He wanted to be Kansas City’s mayor (twice)…
He also wanted to erect a London-sized fariis wheel along the banks of the Missouri River. Hey, Stan “The Man” Glazer wanted to do lotsa cool stuff over the course of his 80-plus years on this earth. And of course, he begat our beloved Scribe – son Craig Glazer – so there’s that.
So what’s he up to now? Funny you should ask.
“My wife Lori and I opened up a shop at Nellie & Nico’s over in Shawnee,” Glazer says. “It’s right off Shawnee Mission Parkway and Quivera in an old HyVee or Hen House and there’s probably 200 or more booths there.”
Antique booths for the most part, Glazer says.
“It’s more like a hobby, but we’ve been averaging a nice little income from it and now Lori’s keeping me busy. So what started out as a hobby has grown into a nice little business. And hey, it’s a lot easier than running for mayor.”
The name of the Glazer’s new game: MD Decor.
“It stands for ‘mom and dad’ – I think it’s Lori’s mom and dad,” Stan says. “Because she always refers to them that way. Like, ‘M and D are coming over for dinner tonight.'”
What to expect at MD?
“Well, she has like an antique desk and an antique chair,” Stan says. “And last week she had me pick up a church pew.”
Hold it, a church pew?
“It’s beautiful,” Stan says. “You’d be surprised – it’s solid oak. And Lori does a big job with secondhand books, like about celebrities. Like Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson, Vince Lombardi and Hank Stram. It’s almost like a little libraryand she averages selling two or three books a day.
“And we’ve got pictures, oil paintings, antique clocks. Lori just lives on her laptop and goes through everything there is. We’ve had deer heads, and elk head – you’d be surprised – I sold an antelope head for around $150. And we even have a stuffed pheasant. I found out you’re not allowed to sell migratory birds like a mallard, Canadian Geese or any kind of duck. But you can sell a stuffed pheasant because it’s not migratory.”
Wait a sec, this is starting to sound a little creepy. What’s the deal?
“If you came to our home you’d be shocked,” Glazer says. “We have a mountain sheep head with horns that have a six foot curl – it’s in our living room – I mean, it’s beautiful.
It’s a new trend, using all sorts of wild animal heads. I’m talking about in these million dollar mansions. They’ve been doing it for years, but it’s a big deal now. You know, PETA doesn’t like it, but we didn’t kill these animals, we purchased them from my brother when he moved and didn’t know what to do with them. he had about 15 counting the birds.
“We have an antelope head. We have a deer head. We have eight different migratory birds and one pheasant. It’s not illegal to own migratory birds, it’s just illegal to sell ’em. But they’re actually beautiful”
Does Glazer ever get – you know – a little creeped out in his Wild Kingdom?
“No,” he says, “but my dog doesn’t care for them. She’ll look up at the deer head and cock her head sideways and say, ‘I hope he doesn’t do that to me.’ ”
Smart dog.
If I were her I’d think about migrating.
Well, at least he isn’t getting reverseb mortgaged out of his home, or is he?
with some companies, they’d have stan’s head mounted above their fireplace.
My dad is one of this cities most interesting people. He should have moved to Hollywood long ago, been a talk show host, woulda been great. Instead he stayed in KC and over the years had many wins and loses. The guy has been one of our flashiest men when we didn’t really have any. A playboy, a great speaker, funny and always in the media or limelight. His greatest victory was opening Stanford and Sons in Westport in 1975, wow, that long ago. It was Stan who launched the modern Westport with this trendy fun restaurant. Latter in 1980 Jeff and I brought comedy to the restaurant. My dad, Stan took it from a weekend warrior to a nationally known top comedy club with names like Sinbad, Louie Anderson, Naster and Bill Hicks to go with the incredible night Robin Williams showed up…that got us national attention. It lasted all these years.
My dad brought us Sav-ON, the indoor front runner of Wal-Mart in 1962 and many other great projects including being one of the first to put together a NHL team and stadium back in the day.
Hey I can’t believe dad is over 80. I can’t think of five men I’ve ever seen look as good as Stan for his age. You’d have to be a movie star like George Hamilton. Up or down rich or not, my dad has always lived like a million bucks. He still does. You have to admire the guy. He still flashes that big smile and has story after story after story…all funny and all true…well mostly.
So, you’re saying its your mother’s fault?
When is he going to sue you again?
I was just about to post this! Was hilarious when they went head to head.
Personally I think the Ferris wheel is a great idea, KC should do more with the river front instead of turning its back on it. Then again if he had built one it would be destroyed by now by the same demographic that’s trying to destroy the plaza. And it ain’t weekend motorcycle hobbyists.
Twerkin’ on da wheel! Twerkin’ on da wheel!
Stan is still THE MAN.
Stan Glazer is the “real” deal….. he should have been our Kansas City Mayor along the way and he should have had a Hollywood Talk Show. No doubt on both of those. Stan is truly a Renaissance man who lived it well , bigger than life many times and yet helped many along the way, including me, giving me pointers and a few lectures when I needed them as a rookie in Westport in the mid 1980’s… Sure glad you did!
I have always been and continue to be a big fan of Stan’Glazer. Can’t wait to see his new Shop. Thanks for the update on Stan.