You don’t say

Yesterday3:09 p.m.

“My crystal ball is completely murky.”

— Berry Cos. president Walter Berry’s comment to a group of people commiserating about the economy during the Wichita Aero Club mixer Thursday

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Aviation, Economy, You don't say | Comments (0)

Craig Burns forms Security 1st Title and buys First American Title operations in six counties

Yesterday2:28 p.m.

WICHITA — Last month, Have You Heard? reported that after three decades, Craig Burns left First American Title and had plans to open a new company.

He’s now formed Security 1st Title and, with partners, has purchased First American operations in six metropolitan Wichita counties.

Burns says that creates the largest title insurance company in Kansas.

“I’ve always dreamed of having ownership in a company,” says Burns, whose title will be chief executive.

“My mid-life crisis was quit my job and follow my dream,” says Burns, who just turned 50.

He isn’t disclosing terms of his purchase.

The 115 employees currently with First American Title will keep their jobs.

Officers include: David Armagost, president; Jennifer Weast, executive vice president and secretary and treasurer; and senior vice presidents Brandon Knowles, Glenn Edwards and Michael Brown.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Title companies | Comments (0)

Highlands Gastropub and Cardroom closes

Yesterday1:40 p.m.

WICHITA — After losing its legal battle to keep its Kandu Challenge card game and facing financial struggles, Highlands Gastropub and Cardroom has closed.

“At some point, you gotta know when you’re beat,” says operations coordinator Shane McCullough.

Last month, Highlands representatives said they hoped to fight a Sedgwick County District Court ruling that Kandu is a game of chance and thus prohibited by Kansas law. They are still planning to appeal the decision.

In the meantime, though, financial problems have been mounting.

McCullough says he doesn’t blame the media, but he says news reports made it sound like when Highlands lost Kandu, the business closed.

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Restaurants | Comments (9)

Myoptix Fashion Eyewear to close

Yesterday12:58 p.m.

WICHITA — Word first started circulating weeks ago that Myoptix Fashion Eyewear may close, and now it’s happening.

“I’d been sick for a long time, and of course they tore up the road,” says owner Jon Herrscher of his space at the northwest corner of Douglas and Oliver.

The economy, though, probably has been the biggest factor.

“I just have to close up,” Herrscher says. “There’s no traffic anymore.”

He’ll stay open for another week or two to sell his inventory, which Herrscher says he’s reduced to his cost or below.

He’s owned the shop for more than seven of its approximately 10 years in business.

Part of the problem is his space is too large, Herrscher says. So he may reopen somewhere else at some point.

If “we just found a little smaller place, more quaint would be better.”

There’s also a chance Herrscher could just sell wholesale or partner with an eye doctor.

“I’m not quite sure what my plans are,” he says. But there’s “no use keeping it open.”

Myoptix isn’t the only business closing on that corner.

As Have You Heard? previously reported, Caffe Posto’s last day in business is Sunday, and Barrier’s will close early in the new year.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Closings, Retail | Comments (2)

Waldenbooks to close, most likely after Christmas

Thursday5:46 p.m.

WICHITA — Wichita’s last Waldenbooks is closing.

The Waldenbooks at Towne West Square is one of 200 stores Borders Group plans to close in its Waldenbooks and Borders Express segment, which includes outlet stores.

“We think it’s a good strategy for our overall business,” says spokeswoman Mary Davis.

Borders Group, which is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is the nation’s second-largest bookstore chain.

“The rightsizing allows us to reduce a number of stores with operating losses,” Davis says.

She won’t say how well the Waldenbooks performed here.

There’s no firm closing date, but it likely will be early in the new year.

“Our goal really is to emerge with a significantly smaller, more profitable Waldenbooks small business,” Davis says.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Retail, Towne West Square | Comments (3)

You don’t say

Thursday4:28 p.m.

“The only people I haven’t seen are Charles and Liz Koch.”

— Wichita resident and longtime Barrier’s shopper Pat Hysko’s comment about the who’s who of Wichita shopping the store’s going-out-of-business presale Monday, which she described as a cross between a wake and a social gathering

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Bankruptcy, Retail | Comments (1)

Delano is forming a community development corporation and a business association

Thursday6:43 a.m.

WICHITA — Two new groups are forming in Delano to further progress and cohesiveness in the area.

For a number of years, there have been a number of groups working toward those goals. There’s a historical group, a neighborhood association, a group of clergy members and, until a couple of years ago, a business association.

There’s long been talk about the need for a larger group — a community development corporation.

“Everybody was kind of waiting for . . . the other group to do it,” says Karen Cravens, president of the Delano Neighborhood Association. “There’s been a lot of individual interest (and) energy.”

She’s now spearheading the formation of the corporation “to get everybody on the same page and give them a flag to rally under basically.”

That’s spurring the reorganization of a business association.

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Associations, Delano | Comments (4)

You don’t say

Wednesday7:02 p.m.

“Wal-Mart is not, as I had expected, playing Christmas music. Instead, they have big-screen TVs playing in-store commercials, which mostly consist of one line of ‘Deck the Halls’ played over. And over. And over. Forget vests, those folks gonna need bright blue straitjackets.”

— Karen Cravens, president of the Delano Neighborhood Association, on a recent shopping trip to Wal-Mart

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under You don't say | Comments (0)

Joumana Toubia responds to eviction

Wednesday6:50 p.m.

WICHITA — Olive Tree Restaurant Corp. president Joumana Toubia has more to say regarding the eviction notice for her restaurants — Olive Tree Bistro, its banquet hall and Chelsea’s Bar and Grill.

Toubia was busy with an event Tuesday afternoon and didn’t have time to respond to attorney Jeff Kennedy’s comments about why her businesses are being evicted.

Today, in an e-mailed response, Toubia said her rent has been paid up to September but that she then stopped paying after that due to problems with the property that have not been adequately addressed.

“The unwillingness of the landlord to fulfill its obligations to repair or replace fundamental services to the building for a period in excess of two years is, from our point of view, certainly a significant issue. Rainwater pouring through the ceiling into buckets is a much better way to describe what the landlord characterizes as ‘moisture problem’. We have lived with these problems repeatedly, to the extent that they are no longer tolerable. Whatever representations the landlord has made to remedy our issues since we quit paying rent in September remain inadequate.”

Both sides say there is much more to come.

We’ll keep you posted.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Evictions, Restaurants | Comments (3)

Garden Reflections at Clifton Square to close

Wednesday3:34 p.m.

WICHITA — Garden Reflections at Clifton Square is the latest Wichita business to be a victim of the economy.

A disappointed Terri Windsor plans to close her shop by the end of the year.

She opened at Clifton Square, which is at 3700 E. Douglas, in March 2007.

“Things went really, really well the first year,” Windsor says. “We exceeded our initial projections. We were stunned that it was doing so well for a little shop.”

She created a garden atmosphere with mulch and jute rugs on the floor and branches hanging from the ceiling. There were even garden sounds on her stereo.

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Clifton Square, Closings, Retail | Comments (1)