Willa's Books & Vinyl

Willa’s Books & Vinyl was an independent, Black-owned bookstore and record shop on the Troost corridor in Kansas City, MO, founded by Willa Robinson — long recognized as the oldest and longest-standing Black-owned bookstore in Missouri.¹² It specialized in used and rare African-American literature alongside vintage vinyl, with a strong jazz, R&B, and soul focus. In July 2025, after roughly four decades of collecting and nearly two decades of storefront retail, the 84-year-old Robinson retired and transferred her ~5547 Troost space and 15,000–20,000-piece collection to The Kansas City Defender, which converted it into a public archive and the Defender’s headquarters.³⁴ Retail operations have ended; the page is retained as a closed-status historical record.

Description

Willa’s Books & Vinyl was a used and rare bookstore combined with a vintage record shop on Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. Its book inventory centered on African-American literature — out-of-print, used, and rare titles, including first editions and works by authors such as Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Booker T. Washington, and Langston Hughes — alongside a wide range of mainstream authors.¹² The shop also carried a large array of vintage vinyl spanning jazz, R&B, classics, rock, and more, with an emphasis on records by Black artists.⁵

Over roughly forty years, founder Willa Robinson assembled a collection variously reported at 10,000 to 20,000-plus pieces — books, magazines, vinyl, and CDs by Black creators.²⁴ The store was widely described as the oldest and longest-standing Black-owned bookstore in the state of Missouri.²

Ownership and history

The business was founded and owned by Willa Robinson, who developed a love of books and reading early in life. She began selling books as a street vendor at 18th & Vine in Kansas City around 1994, then opened her first storefront, Willa’s Books, in 2007 on Troost Avenue.¹ The most recent iteration, Willa’s Books & Vinyl, operated near the corner of 56th Street and Troost (5547 Troost Ave) in the years leading up to 2025.¹

Beginning in 2024, The Kansas City Defender — a Black-led digital media outlet — began covering the store’s rent.³ In July 2025, with Robinson (then 84) planning to retire, the Defender took over the 5547 Troost space, transferring Robinson’s collection into a permanent public archive and establishing the location as the Defender’s first headquarters, also housing community programming such as the B-REAL Academy and mutual-aid efforts.³⁴ Retail sale of books and records at the location ceased with this transition.³⁴

Links

• Former website: https://www.willasbookskc.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willasbooks/
• KC Defender (current occupant): https://kansascitydefender.com/

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. https://www.willasbookskc.com/ — Official site (archival). Asserts: Willa Robinson founded the business; began as 18th & Vine street vendor ~1994; opened first Troost store in 2007; current location at 56th & Troost opened 2021; focus on used/rare African-American books and vintage vinyl (jazz, R&B, classics, rock). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. https://kansascitydefender.com/kansas-city/missouris-oldest-black-bookstore-faced-closure-the-defender-pulled-up/ — Kansas City Defender. Asserts: oldest/longest-standing Black-owned bookstore in Missouri; Robinson spent ~40 years building the collection (10,000–20,000 works); notable authors collected; address 5547 Troost Ave, KC, MO 64110. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2025-07-18/willas-books-and-vinyl-robinson-troost-black-authors-singers-kansas-city-defender-history — KCUR / NPR KC. Asserts: Robinson is 84; KC Defender covered rent since 2024 and took over the space in 2025 to create a community archive; store closed to public retail; ~15,000 pieces collected. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. https://startlandnews.com/2025/07/kc-defender-willas-books/ — Startland News (July 2025). Asserts: retail bookstore operations ended; Robinson retired and transferred storefront to KC Defender as HQ + public archive; B-REAL Academy and mutual-aid programming; collection of 20,000+ books retained as community resource. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. https://www.yelp.com/biz/willas-books-and-vinyl-kansas-city — Yelp. Asserts: address 5547–5549 Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO; bookstore category; vintage vinyl and rare/used books. ↩