Daily Archives: June 30, 2010

You don’t say

June 30, 20105:23 p.m.

“We’re No. 2 behind the big ball of twine.”

— Angela Mallory, co-owner of the Donut Whole, on how the business’ rooftop rooster made an iPhone travel app list of odd and off-the-beaten-path Kansas roadside attractions

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Restaurants, You don't say | Comments

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing to move to new space on East Kellogg

June 30, 20104:20 p.m.

WICHITA — Several years ago, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing owner Richard Tade was driving down East Kellogg when he spotted a “for sale” sign at Kellogg and Erie.

“I’m going, wow, this is for sale? At eye level on Kellogg?”

He promptly bought the property.

Now, he’s building a new 3,200-square-foot building there for his company’s office and a warehouse.

“Our whole objective was for the exposure of the location,” Tade says.

“I’ve been trying to build this building for about four or five years.”

He almost did it in late 2006.

“I realized that was just too much of a burden to put on the company,” he says of financing the deal.

So he started allocating money for when the time came to build.

“And that time came.”

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , Filed under Plumbing | Comments Off

Minnesota Guys move their offices

June 30, 20102:55 p.m.

WICHITA — The Minnesota Guys have a tenant announcement, and this time it’s themselves.

Real Development’s Wichita offices are on the main floor of the company’s Broadway Plaza at 105 S. Broadway.

The guys are now in the process of moving to their Wichita Executive Centre at 125 N. Market.

“This move will allow us to move our sales and leasing efforts with our operations and property management services,” says CEO Michael Elzufon.

Equally important, it now frees up prime space at Broadway Plaza.

“We don’t need the street-level exposure that many other companies would benefit from,” Elzufon says.

He says there’s a growing demand for that kind of space downtown.

Elzufon says with tens of millions in investments his company is making between Broadway and Market — which one of his colleagues “affectionately calls the block of blight” — it makes sense to cater to businesses wanting the exposure.

He’s not in a hurry on finishing the move, though. Elzufon says it’s not like someone is making them snap to it.

He’s a little more blase.

“When we move, we move.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Downtown, Leases, Real estate | Comments

Melad Stephan plans cocktail lounge for former Sabor space at the Waterfront

June 30, 20106:07 a.m.

WICHITA — When Melad Stephan closed his Sabor Latin Bar & Grille at the Waterfront in February, he said a number of things could happen with the space.

He considered bringing a new concept or finding someone else to take the space.

“We were hoping someone would buy it or take it over,” Stephan says.

That hasn’t happened, so he’s now chosen to put a cocktail lounge there.

D’Vine is the working name.

“That’s what I’m leaning to. Someone said it wasn’t manly enough,” he says, laughing.

Stephan plans some remodeling, including taking out the island bar.

“It was just so inconvenient when we (got) busy.”

He’s going to darken the atmosphere and expand the outside patio, where he plans to have live music.

Stephan will serve tapas along with “a lot of good cocktails Wichita hasn’t seen yet.”

Unlike a restaurant, which costs more to operate in part because of a larger staff, Stephan says the lounge should be more profitable.

“The break-even will be a lot less,” he says of what he’ll have to make.

Look for a mid-to-late August opening.

“It’s going to be a cool place.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Bars, East side, Restaurants, Waterfront | Comments