Kimberly Kilgore moved through the courtrooms of St. Louis County for 20 years carrying the weight of the heaviest of criminal cases. She was one of the top prosecutors in the county and a trial team leader for child and sexual abuse cases. These days, however, the sharp and authoritative judge’s gavel has been replaced by the gentle ring of a bell that welcomes customers into Paper Moon in the Metro East community of Mascoutah.
“I started Paper Moon as a passion project. I love creating, and so I wanted to bring that to my community. I also love shopping, so I also wanted to bring that to the community,” said Kimberly who retired as a prosecutor in 2019 before transitioning into a new career in retail with Paper Moon, the first brick-and-mortar she had owned. “We moved to Mascoutah about 20 years ago. There wasn’t a big retail presence, especially along the historic Main Street, and I wanted to bring something down here.”
“What made me think I could do this? It was hopes and prayers,” shared Kimberly with a satisfied look on her face. “It was something I enjoyed, something I had a hope I could bring to the community. I always called it the great experiment and every day it is still an experiment.”
Journey from courtroom to boutique
Paper Moon is the vision of a woman who traded legal briefs for gift wrap and never looked back.
“When I originally thought about opening a retail space, it was my retirement plan,” explained Kimberly. “Once I retired as a prosecutor, I would open a retail space.”
But even the most desired life plans often do not take shape the way they were originally conceived. When Kimberly left the prosecutor’s office, she went to work for Southern Illinois University for five years. Even then, her vision for owning a boutique was never far from her mind.
“I tell my kids this was my dream. And so, I followed through on my dream. I think they enjoy it, too, because I’m part of the community,” remarked Kimberly with a wide smile. “So, their friends come in here. I get to meet their girlfriends, their moms, and socialize that way.”
The shop has since become an unexpected bridge between Kimberly and the community she now calls home.
“I’m naturally an introvert,” Kimberly observed. “So, this is an opportunity for me to engage in a way that I wouldn’t have before. It gives me an opportunity to be really engaged in the community.”
The great experiment in full swing
Running Paper Moon is more than a job according to Kimberly. She says the store is the equivalent of a calling that she answers every day.
“I am a one-person show,” Kimberly said plainly. “I run the register, I mop the floor, I clean the toilets. I book all the classes, I make candles, I make blankets, I do whatever I can. It’s all me.”
“I always tell my kids I’m making less than minimum wage and I’m working a lot of hours,” admitted Kimberly. “But it’s something I enjoy.”
From the beginning, Kimberly had a vision that stretched well beyond a typical model for a gift shop and boutique. She wanted Paper Moon to be a destination and a place where people gathered, created, and connected.
“I wanted to offer up something more than a traditional boutique. So, I brought in classes, something new for the community to do and to gather,” Kimberly explained. “We have everything from cookie decorating to macrame to painting to… we have a terrarium class, a stained-glass class. We probably have about 30 different crafts we do. That’s also my passion. I’ve always created. I love having classes.”
Kimberly explains to us that a class costs between $15 to $60 dollars for a session. She also tells us her classes have become so popular, they are mostly sold out. In addition to scheduled classes at the store, Paper Moon hosts free community nights.
“We all just get together. We call it Needles Night. We’ve had 15-year-olds to 80-year-olds, and they just come in, and we hang out for a couple of hours a night, once a month,” Kimberly explained. “It’s something for people to do with their friends, their family,” Kimberly observed. “It also brings people in the doors. So, it helps the retail side also.”
Local roots, local makers
This is not a shop filled with mass-produced, big-box inventory. Kimberly made a deliberate choice to fill her shelves with merchandise from her community.
“We sell a lot of local products. We try to resource locally where we can. We also sell a lot of handmade products. We try to meet the makers and bring their products into the store, and into the community,” explained Kimberly who noted that the lotions, bath salts, and other skin care products all come from local vendors. She also proudly pointed out a shelf filled with merchandise created by a Mascoutah eighth grader with a 3D printer.
“He’s been with me about two or three years, and he usually grosses about $150 a month,” smiled Kimberly. “It’s a good little gig for him. We also sell a lot of gifts, and then we have fresh coffee beans that are delivered every three days. We have a lot of niches.”
Kimberly’s own creative hands are reflected throughout the store at Paper Moon.
“I make all the candles in the shop. I crochet, I garden, so we do a farmer’s market on the back patio in the summer,” explained Kimberly. “So, I contribute to that with vegetables and things. Those are probably where most of my energy is creative and just buying and decorating, I would say.”
For all its warmth and creativity, Paper Moon is still a business, and Kimberly spoke about the financial realities with the same directness she once brought to a courtroom.
“It’s harder than I thought it would be. On some days I am definitely robbing Peter to pay Paul,” noted Kimberly. “This is not normal for me because I worked at a stable government job. I had a stable income, so that’s probably been the scariest part, not having the stability that I’m used to.”
Yet, in a striking comparison, she placed the weight of this work alongside her legal career without flinching.
“I think it’s harder than being a prosecutor because it’s a 24/7 job.” added Kimberly. “I’m creating 24/7. In my mind, I’m just thinking of the next step, the next thing I have to buy. And it’s constantly on my mind. It takes a lot of time and effort, which I love and I enjoy. It’s a passion project, so it doesn’t feel like work, but it does take a lot of energy that I didn’t realize.”
To sustain and grow that passion project, Kimberly has leaned hard into creativity and community partnerships.
“I post daily on social media and I’m collaborating with other people, bars and restaurants to bring people here,” noted Kimberly.
She has also gotten creative about ways to generate awareness of Paper Moon with new promotions outside of her brick-and-mortar location.
“We’re doing a Derby Day celebration, which is the first time we’ve done that this year. I’ve got permission to shut down the parking lot across the street. We’re going to have 20 vendors,” Kimberly explained. “We’re going to have a free photo booth brought in, some not-for profits that are going to be doing bags and a horse racing virtual. So just like being creative to try to get people in the area, hoping they’ll come in my door.”
“We are definitely growing. The military base (Scott Air Force Base) is also within city limits, and so we get a lot of influx from the military.”
Ask Kimberly to describe her typical customer and she paints a picture that perfectly mirrors the community she serves.
“My typical customer is usually about a 50-year-old. A lot of grandmas coming in buying gifts,” observed Kimberly. “A lot of military spouses, new to the area. A lot of kids. So, when school’s out, a lot of kids come in and buy things, and I get to get to know a lot of the kids. So that’s really fun.”
But what Kimberly hopes customers carry out the door goes far beyond whatever is wrapped in tissue paper and tucked into a bag.
“I hope customers leave with the experience that they made a friend,” shared Kimberly with a joyful smile. “A lot of military new families come in. I try to tell them about the community events going on and social groups. So, I hope they feel like they know somebody in the community and that we just don’t only offer the classes.”
And for Kimberly herself, the reward is just as personal.
“Paper Moon matters because we are part of the fabric of the community. We are growing with the community. We are bringing items to the community that weren’t here otherwise as far as gifts, but more personal gifts,” shared Kimberly. “We’re bringing things from the Mascoutah Indian mascot that weren’t available. We now are providing something you can’t buy at Target or the other big box stores. We are also celebrating the little things in life with our families and with our community as far as birthdays and trivia nights, donating baskets, creating events that weren’t here otherwise, and celebrations that are giving the community a stake in this town and memories.”
“The most rewarding part is being part of the community and meeting people, I would have not otherwise met,” Kimberly said. “I am meeting my children’s friends and their parents and engaging in the community a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise had the chance to do.”
A voice for small business
Behind the sales and hum of creative classes, Kimberly also sees challenges standing in the way of her business.
“If I had an opportunity to talk to lawmakers in Illinois about retail, I would say that we need more support, and education,” stated Kimberly. “I’m able to get a liquor license, but there’s no education in return. So, I don’t know the ins and outs if I don’t do the research myself.”
“I can buy something from a wholesale site, and it’s more expensive than I can buy it at Walmart,” continued Kimberly. “Same product, and I can buy it cheaper at Walmart or Dollar Tree than I can buy it from a wholesale site, because they get the competitive advantage by buying more in bulk.”
Lessons from the school of hard knocks
No course at law school prepares you for the art of foot traffic. No prosecutorial training teaches a retail store owner how to get customers to walk through your door.
“When I got started, I wish somebody would have kind of explained to me that you have to drag people in the door and that is not that easy,” Kimberly said with a slight smile. “Here, you have to drag them in, and you have to make the magic that makes them want to come and come back.”
“As a lawyer, I didn’t really appreciate that as much,” Kimberly admitted. “I thought, ‘Oh, you build it; they will come.’ That’s not true. Every day you have to do something to bring them in the door.”
When it comes to starting a new business, Kimberly has one piece of advice. It’s not from the lawyer in her, but the experienced retailer.
“Find somebody that you can get ideas from, and that keeps your energy level high and keeps it fun,” emphasized Kimberly. “I think sometimes when you’re the only person or you’re constantly having to think of what to buy or what to market or bring, energy wise, it helps to have other people in your arena. So, I follow a lot of boutiques now that I didn’t otherwise know about all over the country. Just seeing what they’re doing and getting ideas and even, like, I’ll reach out to them and say, ‘Oh, I love this’ and get advice from them.”
Other than an occasional hand from her children, Kimberly is on this journey by herself. She says that may change one day. She knows she will eventually need to hire employees. But for now, she is more than content with the journey at Paper Moon.
“I love retail because it is usually a positive experience every day. You know we are here celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, day-to-day goals, making people happy,” said Kimberly. “Every day I could walk in the store, and every day is different.”
“I enjoy everything I do. Even as a prosecutor, I still had the motivation to create but Paper Moon helps me be the creative person I always wanted to be,” said Kimberly. “Being part of the community and engaging with community means the world to me and makes me happy. I love that my life is in Mascoutah!”
