Boomerang

Boomerang is a Westport vintage clothing store, open since 1989, that racks its inventory by decade from the 1940s through the 1980s and has become the metro’s default source for period and themed-party outfits.

Description

Boomerang sits at the corner of West 39th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, on the Westport edge of Midtown, in a space of roughly 3,200 square feet.¹ Its organising principle is chronological rather than by garment type: racks are sorted by decade, so a customer looking for a specific era browses a single section rather than hunting across the floor.¹ The range runs from the 1940s through the 1980s — bell-bottoms, fur coats, cowboy boots, accessories and memorabilia.¹

That structure is what has made the shop the metro’s standing answer for costume and themed-occasion dressing. Kansas City Magazine’s February 2026 survey of area vintage stores characterised Boomerang plainly as “the spot to find an outfit tied to a specific occasion.”² The Pitch, marking the store’s third decade, described its customer base the same way: people assembling looks for all occasions rather than only collectors.³

The shop did not start there. Kinkead and Rosen opened Boomerang in 1989 selling mostly vintage furniture from the 1930s through the 1950s.¹³ The pivot to clothing came after 2001; Kinkead told Kansas City Magazine that in the aftermath of 9/11 “people were a bit more tight with their money,” buying vintage clothing for themed parties instead of furniture, and the buying followed the demand.¹

Ownership and history

Boomerang was founded in 1989 by business partners Kevin Kinkead and Keith Rosen.³ Both were still speaking for the store as partners in The Pitch’s 2020 questionnaire, where Kinkead’s stated advice was “just do what you love” and Rosen’s was “yesterday’s gone, and tomorrow may not be, so live today.”³ Kansas City Magazine’s 2019 profile named Kinkead alone as owner and described him sourcing stock through customer referrals and personal curation.¹ Whether Rosen’s stake has since changed is “.

The building has held the store for its full run at the 39th and Pennsylvania corner as far as available sources indicate; the date the store took that address, and whether it occupied any earlier location, is “.

Links

• Website: https://boomerang-kc.com/ (returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval at time of writing; not independently confirmed as live)
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Boomerang-KC-100057609212800/

Services

• Retail sale of vintage clothing, accessories and memorabilia, 1940s–1980s, organised by decade.¹
• Outfitting for themed events, parties and costume occasions — the store’s best-known function.²³
• A rental section for retro pieces has been reported alongside the retail floor; the current status of rentals is “.

Sources

Footnotes

1. “This local thrift shop has perfectly organized items by decade,” Kansas City Magazine, July 29, 2019. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. “From Westport to the West Bottoms, each of these vintage shops promises a different kind of hunt,” Kansas City Magazine, February 9, 2026. URL ↩ ↩²

3. Lucia Verzola, “Local vintage store Boomerang celebrates over three decades in the community,” The Pitch, October 6, 2020. URL ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵