Topsy's Popcorn

Topsy’s is the oldest merchant on the Country Club Plaza, and it sells popcorn and limeade. It opened on the Plaza as Patsy’s before the Second World War, was bought by Jerry Berger in 1948, renamed Topsy’s, and trademarked in 1950. From that one shop it grew into a public company running some 500 snack bars across North America by the late 1970s, then contracted back to what it had been. Today Topsy’s International Inc. is twelve franchised shops around the Kansas City metro, still working from the same recipes: buttered, caramel, cinnamon and cheese popcorn, and a fresh-squeezed limeade that is as much the point as the popcorn.

Description

Topsy’s Popcorn is a Kansas City popcorn and confectionery company whose original shop on the Country Club Plaza is the oldest continuously operating business there — older than nearly every tenant around it, and a fixed point in the Plaza’s commercial life.¹²³

The product line is deliberately narrow and has not changed much: four flagship popcorn flavors — buttered, caramel, cinnamon and cheese — plus decorative gift tins, seasonal items, and a fresh-squeezed limeade that for many Kansas Citians is the actual reason to stop.¹² Ice cream and chocolates are sold at some locations.¹

Topsy’s today is Topsy’s International Inc., headquartered at 221 W 74th Terrace, comprising twelve franchised popcorn and ice cream shops across the metro and outlying areas.¹ Its popcorn is also carried by select Hy-Vee and Price Chopper grocers and sold online with shipping.²

Goods and services

• Popcorn in four flagship flavors — buttered, caramel, cinnamon, cheese¹²
• Fresh-squeezed limeade¹
• Soft drinks¹
• Decorative gift tins¹
• Seasonal items¹
• Ice cream — at select locations¹²
• Chocolates — at select locations¹
• Grocery distribution — select Hy-Vee and Price Chopper stores²
• Online ordering and shipping²

History

The shop began on the Country Club Plaza under the name Patsy’s.¹ Its opening date is genuinely unsettled across sources and is not resolved here: the company’s own About page says the 1920s, secondary local accounts give 1929, and the company’s own FAQ says “the first Topsy’s popcorn shop opened on the famous Country Club Plaza in the 1940s.”¹²³ The last of these is compatible with the others if read strictly — the first Topsy’s-branded shop could postdate the first Patsy’s shop by two decades — but the company states both framings without reconciling them.

Mr. Jerry Berger acquired the business in 1948, changed the name to Topsy’s, and registered Topsy’s as a trademark on 1 July 1950.¹

What followed is the unexpected part of the story. Topsy’s became a publicly held corporation in 1968 and used the proceeds of its initial stock offering to expand into operating snack bars inside discount stores, largely on the east and west coasts. By the late 1970s the company ran approximately 500 units across the United States and Canada.³ That expansion unwound in the early 1980s as the discount-store chains it depended on closed, and the company contracted back toward its home market.¹

Today the company is owned by Bob Ramm, who had been a Topsy’s franchisee for more than twenty-five years.¹ The Plaza store still operates on the original site.²

Sources

Links

• Website: https://www.topsyspopcorn.com/
• About: https://topsyspopcorn.com/about
• FAQ: https://blog.topsyspopcorn.com/about-topsys-popcorn/topsys-popcorn-faq/
• Country Club Plaza listing: https://countryclubplaza.com/dining/topsy-s-popcorn/

Footnotes

1. Topsy’s Popcorn — official “About” page — asserts: “Originally opened as Patsy’s on the Country Club Plaza, we are the oldest merchant on the Country Club Plaza.”; Mr. Jerry Berger acquired it in 1948 and “changed the name to Topsy’s and registered Topsy’s as a trademark July 1, 1950.”; significant expansion through the 1960s-70s and contraction in the early 1980s following discount store closures; “The owner of the company is Bob Ramm, who has been a franchisee of Topsy’s in excess of 25 years.”; “Topsy’s International Inc. is comprised of 12 franchised popcorn and ice cream shops in the Kansas City and outlying areas.”; headquarters 221 W 74th Ter, Kansas City, MO 64114; products including gourmet popcorn in buttered, caramel, cinnamon and cheese, decorative gift tins, freshly squeezed limeades, soft drinks, seasonal items, and ice cream and chocolates at select locations. Primary first-party source. (Fetched 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶

2. Topsy’s Popcorn — official FAQ — asserts: “The first Topsy’s popcorn shop opened on the famous Country Club Plaza in the 1940s, and the Topsy’s trademark was officially registered in 1950.”; a Kansas City tradition for over 70 years; the original Country Club Plaza location is “the oldest continuously-operating business on the Plaza”; additional locations throughout the Kansas City metro; headquarters 221 W 74th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64114; four flagship popcorn flavors (buttered, caramel, cinnamon, cheese) plus ice cream and limeade at select locations; distribution through the company’s retail locations, select Hy-Vee and Price Chopper grocers, and online ordering with shipping. (Fetched 2026-08-14.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. Waldo Community Improvement District — Topsy’s Popcorn business listing — asserts: the shop on the Country Club Plaza opened in 1929 and is the longest-running merchant there; the name changed from Patsy’s to Topsy’s in 1949; the company has used the same recipes since 1929; Topsy’s became a publicly held corporation in 1968 and used the initial stock offering to expand into snack bars in discount stores mainly on the east and west coasts, reaching approximately 500 units in the United States and Canada by the late 1970s; the company today comprises 12 franchised popcorn and ice cream shops in Kansas City and outlying areas. Sole source for the 1929 date, the 1968 public offering and the 500-unit peak. (Content accessed via search-surfaced summary — see method note.) ↩ ↩² ↩³