This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.
Kansas City’s oldest continuously operating flower shop, anchoring the Crestwood Shops on East 55th Street since 1932 — a mom-and-daughter operation now in its fourth decade under the Swearingen family.
Description
Crestwood Flowers is the longest-tenured merchant at the Crestwood Shops, the beloved strip of 15 locally owned stores and restaurants along East 55th Street between Oak Street and Brookside Boulevard. Founded in 1932 — during the depths of the Depression — by original proprietor Marguerite Glenn, the shop has outlasted every wave of retail change and consolidation to remain a neighborhood anchor across nearly a century.
Since the late 1970s the business has been owned and operated by Ruth Ann Swearingen, making this a multi-decade single-owner stewardship on top of the shop’s already-remarkable founding lineage. Staff describe it as a mom-and-daughter operation. The shop sources cut flowers by going directly to wholesalers on a daily basis to hand-pick product — a labor-intensive practice that larger competitors have long since abandoned — and brings in local farm-fresh flowers when in season.
Crestwood Flowers stocks cut flowers by stem or by vase, orchids, houseplants, greeting cards, and gifts. It is open Monday through Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm. The shop operates on pickup and local delivery.
Ownership and history
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1932 | Shop founded at Crestwood Shops by Marguerite Glenn; becomes longest-tenured merchant in the center |
| Late 1970s | Ruth Ann Swearingen purchases the business; transforms it into a mom-and-daughter operation |
| Early 2000s | Swearingen and fellow long-tenured Crestwood Shops merchants collectively purchase the Crestwood Shops property, becoming owner-operators of the real estate |
| 2026 | Active; longest-running tenant at the Crestwood Shops |
The early 2000s property purchase is notable: Swearingen joined the group of independent Crestwood merchants who bought the shopping center outright to protect it from outside redevelopment pressure — a meaningful act of community and civic investment in the Crestwood/Brookside corridor.
Links
- Official site: https://www.crestwoodflowers.net/
- Crestwood Shops tenant directory: https://www.crestwoodshops.com/crestwood-flowers
Sources
Disputes
None at this time.
See also
- Registry
- Owner-And-History-Research-Toolchain
- _Tier1-Non-Service-Local-Businesses