What’s So Super About Super Flea While driving to Super Flea from his suburban home, Chris realizes the dramatic changes in scenery. A once vibrant industrial district of north east Kansas City, MO, now sits as a somber memory of jobs lost and poverty. Large warehouse buildings to the left and right once filled with working class citizens now lay vacant covered in graffiti and broken windows. As Chris approaches “Super Flea” he notices all eyes seem to be on him, suddenly he realizes he just drove a Mercedes S500 to the ghetto of course people are looking. Chris parks in the back forty of a gated parking lot next to a sign the reads “Park at your own risk”. While securing his belongings, a tall slender man approaches the vehicle, dressed in a dirty black tank top and grease covered blue jeans. He asks, “Sir I’m sorry to bother you, but my family and I are out of gas and trying to get home. Could you spare a dollar or two?”
Chris scans the parking lot looking for any sign of a family in distress. Quickly he realizes this man just wants money. Reluctantly he pulls some change from his pocket and hands it to the man. With a smile on his face Chris says, “Hope this helps you. Have a good day.” The dirty man now grinning from ear to ear, showing off a single gold tooth says, “God bless you,” while walking away. Chris follows loosely behind as the dirty man he would soon know as Lorenzo approached the entrance to Super Flea. The large concrete warehouse known as “Super Flea” casts a large shadow over the entrance and parking lot. Super Flea was once owned by the former Montgomery Ward’s Co., and housed the goods stocked in their retail stores. When built in 1914 it was the biggest building west of the Mississippi. At one time the building housed over 3,000 employees and was a shopping haven for all of the Midwest (superfleakc.com page #8). Entering through solid glass doors framed in steel, the handles still brandishing the MW of a company that has long since died. Once through these doors Chris is greeted by a nice man who is slow, but funny. “Fifty Cents” he says. Reaching into his pocket Chris realizes he just gave the dirty man, who just entered before him his change in the parking lot. While fumbling for his wallet the door man says, “Not to worry a dollar will do.” That dirty rascal got me. Chris thinks, as he pays the man. What was once a grand entrance to the Montgomery Ward department store, now houses a burger stand. Upon entering the aroma of fried food fills the air, “St. John’s Burgers” a man yells out. Little kids scurry around tables and chairs next to the burger joint. The dirty man Chris had just given his change to is casually seated in front of the burger joint, oblivious to the fact Chris is staring at him. A man walks up to the dirty man and says, “Lorenzo how you been man?” Chris interrupts, “You’re welcome Lorenzo,”
Chris proceeds on to a so called farmers market, located directly across from the burger stand. This market consists of a few tables with boxes stacked large to small in a stair pattern presenting fruits and vegetables. It is clear this man is not a farmer. While gazing over the expired fruit Chris meets a man named Eduardo. Eduardo appears to be in his seventies with deep wrinkles and a kind smile. He is selling fruit and vegetables that look as if he may have picked them from the dumpster behind the super market. Chris feels pity for the poor old man who appears to be living off the minuscule fund he makes from the weekend market and the unsold fruits and vegetables. None the less Eduardo asks, “How may I help you?” “Just looking,” Chris replies, as he looks for a way out. Eduardo begins to name the fruits and vegetables in a deep accent, “I’ve got tomato, onions, peanut, potato. You like sweet potato?” He asks. Chris replies “No thank you.” Eduardo continues on, “how about chili seasoning home made from an old family recipe?” “May I ask where this recipe comes from?” Chris asked politely. “Why Ecuador my friend; my family has been making this seasoning the same way for over 100 years. Smell this,” Eduardo says, with that kind smile. As Chris leaned in for a whiff, he suddenly received more than he bargained for. The smell of the chili powder overtook his senses. “AHHH CHU” Chris sneezes, while turning away Eduardo laughs, “I guess I should have warned you this is good stuff, so how about a bag? Normally it is five dollars but for you $2.50 my friend.” Chris agreed it must be good seasoning, “I’ll give it a try.”
As Chris wondered on the booths of people selling good seemed endless. A man selling knock-off designer shoes here, another there. A frail looking lady of Oriental decent solicits Chris to visit her store. The sign says, “1/2 off” and what she calls her store is framed wooden walls covered in chicken wire instead of drywall. She is selling random things like Tylenol, shampoos, razor blades and lotions on one wall. On the adjacent walls she is selling screen printed T-shirts bearing knock off trademarked logos. Soon Chris concludes many of these items may have been recently stolen from the local Wal-Mart. Chris carries on visiting the numerous shanty town booths, inside the gigantic warehouse that was once a landmark of the mid-west. While doing so Chris thinks to himself of the time this was a bustling warehouse employing thousands. He cannot help but wonder what Mr. Ward would think of what has become of his former building. Ward born Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1845 was fourteen when he was apprenticed to a trade to help support the family. According to his brief memoirs, he first earned 25 cents per day at a cutting machine in a barrel stave factory (Illinois Periodical online, Illinois History/ April 2000). Ward worked hard to create a new type of business that revolutionized consumer spending in America. Ward's business had social implications too, such as catering to Southern blacks who were shut out of whites-only stores and created a consumer culture in rural America. Ward was able to persuade his customers to take an enormous leap of faith: Fork over cash for products that they had only seen pictured in his catalog. He gained their trust by using guarantees. In 1875 Ward coined the term “satisfaction or your money back (Dr. John H. Lienhard. The Engines of Our Ingenuity p.1641). Although Super Flea does not adhere to the same moral values of Montgomery Ward, Chris concludes would appreciate the retailers occupying his once prestigious building. Super Flea, now occupied by descendants of the same people Mr. Ward liberated with his catalog sales, will remain as a staple of retail sales in northeast Kansas City.

Work Cited
Superfleakc.com. developed by Eamon. 2012. Web 18 Sept. 2012
Kim, Ann. Montgomery Ward the world’s first mail order business. April 2000. Report. 18 Sept. 2012. Leinhard, John H. “No 1641 Aaron Montgomery Ward”. n.d. University of Houston. Document. 18 Sept. 2012