Here’s how ULAH’s new boutique model aims to rack success for local brands, not inventory debt

The new KC Collective consignment-based program for local brands at ULAH is a win for both the Westwood boutique and Kansas City creatives, said Joey Mendez and Buck Wimberly, announcing a fresh model to help the struggling store stay open and financially stable.

ULAH’s storefront at 4707 Rainbow Blvd, Westwood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“We’ve always had local brands,” said Mendez, co-founder of ULAH, explaining the deeper pivot into spotlighting Kansas City’s  independent fashion, apparel, and gift brands. “It’s always been important to us, but it hasn’t been a focus. It’s been sprinkled in.”

“We have our own locally produced products that we developed, too,” Wimberly added. “So it just feels nice to have it all sitting together and for us to be elevating the locally made products that people may not know as much about because they don’t have ‘Kansas City’ written all over them.”

ULAH will celebrate the launch of the KC Collective with an open house and cocktail party noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, which will include live music, drinks, bites, gifts with purchase, and an enter-to-win giveaway.

 “It’s all about celebrating Kansas City creativity and how cool this city is,” Mendez noted.

The business and life partners have been open with their struggle to keep ULAH — which they launched nine years ago — open as it recovers from pandemic-related debts. In the summer, they launched a GoFundMe, hoping to raise $280,000.

They didn’t hit their goal, they said, but the $35,000 raised helped extend the store’s life. It just wasn’t enough to help them restock with the national and international brands their customers know them for.

“So then it became, ‘OK, if we’re going to continue this business, we need to fill the store up because we need to start generating revenue to be able to catch up,’” Mendez added.

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Marel denim stocked at ULAH in Westwood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Prairie Sailor products hanging inside ULAH’s storefront at 4707 Rainbow Blvd, Westwood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

He first had the idea for the KC Collective while online exploring Prairie Sailor, a local outdoor and lifestyle brand with a shop on Johnson Drive in Mission, Mendez noted.

“Their esthetic is so close to ours,” he continued. “I just knew it would resonate with our customers. And then thinking about some of the other brands we already have and expanding the selection from them, we thought we could probably fill up the store with local brands.”

“Then, how do we make it a system that works for everyone and helps everyone?” he added.

The consignment-based collective model is intended to help prevent ULAH from slipping further into inventory debt as Wimberly and Mendez wait to add more from their usual national brands, they said. But the pivot also will aid the local brands — most of which are online only — with a physical presence to showcase their work and connect with shoppers in person. 

And for those with a storefront like Prairie Sailor, it will give them access to customers in another neighborhood.

“We have been here nine years, so we do have a big customer database,” Mendez noted of ULAH’s Westwood footprint. “We’ll do social collabs with them. For instance, Marel (Clothing Company) denim, they just have a little warehouse in Olathe. This has given them a ‘cool physical space’ to do social media themselves.”

Products from Pancho’s Blanket and other local brands in stock at ULAH in Westwood; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Other local brands featured include: Pancho’s Blanket (shirts and jackets), Team Cocktail (tees, polos, shirts, swim trunks), Beyond Borders Collective (blankets), Mr. Davis (undershirts and underwear), Ocean & Sea (graphic tees), Thompson & Co. (candles), Rowdy Goods (trucker hats), Joshua J Chris (runway looks, swimwear), JVB Swim (swimsuits), NoRudos (swim trunks), Madison Stitch (leather bags), Underestimated Apparel (activewear), Sierra Winter (women’s jewelry), Well Played (hats), and 7Seventeen (shirts, tees, jackets).

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“We’re trying to focus on brands that aren’t as easily found in Kansas City with other local KC shops,” Wimberly said. 

“The main focus is fashion, gifts, and accessories that happen to be designed in Kansas City,” Mendez added.