Speakeasy-style bars are steadily on the rise in Johnson County.
Common Tiger, a cocktail bar hidden behind an unassuming corner store front, opened in downtown Mission in 2024. Earlier this year, The Blacklist launched in Leawood — a wine and cocktail bar with a hidden side tucked behind a bookcase.
Soon, the speakeasy trend will come to downtown Overland Park, but this one’s disguise will be a little bit different.
It will be hidden behind curated collections of women’s clothing and accessories.
The dual concept, women’s boutique Heddi Monro and the appropriately named cocktail bar The Dressing Room, will open this spring.
The concept is coming to 7900 Conser St.
- Heddi Monro and The Dressing Room are moving into a space on the ground level of the InterUrban Lofts in downtown Overland Park, a block west of the main Santa Fe Drive strip.
- The space was previously used as an IT office.
- Once it opens, the boutique’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
- The bar will be open from 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The concept will offer clothes and cocktails
The new space will be the first brick-and-mortar storefront for Heddi Monro, which initially launched online last fall.
At the shop, customers can find a variety of women’s clothing and accessories, dresses, blazers, handbags and more.
Co-owner Christa Johnson said the focus at Heddi Monro is on staple, long-lasting pieces that customers can turn to again and again.
“We wanted to give people those staple pieces that aren’t just good for one season,” Johnson said. “It’s that little black dress that’s always in the back of your closet that you can pull out for all the events.”
The idea for Heddi Monro was inspired, in large part, by a problem Johnson noticed in the corporate world after years of networking events and travel. Women kept showing up to meetings and events in the same pieces — even those who used subscription services like Stitch Fix, which were supposed to offer uniquely tailored styles for each customer.
Heddi Monro, she said, was designed as a response to that problem. Instead of stocking items in high volume, the boutique will focus on distinct, unique pieces in smaller quantities.
“We purchase very small, limited amounts, and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said. “If a sweater is really popular, then next year I may have it in a different color. But I’m not going to keep (stocking it), because I’m trying to not saturate the market.”
After shopping, have a drink
Shoppers looking to step into The Dressing Room will find it by pushing back a curtain meant to pose as the entrance to a dressing room (hence the name).
There, they’ll be asked a “trivia-style” question. Answer the question correctly, and another door will pop open to reveal the speakeasy bar.
The menu will offer only craft cocktails — no wines, no beers, no seltzers.
Some examples include the “Power Hour,” The Dressing Room’s take on an espresso martini, and the “Verdant Promise,” with green tea-infused Restless Spirits dry gin, lime cordial and a sprig of thyme.
Those who aren’t looking for a buzz will be able to find non-alcoholic options as well, such as the “Midnight Hustle”, which is a mocktail version of an espresso martini.
Johnson said the bar will largely draw from female-centered brands. For example, the menu will feature spirits from Mean Mule Distilling Co., and coffee from Café Corazon — both of which are Kansas City-based.
“We’ll be really lifting up female-owned and operated brands of distilled spirits,” she said. “Our crafted cocktails are all made with those in mind.”
The Dressing Room is “designed with her in mind”
Johnson and her business partner, Meghan Dudek, have known each other for years. Dudek also owns Overland Park-based interior design firm Benson Method.
The Dressing Room’s concept was born out of another corporate-travel lesson for Johnson and Dudek. It was often difficult for women — particularly those traveling alone for work — to find a place besides the hotel bar to network with other women in their industry over a good cocktail.
Though Johnson says men will be welcome at The Dressing Room, the space will focus on giving women that opportunity to find and connect with one another without feeling like they’ve walked into a pickup spot.
As the boutique and speakeasy continue to steadily take shape, she said, the eagerness she’s received from the community has started to make the process feel less like a hurdle and more like a prelude.
“I honestly wasn’t prepared for how people were going to embrace the idea,” she said. “Just how many people are just really pulling for us and just really excited about our success has been, I think, the most exciting part.”
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