Customers who enter Heddi Monro will first find a small, light-filled clothing boutique.
Behind its racks of carefully curated clothing and gift items, though, there’s more than meets the eye.
Step behind the pink curtain at the back of the store, into a small room where a trivia question is written on the mirror — the answer to which is one of multiple iconic women pictured on the wall next to it, such as Rosa Parks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Taylor Swift.
Answer the question with the correct name, and shoppers will find themselves ushered into The Dressing Room — a speakeasy-style cocktail lounge built around celebrating women.
The new concept, co-created by longtime friends Christa Johnson and Meghan Dudek, officially opens to the public Thursday after several soft-launch nights with friends, neighbors and vendors.
The concept is opening at 7900 Conser St.
- The boutique and cocktail lounge took over a space on the ground level of the InterUrban Lofts, just off 79th and Conser streets in downtown Overland Park.
- The space was previously occupied by an IT office.
- Heddi Monro, the boutique, will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
- The Dressing Room cocktail lounge will be open from 4 to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Heddi Monro offers curated, “timeless” attire
To transform a former IT office into what it is now, Johnson said the boutique and speakeasy underwent a “top-to-bottom” remodel.
That’s where Dudek’s design background came in. She owns Overland Park-based interior design firm Benson Method.
The boutique is airy and bright, with plenty of natural light. Its shelves and racks offer a curated collection of clothes and accessories, as well as gifting items that intentionally tie back to the speakeasy (including glassware and drink mixes).
“I buy in very small batches, so when they’re gone, they’re gone,” Johnson said. “If you like it, you better take it, because we won’t have any more.”
Johnson said the goal was to avoid trend-chasing — instead leaning into long-lasting pieces.
“It was really based upon trying to find those pieces that were timeless,” she said. “Things that wouldn’t just last the season, that ladies could keep in their closet for several years.”
The boutique’s name, Heddi Monro, carries layers of meaning. For one, it’s an anagram for “hidden room”, i.e. a nod to the speakeasy on the other side of the curtain.
The name also tips its hat to two influential women, Hedy Lamarr and Marilyn Monroe. Lamarr and Monroe are depicted in a mural inside of the holding room where customers wait to gain entry to the cocktail lounge.
“Both of these women in different fashions really embrace what we’re also looking to embrace,” Johnson said.
Customers will find cocktails behind the curtain
The speakeasy leans into soft textures, lots of purple and gold, and decor with an intentionally feminine touch.
“A lot of more male-centered speakeasies were just a little more smoky, with dark brown, dark leathers,” Johnson said. “We wanted it to still feel like a lounge and a speakeasy, without all the harsh black.”
Though the bar’s menu offers some wines, its focus is primarily on cocktails; no beer, no seltzer, no cans.
Some early standouts include the “It Girl” (with citrus-infused Restless Spirits, Duffy’s Run vodka, dry curacao, lime and tart cranberry) and the “She’s The Boss” (with Freeland Bourbon, Rittenhouse Rye, simple syrup and house bitters).
“I like to take a really simple drink and just execute it right,” said James Williams, bar manager at The Dressing Room. “Not everybody (who walks in) is an expert. I want them to see the menu and go, ‘I know those things. I want to try that.'”
The menu also offers several nonalcoholic “mocktail” options — such as the “Midnight Hustle”, which is The Dressing Room’s take on a zero-proof espresso martini.
“That was something that was really important to a few of us,” Williams said. “People talked to us about coming to the bar and not (wanting) just a sweetened juice, but a really tailored cocktail without alcohol.”
All of the spirits used to make The Dressing Room’s cocktails are from women-owned or women-led brands — like Kansas City-based distillers Mean Mule and Restless Spirits.
The boutique and speakeasy is a long time coming for Johnson and Dudek, who have been friends since their sons (both now college-age) were in Little League baseball together.
Leading up to the grand opening this week, Johnson said soft openings have drawn in InterUrban residents, vendors and even some word-of-mouth visitors.
After all of the work that has gone into bringing the boutique and the speakeasy to life, she said, it’s been rewarding to see everyone who has been a part of the process get to sit back and enjoy the results — with a cocktail in hand.
“We’ve had a lot of fun,” Johnson said. “It’s been rewarding to see a group of people sit there and have a good time with something we’ve provided to them.”
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