The two, who own Aspen Boutique in Wichita, are opening a new store in Leadville, Colo. That’s about 30 minutes from Vail.

“We’re going to open a summer boutique,” James Smits says. “So it’ll be open from Memorial Day until Labor Day.”

So is it an excuse to have a great summer vacation home?

“Basically.”

Actually, the Smits both are from Colorado.

“As our families have aged, we’ve kind of wanted to be a little closer, and it just puts us a little closer for the summer,” Smits says. “And it’s kind of a creative challenge.”

He calls it a “tremendous” tourist area.

“It’s a genuine old mining town dating back to the 1880s,” Smits says. “What they call a boomtown. It was actually the most prosperous mining town in Colorado.”

Their building, which is on the main street through town, was built in that era.

“It’s really quite cute,” Smits says.

The building is 3,500 square feet, which includes a loft that the Smits will live in upstairs.

The Leadville store will have more of an emphasis on jewelry, although it will have some clothing and gift items as well.

“Things that can easily go in the trunk,” is how Smits describes it.

“It’s just kind of funny,” he says, laughing. “It’s just a little harebrained. We’re not sure how many tourists we’ll see.”

He says he and his wife will travel back and forth between the stores.

“We really wanted to keep our real focus on Wichita,” Smits says. “We know where we make a living, and we’ve been really fortunate here with so many strong customers (and) supporters, and we don’t intend to make any change here.”

Of course, he wouldn’t mind seeing Wichitans at the new store as well.

“I know how many people from Wichita vacation in Colorado, and we’d love to have them stop in and say hello.”

– Photographer Linda Gregory, whose brief experiment working out of her home and on location soon will be over because she’s signing a lease for the former Riverside Cup of Tea space

Shelley Beardslee and Jeremy Zellers of Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery.

WICHITA — Almost a year ago, Have You Heard? reported that Ferguson Enterprises would open a new Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery downtown.

Today, it finally happened.

Showroom manager Shelley Beardslee says it’s “amazing” being in the new space at 1210 E. Douglas, which is two blocks east of Douglas and Washington.

“This has been really hard work,” she says of preparing the building while still running the business. “The whole company has done a great job of working together and making this happen.”

General manager Jeremy Zellers calls it a “destination showroom.”

Beardslee says its central location makes it easy access for the entire city, and she says it’s a lot more of a visible location than the old showroom at 2222 W. Harry.

“People can actually figure out where we are down here.”

Ferguson, which is based in Newport News, Va., has 1,300 stores nationally, 150 of which have these showrooms.

The company’s former Wichita showroom is now closed, though Ferguson is still using the building for its warehouse, HVAC department and inside sales for plumbing.

“It’s just the showroom that’s moved off site,” Beardslee says.

The former showroom, which focused on plumbing, had about 1,500 square feet.

“We were very limited as far as what we could show,” Beardslee says.

The new one has 7,000 square feet.

“Here we’re set up more as a lighting showroom.”

There also are appliances, such as refrigerators and ranges, and vanities along with all kinds of new products, Beardslee says.

The showroom will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

There will be a grand opening June 7.

Beardslee already is enjoying seeing repeat customers visit the new space for the first time.

“They’re baffled,” she says of their surprise. “It’s great to see … that everybody enjoys it as much as we have.”

Fox and his wife, Kimberly, are opening Fox Fitness next month at 7330 W. 33rd St. North in the Ridgeport Business Center.

The business isn’t a gym. It will be strictly for personal and small-group training.

“The personal training has taken off really over the last two years,” Fox says.

He describes Brazilian jujitsu as a system of grappling to overpower a stronger opponent. Fox says a person might learn it as a sport or for self-defense.

“It can be really … what the person wants,” he says. “That’s what’s awesome about it.”

Brent Stewart of KW Commercial and Dan Unruh of InSite Real Estate Group handled the deal.

Look for Fox Fitness to open in early June.

“I did not want to leave,” he says.

James and the producer of the show were victims of budget cuts under new management.

As of May 30, James will be the program director for KIBB, 97.1-FM, (“Bob-FM”) and KVWF, 100.5-FM, (“The Wolf”) – two stations that didn’t exist when he left here in 2004.

James also will be on air, but he doesn’t have a specified slot yet.

Though James would have preferred to stay in St. Louis, Wichita isn’t a bad alternative, he says.

“If there’s anyplace we were going to move to, Wichita feels like home,” says the Illinois native.

Really?

“Everybody keeps saying that,” he says. “I actually hear that more from people in Wichita than anywhere else.”

James says the housing is cheaper here, the schools are better and “I had probably more friends in Wichita than I have here in St. Louis.”

He returned for a visit in the fall and couldn’t believe how much Wichita has grown since he’s been gone.

His return isn’t all rosy, though.

“I’m a little upset Kwan Court closed.”

– Michael Frimel of the Ambassador Wichita on leasing office space at Broadway Plaza until the hotel at Douglas and Broadway is ready later this year

Since then, she’s married Eric Johnsen, and the two of them are now ready to double the size of the consignment shop in the strip center behind Havertys on Rock Road. The move will happen in two weeks.

“I probably could fill four or five warehouses with everything that comes in,” Andrea Johnsen says.

For now, though, they’ll stick with 2,500 square feet in the two warehouses next to their current space. Johnsen says she’s not keeping that 1,250-square-foot space, too, because it doesn’t have air conditioning.

Johnsen says she’s deluged with consignment items.

“When something leaves, I automatically fill that spot with something else.”

She also offers items online and through a photo book in the shop, “which has actually worked pretty well.” Johnsen says she prefers that to expanding even further now.

“I’d rather take small steps.”

In August, the chain will go from about 3,000 square feet to about 4,800 square feet.

“We’re very excited we’re going to be able to expand and grow this location,” says Cliff Sallee, a Hallmark district manager.

“We’re going to be able to get more product lines (and) more cards in the store.”

Sallee says the remodeling that will accompany the expansion will create Hallmark’s first advanced design in Wichita. It will feature maple trim, new fixtures and updated carpeting.

“It’s our very polished … store concept that we do,” he says.

Hallmark is taking the space Personally Yours will be vacating when it expands and moves across the parking lot this summer.

April Reed of Slawson Cos. handled both deals.

Sallee expects the expansion to take less than a month. The store may have to close for about a week during that time, but then it’s back to business.

“This has been a great market up here.”

– City lobbyist Dale Goter, referring to this week’s legislative tax debate, which he described in a report to the mayor and City Council by saying, “Feelings were hurt, bridges were burned, the rules and decorum of both houses took a major beating.”

“We’re just kind of going back to our basics of wellness,” Hardenbrook says.

She’ll no longer offer skin care or nail services. Instead, Bohemia will focus on acupuncture and massage.

Hardenbrook is keeping her 611 W. Douglas address but moving out of 609 W. Douglas.

It sounds like a new business may be close to signing a deal there. We’ll let you know.