Retro Inferno
By m. steele brown
Rod Parks tried hard to fight it, but in the end, he just let it have its way with him.
"It," is Parks' love for the 20th Century modern furnishings and fashions that pack the showroom floors at Retro Inferno, one of Kansas City's premiere destinations for hard-to-find items from the 50s, 60s and early 70s.
For Parks, this was clearly the road less chosen. He had taught high school for 10 years in Kearney, Mo. and served as a marketing education coordinator to help students find jobs. He was also working on a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at UMKC. But he abandoned his educational aspirations to pursue full time what was once a hobby for him -- collecting 20th Century modern furnishings.
"I really enjoyed teaching the Master's level classes at UMKC," says Parks, now an ABD -- all but dissertation. "But when the business began to grow as it did, it just left little time for anything else."
Parks says he got into the retail business because he had a hard time finding the types of pieces he was looking for to put in his own house. He began slowly -- first collecting enough pieces for himself by combing estate sales and making contacts with others who shared his love for the retro look. Soon, Parks had a garage full of the stuff and needed more space to house his inventory. After storing it in at several different sites around town, Parks fell into his current location through a relationship with the building's former occupants, El Dorado Architecture.
Located at 1712 Main in the blossoming Crossroads District, Inferno occupies four floors of a building once used as a space for local art exhibitions. Parks happened upon the building when asked to display some of his furniture in one of the architectural firm's art shows. Soon he was being asked to supply items for more and more shows, including one for the legendary beat novelist William S. Burroughs.
Parks says he began to rent space at the building to store his furniture full-time, and when El Dorado decided to move, it made sense to take over 20,000 square feet of space in the building. Inferno currently has two floors open to the public, with upper levels used for storage.
Creating a destination location for area patrons of this "vintage modern" style of furniture was the main goal in locating Inferno in the Crossroads District Parks says. That, and "affordable rent."
"When I first chose the location and opened the store I chose the location for the money," Parks says. "Where I might have gotten more foot traffic in an area like Westport, I was able to get a huge amount of space for a very reasonable price and I wanted the space. I want people to walk in here and be overwhelmed by the size of the store and the quantity of merchandise the store offers."
With his reputation now established and business continuing to grow, Parks now focuses on his favorite part of the job -- locating one-of-a-kind items patrons can't find anywhere else.
"Finding good inventory is always the big challenge," Parks says. "It works now because I've built relationships with people who know the kind of merchandise I'm looking for, and I can be more aggressive when going after the unique items. It has to be this way because if a customer wants something, I can't just pull out the catalog and order it."
Parks continues his quest for knowledge, but in this new field, he has had to become his own teacher.
Contact Rod Parks at 816.842.4004 or log on to the Web at www.retroinferno.com.