Brian and Ana Wells have always wanted to open their own store.
The couple both had retail experience — Brian with clothing retailer Tommy Bahama, Ana with women’s wear company Anthropologie — and knew they wanted to turn that entrepreneurial spirit into something their own.
But it wasn’t until a trip to Portland, Oregon, to visit Brian’s grandmother, Hazel Wells, that inspiration for their business endeavor fully struck.
A lifelong entertainer at heart, Hazel hosted numerous parties and gatherings throughout the 1950s and 1960s, documenting each one diligently in a journal.
After finding and poring over the journal once Hazel passed away, Ana said she and her husband knew they wanted to center their business around that same ideal. That’s how urbAna, a home goods store with local roots as well as stores in the Wells’ current home of Arizona, was born.
Now the shop has officially made its Johnson County debut, with a new location in Prairie Village. The shop recently “soft-opened” its doors, with a grand opening event planned for Monday.
UrbAna operates at the Shops of Prairie Village
- The shop moved into a space at 19 On The Mall, on the corner of West 71st Street and Mission Road.
- Furniture store Golden & Pine previously occupied that space for nearly a decade, before it shuttered last fall.
- UrbAna operates from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
UrbAna offers home decor and gifts
The store’s inventory consists of a wide range of home goods, from candles and flower vases to recipe books and dinnerware.
UrbAna also carries party goods like balloons and wrapping paper, as well as beauty products like sleep masks and perfumes.
The Prairie Village shop also makes several nods to the Kansas City area, with items from local makers like Kansas City-based Effing Candle Co. and ceramic gifts from Kansas City-based Ampersand Studios.
Ana Wells classifies urbAna as a “one-stop shop” for all things entertaining — for party hosts and party guests alike. (Because, as Ana puts it, “There’s nothing that will light a fire under you” like people coming over.)
“(We wanted) to bring this whole idea of easy everyday entertaining,” she said. “If you’re hosting or being hosted, we want to be the place you think of.”
Prairie Village was a natural next step for UrbAna
Though she lived in Portland, Oregon most recently, Hazel Wells — the shop’s inspiration — spent her “heyday” in Johnson County — owning a house in northern Leawood and spending lots of time in Prairie Village.
Her sons (Brian’s father and uncle) also have ties to northeast Johnson County, where they attended Shawnee Mission East High School and learned to golf at Indian Hills Country Club.
Kelly Wells, Brian’s cousin and the store’s business development director, lives in Prairie Village, as does the store’s local manager, Liz Salko, who recently moved back from Phoenix.
Both will run day-to-day operations at the Prairie Village store.
“We have family here, we have great friends here,” Ana said. “This was a great way for us to kind of get back and be where Hazel was, and have people here that we knew and trusted that could run the store when we’re not here.”
Outside of Johnson County, UrbAna’s other locations operate in Arizona — where the boutique got its start roughly a decade ago. That’s also where Brian and Ana also now reside.
If all goes well, Ana said she sees the UrbAna brand further expanding in Johnson County. She said they’ve always wanted to bring it here — and they’ve already found themselves connecting with the local clientele.
“We knew that if we could ever have an UrbAna here, we would,” she said. “I think what’s most exciting is seeing the connection that we’re having with the people that are walking through the door.”
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