WICHITA — Almost 20 years after opening in Towne West Square, Lane Bryant is closing.
The store’s last day in business is Feb. 23.
The national chain, which specializes in plus-size women’s clothing, has had plans to close the Towne West store since a Lane Bryant opened in NewMarket Square in 2011.
Missy Meyer, manager of the NewMarket store, says there are no plans to close or move the Towne East Square Lane Bryant.
WICHITA — Willow Group continues to ink franchise deals for more ’Til We Meet Again stores, but the Wichita company has also experienced its first setback.
The chain’s first franchisee was to open a custom casket store in Glenbrook Square in Fort Wayne, Ind., in May, but Willow Group’s Nathan Smith says mall management changed its mind without giving him or local media a reason.
“Glenbrook Square officials likely sealed a casket company’s fate in Fort Wayne,” read the lead of a Journal Gazette story, which was one of several stories about the issue that appeared in local media outlets.
“It was a mess,” says Smith, who is partners in Willow Group with Traci Smith-Cone.
“Honestly, it took us by surprise,” Smith says. “We do everything we can in the beginning to make sure everything is secured.”
He says the mall took five months to approve the contract.
No one with Glenbrook could be reached for comment.
Smith says the franchisee lost about $100,000 on remodeling and other expenses when told she’d have to vacate the mall five days before opening. He says the store had a contract, but there was a clause that the mall could ask the store to leave at any time.
“We definitely worked quickly with the franchisee to minimize even more loss of funds,” Smith says. “At the time, it was a scramble.”
WICHITA — It’s not exactly news when new space is available at a mall, but Jeff Englert makes a good case for 8,000 square feet that he and Grubb & Ellis/Martens Commercial Group colleagues are marketing at Towne East Square.
“To my knowledge, it’s the first time that Simon used third-party brokers in Wichita,” he says of Simon Property Group, which owns the mall.
Perhaps more significantly, Englert says, “They want to go after nontraditional mall tenants for this.”
Not that he and fellow brokers Nathan Farha and Grant Glasgow won’t look at retail.
“Retail is definitely going to be our first play there.”
However, Simon has had some luck with nonretail tenants, such as Wright Career College.
“They want to explore that some more,” Englert says.
The space is located on the west side of Towne East between Dillard’s and Sears at the second-most busy main entrance of the mall. Englert says it’s possible to add a glass exterior so the space is visible from outside the mall.
After retail, Englert says there could be possibilities such as office users, educational facilities or a fitness center.
He says he’ll soon have news on a new Towne West Square tenant.
“This will be pretty big news, let’s put it that way.”
Look for it in about a month or so.
WICHITA — A new T-Mobile retailer is entering the Wichita market with plans for at least six locations.
Readi Connections, which does business as T-Mobile the Phone Zone, bought an existing T-Mobile outlet at Towne East Square this month and is preparing to open one in Andover Village at 321 S. Andover in April.
Missouri residents Chris Michael and his mother, Melissa, had been in commercial real estate previously.
“We bought out one of our tenants and saw the great potential with wireless,” Chris Michael says.
They’re planning to open 25 stores in the next 36 months in a six-state region.
Michael says they decided to come to Wichita in part because the T-Mobile signal is strong here.
“It’s extremely strong,” he says.
Michael says the Towne East store was a good starting point.
“I felt like that had a really strong retail presence in it and some really strong growth potential as a store.”
WICHITA — Visitors to Towne East Square along with passersby may be wondering if something new is coming to the area around it.
There are several large pieces of equipment in operation there, but they’re not for new construction. They’re for new paving.
A Towne East spokesman says some parts of the parking lot haven’t been repaved since the mall was built in the mid-1970s.
The paving may not be terribly exciting; however, there are some potential new businesses that may be coming to the greater Kellogg and Rock area in the new year. We’ll keep you posted.
WICHITA — West Wichita, you’re gonna like the way you look. Men’s Warehouse is opening a store in NewMarket Square to guarantee it.
“We’ve been courting them for 11 years,” says April Reed of Slawson Cos., which owns the center at 21st and Maize Road.
“Over the years, they were afraid it was going to cannibalize their east store.”
Men’s Wearhouse has been at Towne East Square since 1993.
“We kept telling them this is a totally different market out here,” Reed says.
She handled the deal for the 4,500-square-foot space, which is where the Firkin and Bull restaurant used to be.
“The reason we’re doing this is because our business is so good on the east side of town, it gave us the incentive to do a second store,” says Tim Henry, the director of real estate for the Rocky Mountain region of Men’s Wearhouse.
WICHITA — You might feel like you’re in an airport this fall if you’re shopping at Towne East Square.
There’s a new Cinnabon — the shop that seems to be at most large airports these days — opening there in October.
The Atlanta-based chain, which was founded in 1985, is known for its aromatic, hot-out-of-the-oven cinnamon rolls in addition to other baked goods and beverages.
There are more than 800 of the franchised sites worldwide. Usually, they’re found in high-traffic spots, such as malls and airports.
The Towne East Cinnabon will open in the former Nuts 4 You spot by the food court and children’s play area.
Nuts 4 You is now in the former AT&T space on the upper level near Sears.
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.
WICHITA — The saga over the new Metro Grill II in Andover continues.
Chef Michael Gonzalez and his ex, Sarita Gonzalez, were in court Wednesday to determine who has rights to the restaurant.
The two basically agree on what happened. They say a judge is allowing Michael Gonzalez back into the restaurant to cook for a two-month period, but Sarita Gonzalez can supervise the books.
The Gonzalezes can use those two months to determine the value of the Andover restaurant and the Metro Grill in Towne East Square in order to figure alimony and child support.
Accounts differ on what happened when Michael Gonzalez returned to Metro Grill II on Wednesday. The end result, which is not in dispute, is police were called (possibly by both sides and customers) and Michael Gonzalez isn’t allowed back in the restaurant until he has court documents showing he can be there.
Sarita Gonzalez says Michael Gonzalez returned in a wildly disruptive manner “instead of walking into the restaurant with class . . . and decency.”
WICHITA — Exactly a month after his delayed opening of Metro Grill II in Andover, chef Michael Gonzalez is gone.
He hopes it won’t be for long.
Gonzalez and Sarita Gonzalez — who is either his wife or his ex wife, depending on which one you ask — are splitting up.
Michael Gonzalez says an officer showed up to tell him Sarita Gonzalez has control of the restaurant.
“It’s a big thing,” he says. “It’s an unfortunate thing.”
Michael Gonzalez has control of the original Metro Grill at Towne East Square, but he’s heading to court next week to try and reclaim the one in Andover.
That restaurant closed briefly this week, but Sarita Gonzalez has reopened it.
“She’s trying to prove something, and unfortunately she’s going to hurt the business because she doesn’t have any, any, knowledge . . . of what it takes to run a kitchen,” Michael Gonzalez says.
Sarita Gonzalez says, “I’ve been working with Michael for 13 years since I met him. Everything that Metro Grill is is my idea.”
We’ll let you know what the court says next week.