal following these brands have built up, some for decades. John McClelland and his brother-in-law, Johnathan Griffiths, work together…

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