From the same article, Smokestack BBQ on Wornall, which closed recently, will be re-opened by former employees as The Stack.

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, so sorry if this is a re-post. Orange leaf opened up a week or two ago on Wornall across from QuickTrip/Sutherlands and seems to be doing well so far.

Have already hit it up a couple of times. Nice addition.

Today's Star article on defunct KCMSD schools being sold off reports that the former Bingham Junior High building at 77th and Wyandotte (on the Trolley Track behind the hideous strip mall where Lew's is) is going to be converted into a Hen House...which is awesome, since that would make the 75th/Wornall nexus of North Waldo even more walkable with a full service grocer.

I would love to see Waldo take the next step and develop that giant surface parking lot into a condo building a la 333 W Meyer, or a corner fronted retail strip with apartments upstairs, or even, less ambitiously a nice, small park. Sigh.

Aldi doesn't count as a full service grocer?

Is this going to replace the store at 83rd and Wornall?

Can't tell if you are being facetious or light-heartedly suggesting I am snob for not counting ALDI, but, in short, no, I don't condsider it a full service grocer. Do you?

That's a Price Chopper. I don't know if it will replace it or displace it or just serve a different demographic (like all the Waldo people who curently shop at the Hy-Vee or the either of the BKS grocers). I would guess that I personally would do 90% of my grocery shopping at the Hen House if one opened there and probably buy 100% of my meat there. Hen House seems to me to fall in in between the BKS Price Chopper and Cosentinos MKT demos.

Believe the Wornall PC is a Consentino operation (not all PC's are Consentino's) whereas Hen House is an exclusive Ball family opertion.

Surprised by the Hen House name. The Wornall store was a Hen House before a PC and Hen House had left this and other locations to go and concentrate on more upscale locations.

Ah -- that explains it. I used to live in Waldo, and I was 99% certain that store was a Hen House when I lived there.

I don't think that Price Chopper is a Cosentino's. The BKS one is, and the 103rd and State Line PC is, but I'm pretty sure the 84th and Wornall Store is not. I had no idea it was a Hen House.

I know there used to be a grocery store where the self-storage place is on at 76th and Wornall, and I always of hoped for a walkable grocery store in the immediate area because its one of the few in-town errands I consistently use my car for (it's hard to grocery shop pedestrian-style or on a bus with kids).

It also might be that Hen House is buying the property for some other use than a retail store, like offices or an incredibly inefficient warehouse operation. Regardless, my gut feeling is that the demographics of the north part of Waldo have changed considerably in the last 15 years and an upscale grocer might work just fine there.

it's interesting to hear about the hierarchy of grocery stores. i had always kind of lumped hy-vee, hen house, price chopper, sun fresh, etc. together as being basically "just" a sort of average grocery store. BKS Market seems like a step up in terms of seafood and random expensive specialty items - e.g. it's a small store, but they devote about 25 feet of shelf space for $5 gourmet chocolate bars. Can someone provide a rundown of this hierarchy? what's the "best" (or most upscale) grocery?

we go to the BKS or OP Farmers markets when in season, and for grocery stores we go to Whole Foods about 70% of the time, BKS Market about 30% of the time. i hate going to BKS Market (other than the more convenient location) because the produce costs the same as Whole Foods but it's not organic, and they don't have nearly as wide of a selection of produce as Whole Foods does. if the 51st/Oak Whole Foods ever materializes, I think BKS Market will be toast - esp. if WF has beer and wine.

When I was younger, I always thought Hen House was supposed to be the nicest grocery since they primarily seemed to be in really tony neighborhoods. But the ones I have gone to have really crummy prep food, terrible delis and butchershops, and everything is overpriced.

I don't think Whole Foods will put BKS market out of biz. Does anyone exclusively rely on WF for the shopping needs? We go there for produce and meat, but we'll have to supplement our groceries with Price Chopper if we want say Pringles chips.

Warehouse - No since HH orders from Associated Grocers.

What intrigues me is how is HH going to provide access.

85th & Wornall PC is a Ball store. It is a dump. Consentino PC stores are much nicer than Ball PC stores. Never been a big HH fan, but it's good to see something hapening at this location. It is an eyesore.

Agreed it will be interesting to see how they connect it to Wornall. Did Brookside road south of the school connect with Broadway in the past?

I'm excited to have a closer option. This will be walkable for me, and now I won't have to let the wife talk me into going to CVS telling me "oh yes, I know they have vanilla extract, I've seen it" only to find they DON'T have it, and then drive down to the shitty PC or head to PVKS for Hy-Vee.

Good news.

we do our complete shopping at whole foods (except for stuff we get at the local farmers markets), but i agree that if you want those "name brand" products you'll have to go to another store. we just happen to not buy those things, whether we shop at WF, BKS Market, or wherever. anecdotally, i have heard nth-hand information that BKS Market's business has taken a substantial dip since Trader Joe's opened. i think WF opening nearby might be the death knell - but, i hope not.

one time i went to hen house in fairway just for a change of pace and didn't care for it. the meat seemed good, though. we got a thanksgiving turkey there one year as well, i think it was from a local organic farm. so that was cool.

our main issue is that we need a wide selection of organic produce, and frequently need obscure spices or extracts or meat that only Whole Foods has. during the holiday season, i have made many 8pm weeknight trips to WF for some random spice or other ingredient for a recipe that is not available anywhere else.

back on topic, i think it sounds like hen house will be a good fit for waldo. it is obvious that (north) waldo is becoming more upscale and BKS-ified and a Hen House is another step in that direction.

That makes sense. Just didn't know if Ball's just gave up on that location or just wanted to change the concept.

With regards to the street connection before the new drug store was built along with the shopping center the drug store was closer to Wornall. In other words no street connection.

I agree with chrizow... the makeup of Waldo is slowly changing and HenHouse decision to open their first KCMO location south of the river in this area reflects that.

As a Waldo resident, even though I love the 75th & Wornall corridor (at least the north half of it), I think that the south half has SO much potential. I've always thought it would be neat if a strip of shops/bars/restaurants (not a strip mall -- just a strip fronting Wornall in the CVS parking lot. There is a huge amount of unused parking there and such a strip would compliment the nightlife north across 75th. I'm sure that the powers that be wouldn't be on board with such an idea since CVS would lose all visibility on Wornall, but hey, I like to dream. I'm pretty sure the southwest corner is a lost cause. I can't imagine Walgreens doing anything dynamically urban with their location, and I have a feeling that StorageMart isn't going anywhere

Hen House start was at the location where Big Lots is right now. That building was the new building for Hen House and was built behind the original location. There was another Hen House location at Bannister and Blue Ridge that was located in the building where the liquor store is located and that nearby grocery store was a new building for Hen House. The Ball family was not the original owner of the Hen House name and I cannot remember the name of the previous owner.