Buyers excited about upcoming changes at Country Club Plaza

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Shoppers at Country Club Plaza are excited about the potential changes coming to the neighborhood.

“I’m really excited. I think it’s great for Kansas City. I think it’s great for my neighborhood and the value of my home,” Jerry Riffel said.

“I’m excited to see what they’re going to do,” said Sara Dulin. “Of course it’s exciting. I know there’s a lot of skepticism too.”

Both said that the infrastructure needs to be improved.

“My goodness, if we could walk around a lot easier, that would be for sure,” Dulin said. “So, I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done to make it a little easier for pedestrians to get around.”

She said it can be difficult to drive through the plaza at night when it’s busy. “Yeah, I think they need to invest in parking lots in particular,” Riffel said. “They’re going to have to replace some, some are beyond repair.”

As for the stores that will open at the mall, Riffel would like to see something big anchor the shopping scene.

“I’m willing to make some compromises on what they want to do to get it, but I think they have to get a big department store, period.”

Dulin is now taking a different approach. “I would obviously prefer to see fewer chains and more local,” she said. “We have a lot of local artists. We have a lot of local fashion designers who could definitely succeed, and I think people would be happy to see them here.”

More information on the sale and future of the Country Club Plaza is expected Monday morning.