WICHITA — Melad Stephan has settled on a name for his new Italian restaurant, which will open in the middle of May where his Uptown Bistro used to be in Old Town Square.
Luca Italian Kitchen is named for Gianluca Sciagata, the restaurant’s new Italian chef, who’s coming via Aspen, Colo.
So what will happen when Sciagata one day leaves the restaurant?
“Ahhh, well, the name will stay,” Stephan says.
He adds, “I hope he’s going to be around for a while.”
WICHITA — The almost 2-year-old Wichita BrightStar Care franchise has doubled its business this month thanks to Faith Home Health and Hospice narrowing its focus.
Texas-based Harden Healthcare purchased Wichita-based Faith Home Health and Hospice earlier this year.
The company is now focusing on hospice care and skilled nursing visits and has stopped doing home health services such as helping clients dress and eat.
BrightStar is picking up more than 90 percent of those clients. The company now has more than 100 clients.
“It’s a wonderful story for BrightStar because of the growth in our business,” says Bill Wagenbaur, who owns the business with Ann Dexter.
It’s an important story for former Faith Home Health and Hospice clients, too, he says.
“A big key to a successful transition . . . was that we also took on all of the employees who wanted to come over so they could stay with their patients,” Wagenbaur says. There’s “no break in continuity.”
“I’ve seen them pop the gold right out of their mouth.”
– A-OK Enterprises’ Dave Crume, president of the National Pawnbrokers Association, in an ABC News story on how he’s awkwardly watched some people remove their gold teeth to pawn now that gold is selling for more than $1,500 an ounce
WICHITA — The Back Porch has been a fixture at Towne East Square for 16 years, but that’s about to end.
“Business has just continued to slow down for us,” says Bart Bath, who owns the store with his wife, Pam.
They closed their Towne West Square Back Porch last summer.
“What we sell isn’t something people have to have,” Bart Bath says. “It’s more of a luxury.”
The Back Porch is now mainly a gift store.
In past years, it also sold items made of wood, such as shelves, that you might find at a craft fair. In fact, the Baths often traveled to craft fairs in the past.
“We tried to evolve as best we could,” Bart Bath says. “Things just change.
“Go look around at people’s houses. . . . Just the tastes change.”
Online competition also is a factor, he says.
“That’s the way everybody shops is online.”
The store will be gone by late June or possibly a bit earlier depending on a new tenant.