Daily Archives: Sept. 12, 2012

You don’t say

Sept. 12, 20125:02 p.m.

“I definitely don’t want to make the brides worry.”

– “I Do” Bridal & Tux owner Trinh Nguyen, who says a mail mix-up led to a tax delinquency of more than $12,000 but that it’s been taken care of and her Old Town business is doing fine

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under Old Town, Retail, Taxes, You don't say | Comments Off

Wink Hartman Sr. to open a Vintage Bank Kansas branch in his east-side office

Sept. 12, 20123:13 p.m.

UPDATED — Having your own bank is convenient. Having it in the building where you office is even handier.

Just ask Wink Hartman Sr.

“We’re putting a Vintage Bank branch in the Hartman office building,” he says of his building at 10500 E. Berkeley Square Parkway.

“This will be our foray into the Wichita market,” Hartman says. “The business model we’re going after will be small-to-medium-size businesses, hopefully being able to furnish them the capital to grow.”

The bank’s first and only other branch is in Leon.

Hartman bought the State Bank of Leon in 2010 and changed the name to Vintage Bank Kansas in 2011.

Earlier this year, Hartman formed the Vintage Bancorp holding company and entered into a stock purchase agreement with Cornerstone Alliance, a holding company for CornerBank in Winfield.

In the end, the deal didn’t happen.

Vintage Bank has $15 million in assets.

“Which means we are so itty-bitty,” Hartman says. “That’s why we’re trying to grow.”

He says there will be additional capital to increase the bank’s lending capability with the new branch, but he’s not sure how much.

Arrangements for the new branch aren’t finalized yet.

“We anticipate the final approval will be in the next 30 days,” Hartman says. “Hopefully, it will be under construction late this year.”

He says he won’t concentrate on further expansion until the new branch opens and he gets it “on a solid footing, and then we’ll decide what the market and economy will allow.”

 

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

Loony Bin owners look to buy new space

Sept. 12, 201211:15 a.m.

WICHITA — Loony Bin owners Jeffrey Jones and Larry Marks are looking for a new site for their Wichita comedy club.

The club has been in Oxford Square at 21st and Woodlawn since it opened in 1999.

“When we opened in ’99, that was kind of a happening part of town,” Jones says.

He says growth is now much further east in addition to west.

“There was nothing going on out west when we opened.”

Now, Jones would like to split the difference.

“We’d just kind of like to be in a little more central location.”

A couple of weeks ago, Jones and Marks bid on property near Old Town but weren’t able to get it. Currently, they lease space, but now they’d like to own their own building.

“The difficulty is finding a location that has enough parking,” Jones says.

Parking combined with the high cost of property in Old Town, he says, “is just a real challenge.”

Jones and Marks also own clubs in Little Rock, Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

The Oxford Square lease is up in January. Jones says if he hasn’t found new space before then, he’ll try to get an extension where he is, but only for less rent.

If that doesn’t work, there’s a possibility the Loony Bin will temporarily close.

“Obviously,” Jones says, “we hope to find something.”

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

Integrity Auto Group’s two car lots to consolidate at one custom-built site near 143rd and Kellogg

Sept. 12, 20125:00 a.m.

Pat Boyle stands in front of the future home of Integrity Auto Group near 143rd and Kellogg.

WICHITA — After years of having two car lots, Integrity Auto Group owner Pat Boyle is streamlining his business by customizing one new building to meet his company’s and customers’ needs.

“One of the things that I learned early on from my mentors is to basically keep the business as simple as possible,” Boyle says.

In early October, he’s closing used car lots he has near Douglas and Hydraulic and Kellogg and Broadway to open one location just east of the QuikTrip at 143rd and Kellogg.

“Our leases are coming up, and we decided to do this project,” Boyle says.

The business has had several sites since it opened in 1999, each of which Boyle remodeled from previous uses, including a convenience store.

Those locations “served our purpose but probably it’s been a situation where the quality of our cars has always way outran the quality of our facilities,” Boyle says.

Martsolf Enterprises is custom building a new 2,400-square-foot building on 1.6 acres at 14422 E. Kellogg.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of traffic going through that area,” Boyle says. “Wichita and Andover have kind of merged together. There’s not a big gap there anymore.”

Downtown doesn’t offer the same density of people on a consistent basis, Boyle says.

“People leave the area around 5:30 in the evenings … and you know it’s not a high-traffic area on the weekends.”

On East Kellogg, he says, “There’s a constant flow of traffic all week.”

Read More »

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