“It’s kind of a combination of a perfect storm.”
— CiCi’s Pizza franchisee Troy Altenburg on aviation layoffs, road construction and high rent that forced him to close the CiCi’s near Kellogg and Greenwich this week (Wichita’s other three CiCi’s restaurants will remain open)
WICHITA — The design of the Applebee’s at Maple and Ridge has been so popular — some people even drive past an Applebee’s elsewhere to get to that one — owner Jim Stevens has decided to remodel his other 24 restaurants.
“They will be pretty much remodeled to look quite a bit like that one,” Stevens says.
That Applebee’s opened in late 2009.
Remodeling at the other restaurants, which will take three years to complete, will cost about $200,000 per restaurant.
Stevens will begin the remodeling next month with the Andover Applebee’s. Either the South Broadway or Rock Road Applebee’s remodel will follow.
Each restaurant will have to shut down for three days during the remodeling.
The restaurants will get new signs, lights, wall coverings, furniture and paint.
The bar areas will be remodeled, and there will be new pictures and artifacts throughout.
“The look with pictures on every square inch of our wall will go away,” Stevens says.
“That’s kind of a dated look. . . . It’s kind of had it’s day.”
Stevens expects the remodeling to boost sales.
UPDATED — Craig Peterson acknowledges that there are already some good mattress stores in Wichita, but that’s not stopping him from opening Bedtime Mattress Outlet later this month.
“I believe that there’s a need for it here,” he says of a mattress store that sells quality mattresses at discount prices.
“I’m just the alternative to what’s out there right now.”
Competitors such as Mattress Hub are “good companies, and they are selling great beds . . . but they are on a higher-end scale.”
Mark Barrientos of Mattress Hub takes exception to that.
“We have mattresses that start at $59 and go all the way up,” he says.
Peterson is a former Rent-A-Center district manager who most recently has been operating two discount mattress stores in Oklahoma City.
He wanted “to be able to bring that back to my hometown.”
His first store is set to open by Jan. 27 at the northwest corner of Harry and Rock.