Category Archives: Retail

Sunflower Restaurant Supply to reopen in Wichita on the west side

May 15, 20139:27 a.m.

WICHITA — Sunflower Restaurant Supply is reopening in Wichita.

The store closed here a few years ago.

“They just kind of realigned the whole company and started over, and here we are,” says Gary Perry, who will manage the store.

Perry sold his Premier Restaurant Supply, which he used to operate here, to Sunflower last year.

He says the economy and management issues caused Sunflower to close here, but it has remained open in Salina where the company is based.

The new store will be at 6803 W. Taft, which is between Ridge and Dugan.

The 3,000-square-foot store will be open to the public, though its main customers are likely to be restaurants and hotels.

The store will sell large equipment, such as ranges and refrigerators, and small wares, such as pots, utensils and dishes.

Look for Sunflower to open in early June.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under New business, Real estate, Retail, West side | Comments

Randy Cooper’s Fine Jewelry and College Hill Cleaners to move within Bradley Fair; new national retailer coming soon

May 9, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — The latest round of musical chairs — business style — is almost over at Bradley Fair.

“The first piece of the puzzle was moving Howard’s Optique, which we did at the end of last year,” says Cathy Erickson, vice president at Laham Development.

Howard’s moved from its freestanding space to new space between Sephora and Jason’s Deli.

Now, Randy Cooper’s Fine Jewelry is moving into the freestanding building that Howard’s left. Amy’s Hallmark shop already is there.

Cooper’s impending move has been one of the worst-kept recent retail secrets, but now that it’s happening, she’s eager to talk.

“I am so thankful that George Laham has given me this opportunity,” she says of the center’s developer.

“I probably wouldn’t have stepped out on my own and done it,” Cooper says. “It just makes it so much more convenient for our customers to visit.”

Her new space will be 4,000 square feet, which is about 20 percent more than what she has now.

“So we can grow and be a better store and offer new lines and offer more of some lines that we have,” Cooper says.

College Hill Cleaners also is moving. It’s taking 1,300 square feet where Origins used to be and will have a new after-hours box for customers to drop off items needing cleaning.

Read More »

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

Casual Male XL to expand at Eastgate Plaza and convert to Destination XL brand

May 8, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — The Casual Male XL store at Eastgate Plaza is going to undergo an expansion and rebranding in the coming months.

The move is part of a national expansion for the Massachusetts-based Destination XL Group.

The company’s new stores, including the one in Wichita, will be called Destination XL. They’ll offer expanded sizes and brands — more than 100 in all — along with wider aisles and bigger dressing rooms.

Currently, the Eastgate Casual Male is in about 3,500 square feet at the east end of the center in a free-standing building. It will expand to about 7,000 square feet. While renovation is under way, the shop will temporarily move to between Kirkland’s and Dress Barn within Eastgate.

Andy Boyd of Walter Morris Cos. helped with the deal.

The new store should be ready in early 2014.

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

You don’t say

May 7, 20134:48 p.m.

“They’re just working through some of the details and getting ready for the season.”

— Fred Hanley of Cambridge Market on how Baskin-Robbins is reopening in its former east and west-side spaces this summer

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

Rylee & Reece Kids Boutique and Party Place moving to Maple and Ridge Road

May 7, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Rylee & Reece Kids Boutique and Party Place is moving – again.

When Tiffany Garner and her mother, Lynette, bought the children’s shop in early 2011, they moved it from Comotara Center on the east side to NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize Road.

Now, they’re moving to the center at the northeast corner of Maple and Ridge Road.

“We have found a bigger space,” Tiffany Garner says. “We’re able to lower our overhead. It’s just going to give us a bigger opportunity for the store.”

They now have about 2,000 square feet. The new space will have an additional 400 square feet.

“The party room is a little bit more separate,” Garner says.

About 60 percent of their business is through the party room. There will be additional themes for parties at the new space.

Garner says the party-room business has doubled from what it was on the east side.

She says the “west side loves us.”

“We’ve got a huge response from the west side.”

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Comotara Center, NewMarket Square, Real estate, Retail, West side | Comments

Broadway Home Medical owners to open Lindsey Medical Supply on west side

May 3, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Broadway Home Medical owners Brian Lindsey and his father, Michael, are expanding their business with a new company.

Lindsey Medical Supply will be similar to Broadway Home Medical, but it won’t work with insurance companies or Medicare.

“The difference is that we’re going to do a cash-only store,” Brian Lindsey says.

“We’re looking for a whole different business model to get away from reimbursements from insurance companies because they’re getting harder to collect from,” he says. “They don’t want to pay you.”

Both outlets will carry similar supplies, including walkers, wheelchairs, bath safety items, breathing equipment, hospital beds and lift chairs among other things.

Brian Lindsey says Broadway Medical Supply can’t charge customers different amounts from insurance companies or Medicare out of the same retail outlet.

“You’re pricing has to be the same across the multiple players,” he says.

That’s why the Lindseys need a second outlet.

Broadway Home Medical is in 8,000 square feet, 6,000 square feet of which is the retail space, just north of Lincoln and Hillside.

Lindsey Home Medical will be in 4,000 square feet on Central just east of West Street. The Lindseys purchased the 8,000-square-foot building, which is home to Scharenberg Chiropractic Offices. Scharenberg will remain there for now, but its space is something that Lindsey Medical Supply likely will expand into one day.

Troy Farha of NAI Martens and Craig Ablah of Classic Real Estate handled the deal.

Lindsey Medical Supply will have a soft opening on Monday.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , Filed under Health care, New business, Retail, West side | Comments

Wichita couple’s children inspire them to design shoes and start Ten Tiny Toes

May 2, 20134:35 p.m.

Shania Moore, now 2, inspired her parents, Katie Clark and Maurice Moore, to start Ten Tiny Toes.

WICHITA — The shoe business might not seem likely for someone with an IT or health sciences background, but it’s a natural for Katie Clark and her fiance, Maurice Moore.

The birth of their children – Shania is 2 and Victor is six months – inspired them to start Ten Tiny Toes to sell shoes for children.

“We had babies, and we noticed that there’s a lot of issues with shoes,” Clark says.

Shania suffered blisters from her shoes.

“They didn’t fit properly,” Clark says. “She’d always take them off.”

Clark and Moore started designing what they hoped would be better shoes.

“The big thing that was our overall concern was how they fit her.”

Clark, who recently graduated from Wichita State University with a health sciences degree, began contacting pediatric podiatrists and doing research about shoes.

“Well, my background, you do a lot of research,” she says. “That’s what my degree mainly focuses on.”

Ten Tiny Toes is now Clark’s full-time job. The company’s office and warehouse are on the northeast side.

Moore is a Kansas State University graduate and is getting his MBA while working in contracting.

Clark says they’ve been working on children’s shoes for two years.

“They’re better than we imagined you could come up with really,” she says. “Now we’re happy with them so we thought we should start sharing.”

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Internet, Retail | Comments

You don’t say

May 2, 20132:24 p.m.

“We kind of laughed about the fact that we’re going to be as shocked as everyone else is. They could be setting them on fire for all we know.”

– Beth Tully of Cocoa Dolce Artisan Chocolates on the Shocker-themed chocolates and other products that she and WSU gave to “Mike & Mike” to use on the ESPN 2 show Friday

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Retail, Television, Wichita State University, You don't say | Comments

Mattress Hub founders start second company, Furniture Hub, to sell furniture

April 25, 20134:28 p.m.

WICHITA — In case opening more than 20 stores in four years isn’t enough to keep them busy, Mattress Hub founders Ryan Baty and Mark Barrientos are starting a second company.

“Basically what we’re trying to do is expand on the Hub brand,” Baty says of starting Furniture Hub.

“We’ve always been intrigued by the furniture business,” he says. “We see a lot of potential and a lot of opportunity.”

Furniture lines will include Lane, Bassett and England.

“You’re going to see brands that are very familiar,” Baty says.

He says he and Barrientos envision branding Furniture Hub in the same way they’ve marketed the Mattress Hub in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

“We’re really going to try to own the media in every market we go to,” he says of advertising penetration.

He says customer service, which now includes educating customers on mattresses, will continue to be a focus.

“We try to take it to a whole other level,” Baty says. “We see opportunity in selective markets to where we can come in and bring the same type of approach.”

They’re looking at some markets that have Mattress Hubs and some that don’t.

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Hutchinson, New business, Real estate, Retail | Comments

Versona Accessories opens in Bradley Fair

April 24, 20135:35 p.m.

WICHITA — Versona Accessories opens Thursday in 7,500 square feet next to Fresh Market at Bradley Fair.

In November, Have You Heard? reported that the store would take the last of the former Ultimate Electronics space.

Versona, which is owned by North Carolina-based CATO Corp., sells jewelry, sunglasses, handbags, scarves, belts, footwear and hair accessories.

There are about a couple of dozen of the stores nationally.

Versona joins Fresh Market, Soma Intimates and Apricot Lane Boutique as new additions to Bradley Fair in the last year.

Also, Howard’s Optique relocated next to Sephora to make room for another new tenant.

This has been a much-wanted store for Bradley Fair and a certain segment of the shopping market, and shoppers won’t have to wait much longer. Keep an eye on this space in the next week or two for the news.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , Filed under Bradley Fair, East side, New business, Real estate, Retail | Comments