Daily Archives: July 19, 2012

Family Dollar to open at Lincoln and Oliver

July 19, 20125:01 p.m.

WICHITA — Another new Family Dollar is coming to the market, this time in front of Brints Diner near the northeast corner of Lincoln and Oliver.

Businessman Homer Morgan owns the restaurant and bought the building in front of it a couple of years ago at auction.

He didn’t want the property for himself, but he did want to make sure the entry into Brints remained open.

Morgan says Family Dollar agreed to that.

He also had to get Safeway to sign off on the deal.

Morgan says Safeway was in the area years ago and retained rights to keep another business from selling food there.

“But they signed off because they don’t intend to have anything else,” Morgan says.

He says Family Dollar is moving quickly.

“They’re tearing the old building down.”

Morgan says he’s been told a new building should be up in 120 days.

No one with Family Dollar could immediately be reached for comment.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Real estate, Restaurants | Comments Off

Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage to construct community room

July 19, 20125:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage has filed a building permit to do $120,000 in construction at its store at 1715 N. Rock Road, which opened last fall.

“It’s going to be a community space,” says Nancy Flynn, director of marketing for the Colorado-based chain.

“It is going to be, of course, for our customers to enjoy, to come in and relax.”

The store already has a meeting room, which groups can rent and nonprofits generally can use for free.

The community room has a few different purposes, Flynn says.

She says it will have free WiFi, coffee and tea and comfortable seating that encourages customers to drop by. Also, it will be plumbed to eventually have a demo kitchen. In the meantime, appliances and other things necessary for food demonstrations can be brought in.

Flynn says once the kitchen is installed, the store will offer cooking classes. Local chefs can also use the space for demonstrations, she says.

“We have the ability to really make it a fun event for them to do that,” Flynn says. “We will work with people. We really want them to come and enjoy this space.”

The store will offer nutrition classes as well, such as classes on living a gluten-free or dairy-free lifestyle.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under East side, Real estate, Retail | Comments Off