KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Small Business Saturday in Brookside was an emotional day for the owners of World's Window. The Buerges recently announced they're selling the business after 38 years in Kansas City, Missouri, 25 of which were in Brookside.
"We have people who come in from out of town, and they come from the airport to World's Window," said co-owner Jan Buerge.
Heavy foot traffic flowed through her store Saturday as the start of the holiday shopping season kicked off in full swing.
"It's our favorite time of the year," she said. "We love greeting our customers as they come in, we love making the bows and wrapping presents."
But 2022 could be the store's final holiday season with an imminent sale.
"The biggest emotions are when our customers come in and say how much they'll miss coming in here," said Lonnie Buerge, Jan's husband.
The Buerges have been fielding calls from buyers but don't have a definitive timeline yet. Still, they're hopeful what they've built will last.
"I would love for the store to have certainly some semblance of this, if not continue as it is," Jan said. "I grew up in a small town, my husband grew up in a small town, so this feels like our small town. But we really pull from the whole metro area, and yet we know our neighbors. We know the people who own the businesses because we’re small business owners."
She also hopes shopping locally remains a fixture on their block.
"That's really what I think I want to see people continuing to embrace is looking at small businesses as a vibrant part of a community and helping those grow," Jan said.
With the more than 3,000 square foot store, which started as only 65 square feet, for sale, the Buerges say they are grateful for their loyal customers.
