Florist providing location for buying, selling used prom dresses
By Ashley Luthans
With fewer stores in St. Joseph selling formal dresses as prom season approaches, a local business is turning to an unconventional source for affordable options — the closets of area residents.
Landers Flowers in St. Joseph is hosting a pop-up prom shop where dresses can be bought and sold by locals.
There are few places to buy formal dresses in St. Joseph, driving many high schoolers to Kansas City to purchase them. New prom dresses, however, tend to be expensive for a piece that will be worn only one time.
After prom, most people have no use for their prom dress other than just hanging it in a closet and letting it collect dust.
Jill Knorr, the owner of Landers Flowers in St. Joseph, said the prom pop-up event is the solution to both problems.
“Prom’s coming up and I am seeing all these dresses online, people trying to sell their old dresses or, you know, that they wore once for a day,” Knorr said. “And I thought, why don’t we have ‘em, bring them into the shop. It’ll be a nice central location for people to buy and sell. And then hopefully we’ll get some new people in that have never been to the flower shop before.”
The pop-up event is an opportunity for people to sell their old prom pieces and help others in the area find cute, affordable dresses for the special occasion. All prom dresses will be showcased on the Landers Flowers (St. Joseph) Facebook page.
Those who want to sell a prom dress fill out an application form available through Landers Flowers in person or on its Facebook page. Each seller’s Venmo will be linked on the dress tag, allowing for an easy and quick sales process.
Landers Flowers will allow dress try-ons for people to determine if the dress is the right fit.
The pop-up shop is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays until the end of April at Landers Flowers, 3702 Frederick Ave. Suite L5, located on the west side of East Hills Shopping Center.
“People are welcome to come buy them now, too,” Knorr said. “There’s not like a set time to buy and sell, so if people want to come buy them, they are welcome to. And we’ll take them as long as they want through the end of prom season.”
