By Max Goodwin
Robert Wamkpah opened GladHome Medical Supplies on W 136th Street in the State Line Station Shopping Center this June. He liked that it was within a ten-minute drive of his home and that the location seemed safe.
He outfitted the store with a wide array of motorized scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, braces, and bath safety items. But the potential customers have been a little slower to notice his store than he hoped. He’s willing to give free delivery to anywhere within the Kansas City metro, hoping that sparks some business.
A few years ago, Wamkpah had a similar store on Johnson Drive. He survived the initial wave of Covid as businesses were closing all around him. When the landlord at that location raised the rent, he decided to close and look for a new location to open. Like most retail, his business has seen big online sellers take much of the customers that would have shown up to buy something in person before.
Most days, Wamkpah, or his son, Charles, who also works at the shop. Both understand the convenience of buying online but believe that shopping at a local store like his more beneficial to both the customer and the local community.
“This is a mom-and-pop store,” Wamkpah said. “If I sell you any of these lift chairs, or any of these scooters and they break, then I’ll come fix it.”
In the early 90s, Wamkpah came to Kansas City from New York with his wife. They raised their five children here. In 1998, Wamkpah graduated from the University of Kansas School of Nursing. He first became a pharmaceutical sales representative for Merck. He began working in the retail medical equipment industry around 2005.
He is knowledgeable about the equipment he sells and is often willing to make a deal. He gets it straight from the distributors for retail. The store features several lightly used items available for a reasonable price.
The most popular items in GH Med Supplies, Wamkpah says, are the motorized wheelchairs and the lift chairs, which are like recliners that can move into different positions to assist a person as they stand up out of the chair.
Learn more at gladhomemedical.com.