Long-time Brookside business and property owner Leon Goodhart was honored March 22 at a brief ceremony where Brookside Plaza was be renamed “Leon Goodhart Way.” Goodhart had been a Brookside businessman since 1949, when he came to the United States from Poland to work for his great uncle, Jacob Hyman, at the Country Club Shoe Store. Goodhart went on to take over the business, and operated it until his retirement in the late 1990s. In addition, Goodhart owned and managed much of the property along Brookside Plaza, including the Brookside Plaza office building. He was a past president of the Brookside Business Association and a board member of the Brookside Community Improvement District. Goodhart passed away in June 2012.
Generations of Brooksiders grew up getting their shoes from the Country Club Shoe Store. “Leon was the type of merchant that’s hard to find anymore, the type that has made Brookside what it is. Leon treated each customer as if they were the best customer he had,” said Delena Stout, current President of the Brookside Business Association. “After sixty years of Leon’s dedication to Brookside, this is a fitting tribute.” The official renaming is an honorary designation, made by the City of Kansas City, Missouri in January.