KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vintage Chiefs gear is a hot commodity in Kansas City.
With demand high and the Super Bowl around the corner, one local shop is gearing up for a busy weekend.
"Right now you’ve got this group of the population that is essentially reflecting back on their childhood and nostalgia and trying to recapture memories," said Patrick Klima, owner of WyCo Vintage.
A Chiefs fan himself, Klima began collecting vintage T-shirts, shoes and art long before he opened the store.
Now that business is booming, he feels passionate about the history behind each piece.
"We got some good ones here, some fan favorites like Dan Saleaumua, some that are maybe more funny like Steve Bono," Klima said. "Times we might want to forget about a little bit, but it’s part of the history."
The allure of vintage spreads outside Kansas and Missouri, Klima contributing some of the heightened interest to the Chiefs' Super Bowl win in 2020.
"One of my really good clients ... he bought this Chiefs shirt that we had, and it was a 1960s player issued and it had a Champion tag in it," he said. "It’s an extremely rare shirt for $750 on our site. He bought it and I messaged him right away and I was like, 'Dude, Scott, I didn’t know you were a Chiefs fan!' And he was like, 'I’m not, I’m just rooting for you guys.'"
Klima's store is a time capsule.
He takes pride in his own collection, showing off items that are not for sale like a seat from Arrowhead Stadium.
"Chiefs, Chargers, I think it was a home opener," Klima recalls. "This seat was broken and .... it's been in my collection for quite some time, since 2010."
He now has famous Chiefs players sign it when they shop, including Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Travis Kelce.
"There’s lore that lives on with these sports teams," he said. "Growing up, and being a kid in the 90s, the heartbreak, the letdown. The city, we’re so lucky to have the Royals do what they did and now the Chiefs. ... The torched got passed on, but just to have a winning culture, it’s so cool."
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