Gillham Plaza, between Gillham Road and Oak Street, was coming to life in 1928, soon after it was paved. A newspaper that year rounded up business life on the block, including the El Torreon Ballroom, the Martha Washington Candle Company, the new Luzier cosmetics laboratory, and the Stine-McClure Undertaking Company.
A few years later, in 1933, the Fieth Brothers built a factory to expand their shoe-dressing business on the block. Clarance and Wesley Fieth had started a small business in a corner of their Higgensville barn. They found a steady and increasing market for cream dressing used to treat kid gloves and women’s high boots. At first, they traveled around, stopping to manufacture more products in whatever apartment they were renting. Later, they bought frontage at Gillham Plaza and Linwood and hired 50 people to work in their factory.
As part of our Uncovering History Project, the Midtown KC Post is examining each block in Midtown. A set of 1940 tax assessment photos is available for many blocks.
One of the first buildings on the block was the Martha Washington Candle Company, on the southwest corner of Gillham Plaza and Linwood. When this 1928 image appeared, the retail store and offices employed about 100 people.
Also, in 1928, the Kansas City Star showed plans for a new building on Gillham Plaza. The building would become the new home of Special Formula Laboratories, a cosmetic manufacturing company operated by Thomas Luzier that had recently become a nationally known brand. Architect Nelle Peters designed the building.
Another building under construction in 1928 was the Stine-McClure Undertaking Company opposite the Martha Washington Candies Company.