Kalena’s Close, a Pawnee Consignment Shop!
By Cindy Ladage
Colleen Walraven had a dream that just came to fruition this past winter, to own a consignment shop in a small town. Colleen and her husband Steve are new to Pawnee, although not the area. “My husband and I lived by Springfield Lake. In all my years of living in small towns it has always been in the back of my mind to have a consignment shop.”
She remembered how inconvenient shopping used to be. “It took 35 minutes to go to the mall and as a teen it would have been so nice to have a little store where I could go and find something new every now and then.”
Colleen has basically been planning Kalena’s Closet, which was her nickname, for years. “When we were searching for our home,” she shared, “We needed an extra bedroom just for my closet.”
“I have so many clothes,” she laughed. The love of clothes and accessories was the push she needed to open a store, that and a BIG reason to move to Pawnee.
“Life happens and my husband and I lived by the zoo,” she said, “then my daughter Nycole had our first grand baby. I wanted to get close to the baby and a small town. Two days after Christmas we closed-on the house and moved to Pawnee.”
Colleen and Steve’s daughter Nycole is married to Pawnee resident Clark Cook. After their December move, she said, “Then in January, after getting settle in, I told my husband and daughter I said, ‘Now is the time’. I just saw a space for rent here in
Pawnee and I called about it”
The space was open, so Colleen acted. “My husband Steve is super supportive in all of my chaos.”
To ensure that there was interest locally in a consignment shop, Colleen reached out the Pawnee Information Facebook page. “I asked if the community would be interested. I got a good response.”
Moving quickly, Colleen said she had racks of clothing ready to go by mid-February, and Kalena’s Closet was open by February 17th. To catch local attention and get enough produce for her store, Colleen said, “I created a Facebook page for Kalena’s Closet and
posted on there. For a while we had crazy turnout. It was nuts people were bringing us clothing, and I had to halt it for a little while.”
After getting everything sorted and ready she said they picked back up accepting consignments, and added, “Now it’s word of mouth and they bring them by during business hours, and they drop in. I even have a lady that lives in Springfield that drove to Pawnee to consign with me.”
With everything lining up for the store to open, Colleen has been planning this for quite some time. “I have always wanted to do it; I have planned for it at various times in life. I had a good thought process of how it was going to work and look. I knew what I wanted
to sell all the way down to what I do with items that don’t sell.”
Wanting to use these items for good, Colleen said, “A lot of times people don’t want those items back. I didn’t want to donate to Goodwill or others that wanted to sell them. I wanted to donate to missions. I would still like to get in touch with the Pawnee school
district and see if they have a back room in case clothing is needed for students or families.”
A friend has connected her with Springfield’s Washington Street mission, and she has tentative plans to work with them. “My thought process is of course it is a business. I need to pay my bills, the rent, card terminal, and the consignment software, but at the same time, I just want to be here for the community. I want to help them find decent clothing and be here in case somebody was truly in need of something.”
For those wanting to stop by Kalena’s Closet, they will find a wide variety. “We carry in children’s clothing, newborn up to size preteen 10 – 12 in both girls’ and boys’ sizes. We have a mix of higher end boutique items, to your casual weekend/weeknight clothing.” While they don’t carry men’s clothes, in women’s clothing there are sizes X-small up to 3X . “That was a big thing,” Colleen said. “I was surprised that people had to ask if we carried plus size clothing. We have higher-end boutique brands, business ware for work
and casual clothing like jeans. We even have a few formal dresses. It is a small select few, but we do have some. We also have tennis shoes to sandals, to any kind of shoes you need. We have so many and just got a ton that are brand new right out of the box.” 
Besides those mentioned items they also have leggings and accessories. “We have purses, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. We also have some very cool earrings that this gentleman makes. They are very light wood earrings. We’ve got cool designs
dolphins and leaves, and aside from that we have some custom-made items coffee cups, hats, and teacups.”
Colleen makes custom-made items. “I take orders we have a little book you can go through and pick out. Even if you have an idea and want something made,” she shared. “I can probably make it.”
Her custom-made items include tumblers, hats, coffee cups and such. “I have been doing this for a long time,” Colleen said. “For my 40th birthday in March 2020 my daughter bought me a Cricket. With it being COVID I taught myself to do all kinds of things.”
She has high hopes for the future, “I hope it becomes a part of this community that people can trust, come in and find nice items at a good price. They won’t have to drive to Springfield. Eventually we would love to expand and offer a larger variety, with home goods, kids’ books, and toys. I’d like to put in a bookshelf, and offer some books. I’d love to expand out and become a part of other communities as well. “
Besides Colleen, her daughter and young McKenna, a friend of her daughter’s family, works at Kalena’s Closet. The store is open for limited hours because Colleen still works full-time. They are open Sundays from 10-4, Monday 10-4, Tuesday 5-7, closed Wednesday, open Thursday from 5-7 and closed on Fridays.
Colleen shares, “My primary goal is to be here for the community, and this is something I always wanted to do. If anybody has ideas, I am open, I want to tailor the store for the community.”
You can find more information about Kalena’s Closet on Facebook or reach Colleen at 217-891-7343, or her email at Kalenascloset@gmail.com.