Last week, Kate Wieners quietly entered a new chapter.
After working in sales for years, she turned over a new leaf by opening the first business of her own. That business is Monstera’s Books — a book and plant store nestled in the space of a former wine cellar in downtown Overland Park.
“You always hear people say, ‘If you do what you love, you never work a day in your life,’ right?” she said after the opening last week. “I never felt that until this week.”
Monstera’s Books operates at 7930 Floyd St.
- The store moved into a space on the northern end of downtown Overland Park, near Torreador Mexican Cantina.
- Wyldewood Cellars, a store selling wine and homemade jams, occupied that space for roughly two years.
- Monstera’s Books operates from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
The shop offers books of all genres
Monstera’s Books’ shelves feature books of all genres, from romance and sci-fi to lifestyle and cookbooks.
Right now the store mainly features new books, though Wieners said used and vintage books will also start to appear on the shelves in the coming weeks. If customers don’t see the book they want, the store can also order or preorder it, she added.
Aside from some help from local contractor Origin Build Co. and an artistic friend who painted a back-wall mural, Kate and Justin Wieners revamped the former wine cellar themselves, building shelves in their driveway and curating a vast selection of books.
Kate made a lot of the choices in terms of the store’s fiction selection, while Justin helped come up with nonfiction selections. The two also received lots of inventory suggestions from reader friends of theirs.
“For me, it was like choosing a lot of books that I love and want to read, but also what’s new and exciting for everybody else as well,” she said.
In addition to books, the shop also features a variety of cacti and small houseplants, as well as local goods like pins, mugs, charcuterie boards and stationery.
The store is already becoming a local stop
After only a week, Wieners said several customers have already trickled into the downtown Overland Park store to browse the shelves.
After getting into the groove, she said the store will take on bigger community endeavors, like hosting book clubs and partnering with other downtown Overland Park businesses.
But for now, she’s looking forward to making a living and bonding with customers over one of the things she loves most.
“It’s fun to hear what other people are reading and get recommendations that way,” she said. “I’m excited to share that with people.”
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