Annie's Barn

05/24/2026

Good morning. Just checking in from the west bottoms where we hung out yesterday with our very favorite people. Wanted to let you know things are progressing nicely for a re-open in two Johnson county locations this summer.

05/10/2026

Happy Mother’s Day from Annie. Expect re-open announcement for the Overland Park store soon. Timing mid to late summer. Until then, take care.

05/09/2026

To all our cattle farmers and beef producers, your work is vital to Kansas agriculture and the state economy. Kansas is one of the top beef-producing states in the country. That success is built on the hard work of our farmers.

I have a deep appreciation for everything you contribute to our state, and I will continue working to protect Kansas farmers. Happy National Beef Month!

05/08/2026

New news: NO NEWS. We don’t have a plan yet. It’s been 3 weeks and nothing’s official. I am committed to a few things: getting the website back on; a market re-open in north joco if the Merriam folks can expedite; and south joco if investors move forward with plans to re-open the original location. But the only one of those I control is the website. I’m too old and too jaded for pop ups. Many want to police what I sell and Barnstormers I’m too old for that s**t. It’s ok if people dismiss my hustle or lack thereof at this time. Having the rug yanked under us all like that - truly deplorable behavior. It hasn’t even truly hit me that we lost $6500 at least. I can’t look back - just forward. Mother’s Day is second only to Christmas for sales but as I told my own kids the thing I’d like is time with you and a card. With your own handwriting is a bonus. It’s been me and the peonies at home this week. Just giving it my some.

I have half-full confidence we will re- open but the timeline is up to the powers that be. Could be fall.

05/04/2026

Who knew he could screw it up this bad?

🙋‍♀️🙋🙋🙋‍♂️

04/26/2026

I’m superstitious so no announcements until t’s are crossed, but I’m optimistic we will have news to share. It may be this location or another but keep manifesting good things for small biz.

Nothing happens overnight. Stay tuned.

That’s future.

We lost $6500 and counting in the abrupt shutdown. I honestly collected all the data, sales reports and such… we will file paperwork to get paid but I have zero hopes of seeing that $$. In Annie vs Goliath, Goliath is going to win.

But today I am feeling tentative but hopeful for the first time in two weeks. What they did to small business was devastating. I’m going to move all these boxes out of my house this week to 60-day storage and take a breather while the investors get the paperwork done.

I do want to say thank you to first, my wife. And my daughter who really helped me through these two weeks. My vendor friends - literally supporting each other every single day. To the people who showed up with trucks to move us. I was on the phone with other small businesses trying to find a space. Looking at existing leases. Even visited a farm to look at a weekend sale. There was no rest for my mind. I couldn’t stand the thought of ending Annie’s Barn this way with the rug ripped right out from under us.

There is the mixing of ingredients. The kneading. The time for rising. And finally baking of bread. I believe we are in riding stage now but baking is right around the corner.

Ps: my peonies are starting to bloom.

04/24/2026

Today at 6 pm the doors close on 5 years at Painted Tree. I did it my way. The great thing about PT was the view that the shopkeepers could decide the merch mix. Live or die on your ow choices. Also shop owners like me were free to travel about the country setting up new stores & I did. I moved into OVERLAND park June 2021. When the world was just beginning to shop again. In August 2021 I moved into a bigger space. In November I opened St Louis. In March 2022 I opened Cincinnati. Tulsa. Moore. Then Franklin Tenn, Fort Wayne, Murfreesboro, Barrywoods, Lincoln, Colorado Springs. We opened Austin and Crestview Hills Kentucky. The model worked. I learned so much. I met a million people. I saw things that I was surprised by. That were brilliant. And some, yikes. When we opened Pittsburg that was a trip. Fort Wayne was probably our best opening weekend. It was also the first time I saw a Temu shop. And the first and only time ALL vendors had to remove profanity. Something about Fort Wayne. I think I was happiest on the road. Our numbers were such that K could retire. We were empty nesters living the dream a case of 200 coasters at a time. Then Kanks was elected. Instant thumbs down. My mom died. The economy went to s**t. I knew I’d have to end my contracts in my lower gross stores. And also PT was sold. 6 sort of quiet months then boom changes in how we were paid. I was still soaring higher just down to 5 locations. Booth sharing to cut costs. OP was having record setting months and the chiefs weren’t even in the playoffs.

We had some huge wins. Day 1 we did the trust women tee. Hit! The Travis Kelce in the sheets tee that got on their podcast 6 months later. Donna Kelce recipe mug after that. Hit. Hit.

But it was when we became THE place to get Kamala merch we put up astronomical sales. If I told you you wouldn’t believe me. It was more than that. Our little booth - just a dusty little spot - became a beacon of hope. Hope. Not going back. Well, we did go back. farther than anyone imagined.

That’s when the “ice scraper” keychain was imagined. Made. Sold. When people in Minnesota needed our support. We sent a few thousand north.

Today a chapter is closing. I’ll miss….

04/21/2026

04/20/2026

For 4 years I lived and breathed Painted Tree OP. Tuesday I was prepping an area for a new sock display when the manager announced it was closing. That minute. Locking doors. They directed shoppers out of the stores. Vendors stayed. To do what? I didn’t have boxes with me. I have 4 locations (down from 12). I didn’t make a “plan”… I called three friends with booths. The email came out 10 minutes later.
The other stores were doing ok, but the OP location was the GEM. It was filled with things you can’t get anywhere else. Coasters and mugs I make. Stickers by me or my favorite humans. A few resistance tees. A few signs. A fun selection of cards. I had just put in birdhouses, puzzles and fun stuff for Mother’s Day. I had not yet put in a huge shipment of socks or the new key fobs.
The scramble was on. We had boxes because we had them left over from mama Kelce mug days. We had tape. We had a truck. We had Sara and Kathy to help. It took us hours to clear it mostly. The next day we did barrywoods. A friend grabbed Nebraska. We made return trips to move furniture and fixtures. Still what would happen in Colorado. Should I just leave it? No time to think. Plan. We should have moved it to parking lot and had you all come by! But I was in shock.

It’s Monday. My whole business is in shambles. My friends are too. For most this was their livelihood financially.

Yes I can pivot again. Maybe. I’m giving myself 3 weeks to decide whether to keep going. Right now it feels too hard but I’m still trying to figure it the eff out.

Right foot. Left foot. Breathe.

04/19/2026

Current mood:

Trolls are in Omaha. We kept our plans to visit this weekend despite the distraction.