WICHITA — With the addition of a branch of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Chisholm Trail Center-Outlet & Retail Shops is close to 100 percent leased.
“It’ll put us right about 94 percent,” says Brent Mitchell, an attorney with Martin Pringle who owns the center with his brother, Brian.
“We’ve been working on this one for a while,” he says of the Hall’s 21,000 square feet.
The Mitchells bought the center three years ago this August when occupancy was only 35 percent.
“Our whole idea was to kind of redevelop it into a lifestyle center,” Brent Mitchell says. “This is going to be kind of the cultural (attraction) that we don’t have out there.”
Mitchell says centers that are entirely outlet stores are outdated.
“That concept doesn’t work anymore,” he says.
He especially likes bringing something sports related to Chisholm Trail to attract men, who might be more inclined to take a shopping trip with their wives or significant others because of it.
Mitchell says the focus will now turn to marketing Chisholm Trail in a bigger way.
“We’ve been focused on trying to get that center filled up.”