Best Auto Dealer (Domestic)
No repeat winners in this category in 2007. Located on Noland Road in Independence, Cable Dahmer Chevrolet wins Gold. Cable Dahmer has been recognized by Auto Age magazine as one of the top 500 dealerships in the United States for the past eleven years. Rob Sight Auto Plaza, a Ford Lincoln Mercury dealer located just east of 135th and State Line, picks up the Silver. Galen Boyer Motors, a Pontiac GMC Buick dealership, also on Noland Road in Independence gets the Bronze.
Best Auto Dealer (Foreign)
The competition in this category—like the suspension on a top-of-the-line sports car—is stiff. Aristocrat Motors crosses the line first with Gold. Aristocrat sells some of the world’s most respected automobile brands. Japanese nameplates are well represented by Jay Wolfe Acura and Molle Toyota, tied for Silver. Both dealerships are located west of Wornall at 103rd. In the same neighborhood is Superior Lexus, near 103rd and State Line, tied for Bronze with Baron BMW, located at Shawnee Mission Parkway and I-35.
Best Corporate Gifts
Located on the Plaza and at Crown Center, Hall’s Kansas City was created by Hallmark founder Joyce C. Hall in 1913 to “always be first with the best in Kansas City.” This venerable institution wins Gold as the place executives shop for their clients and valued associates. Tiffany & Co., a welcome out-of-towner, picks up the Silver—not that this most exclusive of jewelers needs any more silver, or gold for that matter. Bronze goes to Best of Kansas City. The retailer offers about anything you can think of having to do with, well, you know.
Best Florist
Of all the businesses in Kansas City, Fiddly Fig has the name that’s most fun to say aloud. Go ahead, try it. “Fiddly Fig. Fiddly Fig.” Fun, isn’t it? Tied with Fiddly Fig for the Gold in this category is Trapp and Company. Silver goes to Studio Dan Meiner, appropriately located in the city’s creative hub—the Crossroads District. Tobler’s Flowers is awarded Bronze. Tobler’s is also fun to say aloud. “Tobler’s. Tobler’s.”
Best Jeweler
Ingram’s readers know exactly what they like in this high end category. An iconic Kansas City business, now approaching its 100th birthday, Tivol earns Gold. Tiffany & Co. wins the Silver, and Northland gem Meirotto’s Midwest Jewelry gets the Bronze.
Best Liquor Store/Wine Seller
Rimann Liquors, winner of the Gold, has earned a reputation for excellent personal service, a superior wine inventory, and unparalleled wine and spirits knowledge. Lucas Liquors Superstore, which has a huge inventory of all imbibements, gets the Silver. Berbiglia Wine & Spirits, with its tradition of selection and service, wins the Bronze.
Best Men’s Apparel
“Every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man…” Which means the stakes are high when shopping for new threads, and Ingram’s readers know just where to go. Hall’s of Kansas City was voted Gold. Nordstrom gets Silver. And Plaza anchor Mark Shale picked up the Bronze.
Best Women’s Apparel
Oak Park Mall anchor Nordstrom earns Gold in this category. Nordstrom has a well-earned national reputation for unmatched merchandise quality and selection and truly legendary personal service. It’s also known for its vast inventory of shoes. More, even, than Imelda Marcos. The elite Plaza- and Crown Center-based department store and hometown hero, Hall’s of Kansas City, is awarded the Silver. And the ubiquitous and consistently fashionable and affordable Ann Taylor gets Bronze.
Best Office Equipment Dealer
It’s hard for locally owned stores to compete in this business when huge national big box retailers can buy in volume, sell at a discount, and locate outlets in convenient shopping centers in virtually every neighborhood across the country. In fact the only local company in this category, Kross Office Outfitters, which wins the Bronze, has recently allied itself with national retailer Staples. Office Depot wins Silver, and Office Max gets Gold. But who can tell them apart?
