Best Buy will keep its current west Wichita store when the NewMarket Best Buy opens

WICHITA — When the new Best Buy opens at NewMarket Square April 24, the other west-side Best Buy at 6700 W. Kellogg will not close as some people thought it might.

“In no way is that store closing,” says Shawn Barlow, customer solutions manager. “We foresee (that) store still being very successful.”

Barlow says that store draws from Oklahoma and Dodge City.

“There’s a very reliable customer base that we’ll still serve on that side of town.”

The new store is 30,567 square feet and is the new model Best Buy is using.

The other Wichita Best Buys are more like 40,000 square feet.

“What we’re looking to do is serve just a portion of the community,” Barlow says.

He says the new store is LEED certified with automatic lights, energy-efficient light bulbs that benefit from skylights in the building and a wind turbine for more efficient electricity.

There also will be eight parking places in the front for people who drive energy-efficient cars.

There will be a few carpooling spots, too.

So how will the store be able to tell if someone has actually carpooled?

“Oh, we won’t,” Barlow says. “Obviously we’re hoping the community will honor that.”

  • podunkboy

    “carpooling” to Best Buy? Really? Meh, whatever makes them feel like a better corporate citizen, I’ll still be shopping at the West Kellogg store.

  • srose

    ““Oh, we won’t,” Barlow says. “Obviously we’re hoping the community will honor that.”

    Yeah, right…like the community honors the fact to NOT PARK in handicapped spots….they do all the time!

    Or honor the fact when you stop at an intersection with a crosswalk you stop BEHIND the line not BETWEEN the lines. Which pushes the pedestrian into [or close to] the moving traffic!

    You only ‘keep it between the lines’ when you’re driving to stay in your lanes!

    Honor the carpool parking…. yeah….DREAM ON!

  • WichitaWordsmith

    That’s rich… carpooling spaces. Just when you think you’ve heard it all! Wow. And, yeah, I am SO SURE people in Wichita will say, “Oops, I can’t park there, its only me in the car.” Then again, I seriously doubt I will see a listing in the Eagle for people wanting to form a Best Buy car pool either. So, I doubt it really makes any difference.

    What is Best Buy thinking?

  • podunkboy

    I wonder if these carpool spaces and hybrid car spaces are closer than the handicapped-access spaces? Would hate for someone to sue Best Buy for non-compliance of the ADA…

  • alan462

    People, people. Yes the carpooling and hybrid spaces are somewhat silly, but it’s not Best Buy choosing to do this. Here in Savannah, we have several shopping centers that are LEED certified. Getting certified entitles the developer to all sorts of tax breaks that significantly reduce the cost of construction and operation. One of the requirements is to provide those types of parking spots.

    I would love to see how many solo-driving fat-a**ed Wichita women use those spots in the middle of winter.

  • enigma

    so what’s the definition of a carpool? two people? three people?

    probably 50% of the cars will already meet the criteria

    mom + dad + junior = carpool

  • WichitaWordsmith

    Shhh… you get smacked on here when you point out missing information in a story!

  • mrbill

    What stupid PC nonsense. Yeah, my sister and I will carpool. And these are supposedly grown people telling you this stuff.

    And then we will buy a Prius to kill ourselves in to get a good parking place. Sheeeeeeshhhh…

  • bone

    There is a car pool spot for employees in the back too. I have never seen one of those in Wichita. Seen a lot of employee of the month spots, but no car pool spot. I believe this is the first store in Wichita to be LEED compliant. Go Best Buy!

  • HOMEBOY

    The employee of the month parking spot was mentioned. I always wondered, is that for an employee of the store or for anybody who is employee of the month at their own place of employment? I have always assumed the latter, and have enjoyed the parking spot myself.

  • bmchu97161

    Why are they keeping the other west location? That center is tired and OLD. The demographics have a went further Northwest. I can see that whole area of retail eventually close in the coming years. The design and traffic configuration is outdated. I’m dying to get my bulldozer into that out place!

  • podunkboy

    “alan462
    Posted March 8, 2010 at 11:16 pm | Permalink
    … Here in Savannah, we have several shopping centers that are LEED certified…
    I would love to see how many solo-driving fat-a**ed Wichita women use those spots in the middle of winter.”

    Um, excuse me, did you just say something unkind about our ladies here in Wichita? Take it back, or we’re going to come down there and finish the job we should have back in 1865…southern gentility, my heinie…

  • WichitaWordsmith

    ROFL Podunkboy!

  • alan462

    Yes “Podunkboy”, Kansas’ history in the Civil War was well documented. Everyone remembers Admiral Windwagon Smith’s historic march through the south and to the coast, burning Atlanta and everything along the way. Thank goodness he spared Savannah. Oh wait, that was Sherman. Nevermind.

    Actually, I moved here from Wichita and still keep track of the news there. And yes, I said that about the women.