After seven decades, Hallmark employees are saying goodbye to a place that has been part of their lives as much as the company’s history. The corporate headquarters at 2501 McGee Street in Kansas City opened in 1956 and is scheduled for demolition in 2027 to make way for a new Kansas City Royals baseball stadium. Before its final chapter, employees gathered on November 11, 2026, for a Building Legacy Celebration, returning to the place where careers unfolded, friendships took shape and generations of Hallmarkers shared a common workplace.

Building Legacy Celebration
Hallmark Cards

Employees walked familiar halls, revisited favorite spots, took photographs and reconnected with colleagues, reflecting on the everyday moments that had made the building special. Each received a commemorative ornament featuring a detailed, gold-tone replica of the headquarters facade. Dated 1956–2026, the reverse bears the inscription, “Honoring our legacy and building our future.” Presented in a red velveteen bag, it was a gift to employees, limited to one per person and not offered for public sale.

The building’s story is part of a much larger Kansas City legacy. Hallmark founder J.C. Hall arrived in the city in 1910 while traveling to California. Impressed by what he found, he changed his plans and stayed. While living at the YMCA, he drew greeting cards in his room and sold them from a shoebox on street corners. That modest beginning eventually grew into Hallmark, and the shoebox tradition lives on in the company’s Shoebox Greetings line.

The doors may close and the building may come down, but the experiences shared within its walls will remain part of Hallmark’s history. For the employees who received it, this ornament is more than a replica of a headquarters; it is a reminder of a place where so much of their own history unfolded.