Gnarly Hussle’s thrift store bar opening is ready to rock Raytown

Photo by Craig Smith

Fashion, furniture, media, and all of the things that we own, have lost a lot of personality. Whether you’re staring at another lifeless gray apartment on Zillow or trying to buy a shirt without “LONER VIBES” splattered on the back of the deteriorating fabric, finding anything unique and high quality has become incessantly difficult. That is, without going into credit card debt.

This dilemma has catalyzed a renaissance for vintage. Thrifting, antiquing, and second-hand goods have become all the rage. Whether it’s the Goodwill bins or estate sales, something is thrilling about hunting for a gem. That’s why Gnarly Hussle Owners Alex Quinn and Pat Clifton decided to make thrifting an entire experience.

On Aug. 17, the vintage curating duo opened a bar inside their Raytown brick-and-mortar resale store. Kansas City seemed delighted at the idea of ​​a thrift beer. “We saw like a 50% or 100% jump in our social media when we started announcing the opening of a thrift bar. So we kind of took that and ran with it,” says Quinn. “People seem to be open to it and it’s really resonating with people,” Clifton says.

Gnarly Hussle’s bar doors opened with an all-day celebration, which started at noon. They had vintage pop-ups coming to their store to offer even more curated finds. Then, at 3 pm, the bar played The Chiefs vs. Lions pregame matchup. After the big game, their patio doors led to two live performances from Zac Lepper and Phantom Sam.

The Betty Boop light, second-hand booths, and perfectly retro decor of the bar section make it feel like you’re a teenager in someone’s basement again. The simple bar menu offers beer, wine, and seltzers for now, which only adds to the nostalgia of our youth. The duo wants to make this a spot for everyone to get together and have a great time. “We’ll just ride the wave and see who comes in and try to make people happy and curate a good vibe for whoever’s here,” Quinn says.

Photo by Dillon Brannen

Quinn and Clifton’s thrift stock continues to expand after starting with reselling China dinnerware during COVID. They now collaborate with various resellers and curators to ensure there’s a special find for everyone.

“We love to coin ourselves as one of the best vintage clothing stores in Kansas City. We’ve got like 12 vendors right now and we’d like to add a few more. They’re handpicked people who bring and curate really cool inventories,” says Quinn.

The downside to vintage clothing is that sometimes the one-of-a-kind pieces or jackpot finds can become a bit pricey. To maintain the spirit of affordable and sustainable fashion, Gnarly Hussle has a section where everything is $5-$15, ensuring that everyone can come out and have fun, no matter their budget.

“Someone can come in here with 60 bucks. You can buy a one-of-a-kind band t-shirt or a full outfit, depending on what you’re looking for,” Quinn says.

What elevates places like Gnarly Hussle apart from the average thrift store isn’t just the booze. Curated spots tend to cut through the static of flipping through the racks to find nothing but shirts from 5ks past. “The way I talked about it, or we talked about early on, is it’s like fishing—there’s like those curated ponds where you can go there and you know that there’s a million fish,” Clifton says. “You’re likely to walk out with something or you could go and sit all day and not get anything.”

Opening a bar isn’t exactly an easy endeavor, and Gnarly Hussle hits a few bumps in the road. “We announced this event three years ago, that we were going to have alcohol. Then we got a cease and desist from three government agencies, threatening us with a felony if we did it, so then we had to cancel that event,” Quinn says. “So we were like, ‘Well, let’s go through the process to figure out how to do it legally.’ But, that takes a lot of money, and we don’t have much. It took us some time to figure it out. But now we’re finally here.”

Photo Courtesy of Gnarly Hussle’s Instagram

Fortunately, the community surrounding the retro storefront extended support to get them to this point. Their wives tend bar, their vintage collaborators send their best finds, and their rugby teammates play gigs on their patio—Gnarly Hussle is a group effort. The two actually met through rugby—Clifton coached Quinn when he was still in school. Clifton still writes and is the head coach for the Kansas City Rugby Football Club.

Though there’s already plenty of buzz surrounding Gnarly Hussle, they still have exciting things on the horizon. They’ve recently begun to make their own clothing line, but they want to take it a step further. “We just launched a simple shirt corresponding with the opening to the bar, but we’ve got plans for a NASCAR theme and rugby fall wear,” Quinn says.

Gnarly Hussle’s bar opened on Aug. 17 in Raytown, and the retro spot is ready to join the creatively evolving Kansas City bar community and boozy retail scene. So go out, grab a beer, and snag your next vintage find. And, please, thrift responsibly.