Hobby Lobby to open in Regency Lakes at 21st and Greenwich

April 24, 20133:43 p.m.

WICHITA — Another major building is under construction at Regency Lakes next to where Cabela’s opened last year.

According to documents filed with the city, Hobby Lobby is building a new 55,000-square-foot store.

Regency Lakes, a Laham Development property at the northwest corner of 21st and Greenwich, is home to SuperTarget, World Market and Hampton Inn & Suites among other things.

Hobby Lobby will go between World Market and Cabela’s, which opened in an 80,000-square-foot space in March 2012.

It looks like the Hobby Lobby currently on the east side at 21st and Woodlawn in Brittany Center will be closing when the new one opens.

There’s also one on the west side in the center at the southwest corner of Central and Ridge.

Building plans for the Regency Lakes Hobby Lobby indicate the store will be based on a new prototype for the craft chain.

Brad Saville with Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.

There are still a few pad sites left at the 60-acre development. That includes one on the corner, one between Subway and Chili’s and one north of Chili’s.

No one involved is talking just yet, but Hobby Lobby is slated to open yet this year, so look for more details soon.

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

Larry Bud’s Sports Bar & Grill to open in former Two Brothers BBQ and Burger Grill

March 7, 20127:28 p.m.

WICHITA — Larry Harmon now confirms what Have You Heard? first reported last week.

He’s opening his second Larry Bud’s Sports Bar & Grill in the former Two Brothers BBQ and Burger Grill space at 8406 W. Central across from Bishop Carroll Catholic High School.

“There’s a lot of good bars in town,” Harmon says. When he opens, though, Harmon says, “You’re going to know that that’s the place to watch some sports.”

He’s finalizing the contract for the 6,600-square-foot space. Following that and extensive renovation, he’ll open. It’s not clear when that will be.

Harmon says he’s gutting the space to create what he calls a stadium area similar to his original Larry Bud’s in Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn.

Like that Larry Bud’s, the new one also will offer bus rides to Shocker games.

“It’s going to be a fun place to go,” Harmon says. “Our grand opening will be a killer.”

He’s not stopping there. Harmon plans additional locations as well.

“We’re going to continue from there and continue to grow.”

 

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Brittany Center, New business, Real estate, Restaurants, West side | Comments Off

New bars and restaurants opening on east, west sides and downtown

Feb. 29, 20122:50 p.m.

WICHITA — There are several new bar and restaurant deals in the works.

Not unexpectedly, Charlie Badeen and David Allan have decided to reopen their O’Brien’s Irish Pub on East Kellogg by Scotch & Sirloin.

They closed it last year, and the short-lived Encore Restaurant and Nightclub took its place.

Earlier this month, Badeen told Have You Heard? he and Allan were considering various options for the space, including reopening O’Brien’s.

They originally closed because they were opening the new Joe’s Old Town Bar and Grill in Old Town, plus they already had Dudley’s Sports Bar and Grill on the west side and Mulligan’s Pub out east.

They’ve since sold Mulligan’s, and they’re ready to open Joe’s in the next week or two.

Badeen says O’Brien’s should open by the end of March.

“Basically everything’s going to be about the same.”

There’s another deal in the works to bring a Pacific Coast Pizza downtown near Intrust Bank Arena.

Read More »

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Bars, Downtown, East side, New business, Old Town, Restaurants, West side | Comments Off

Second Odd Balls Yarn Shop to open at Chisholm Trail Shopping Center and Outlet Mall; more to come

Feb. 22, 20121:50 p.m.

WICHITA — A year after opening her first store, Tracie Anderson is taking the next step in her plan to grow her Odd Balls Yarn Shop by opening a second store at Chisholm Trail Shopping Center and Outlet Mall in Newton.

Anderson opened her first Odd Balls in March in 4,000 square feet at Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn to sell high-end knitting and crochet supplies, luxury fibers, weaving looms, spinning wheels and needlepoint supplies, among other things. She also offers about 80 related classes at any given time.

This March, Anderson is opening in 3,000 square feet at Chisholm Trail next to Charlotte’s Bargain Fabric & Stitchery.

She says she did market research first.

“The traffic out there’s phenomenal.”

Anderson already is thinking of a third Wichita-area Odd Balls for next March.

“That’s pretty aggressive, but that’s our goal.”

Her bigger goal is to franchise her business and help others with their dreams of having similar shops.

She’s working with the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Wichita State University.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Brittany Center, Chisholm Trail, New business, Newton, Real estate, Retail | Comments Off

SpringClean Laundry owner to open what he thinks will be the third-largest Laundromat in the country

Feb. 1, 20124:57 p.m.

WICHITA — Perry Duncan is, perhaps arguably, the Laundry King of Kansas.

He’s owned many himself, built plenty of them for others and now is working on what he says likely will be the third-largest Laundromat in the country.

Duncan owns SpringClean Laundry, which in 2009 he told Have You Heard? he wanted to develop into a chain of large, upscale laundries – with large dryers, flat-screen TVs and carpeting.

His newest SpringClean will be in the former Spear’s Restaurant and Pie Shop space at 1930 N. Woodlawn, which is just south of Brittany Center at the corner of 21st and Woodlawn.

Duncan is adding to the building for a total of 13,000 square feet.

So how does he know this might be the third-largest?

“I’ve been doing it 30 years,” he says.

Duncan says he’s quite familiar with the business nationwide.

His first two SpringClean sites, at 416 N. Ridge and 1224 S. Webb, are about 9,000 square feet each.

Duncan says he’s inspired by cinema entrepreneur Bill Warren of Warren Theatres.

Read More »

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

Fashion Bar boutique to open at Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn

Aug. 24, 20117:50 p.m.

WICHITA — Dana Miller is opening a bar in Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn, but it won’t serve drinks.

“It’s going to be a buy-sell-trade boutique,” Miller says of her new Fashion Bar. “I’m going to pay cash on the spot.”

Unlike what she calls more mature consignment shops, Miller hopes to appeal to a younger crowd with clothing, accessories and handbags.

“My primary market is women 21 to 45,” she says.

The store will “have some weekend clothes and casual clothes, but my focus is really going to be on young professionals.”

Her slogan is “fashion recycled.” Miller says her goal is “keeping extra clothes out of the landfills.”

Miller says she’ll pay up to 40 percent of her selling price to customers who bring in merchandise. Or they can earn more in trade.

She’ll pay more for handbags, too, which will be something of a specialty in the shop.

Miller plans a Sept. 30 drawing for a $300 Coach bag.

Instead of liquor bottles and wine glasses on the store’s built-in bar, Miller plans to feature handbags along with jewelry.

The store opens Sept. 10.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Brittany Center, East side, Leases, Retail | Comments Off

Carla Whaley to open Carla’s Love It at Bradley Fair

June 21, 20106:09 a.m.

WICHITA — Carla Whaley is back.

The former owner of Carla’s Wild at Heart is opening a new store at Bradley Fair.

Carla’s Love It will open in late summer.

The store will sell an eclectic mix of jewelry, gifts and apparel.

“I’ve been designing jewelry for the last three years going back to my hippie roots of the 1970s,” Whaley says.

She’s been traveling to a lot of art shows, too.

“I keep hearing over and over and over, ‘I miss . . . you and your store,’ ” she says.

At one point, Whaley had three stores. One was in Old Town, one at Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn and one was at 21st and Tyler.

Her last store was at NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize. She sold the store three years ago.

“All my family owned their own businesses, and my dad always said, ‘Sell when you have a buyer,’ ” she says. “I’ve learned that philosophy over the years.”

She’s missed having her own store, though.

“I sure liked being my own boss.”

Christi Royse of J.P. Weigand & Sons handled the deal for Bradley Fair, which is a Laham Development property.

The new Carla’s will be between Nouveau and Yia Yia’s Eurobistro.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Bradley Fair, Retail | Comments

Doug Malone and Leisa Lowry of J.P. Weigand & Sons to handle leasing for Brittany, Normandie centers

Feb. 4, 20102:38 p.m.

dougleisaWICHITA — RP Realty Partners has hired commercial brokers Doug Malone and Leisa Lowry to handle leasing at Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn and Normandie Center at Central and Woodlawn.

The brokers, who are with J.P. Weigand & Sons, will work closely with Debbie McNeal, who manages the centers.

With Malone and Lowry focusing on leasing, they say McNeal will be able to concentrate on property management.

“‘Those two properties have really stood the test of time over the years,” Malone says.

Read More »

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

Dwyer’s Hallmark to close all its stores

Jan. 28, 20103:40 p.m.

WICHITA — When Scott Dwyer announced in November that Dwyer’s Hallmark at 420 S. Andover Road would close in February, he said his family’s other stores would remain open.

That’s changed, though.

The Dwyer’s Hallmark stores in Brittany Center, Derby and Emporia all will close this spring.

“We didn’t have a very good Christmas,” Dwyer says.

Nor were the last couple of Christmases before that.

“It’s just taken its toll.”

Part of the problem, Dwyer says, is there are so many places near his stores that also sell Hallmark cards, like Dillons and Walgreens stores.

“They’ve just saturated the marketplace,” Dwyer says of Hallmark. “I know they’re doing it to protect their market share . . . but it’s at the expense of us.”

Also, he says, “The market’s changed. It’s a lot of big-box stores now.”

And that’s where people seem to want to shop, Dwyer says.

“People like the convenience of buying everything in one place. They’re not going to drive clear to our store to buy a card.”

Dwyer looked at selling his stores, but he says, “They’re not profitable enough to really do that.”

He expects the stores will remain open until at least Mother’s Day in May.

“We still have quite a bit of inventory to sell.”

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

Dwyer’s Hallmark to close in Andover, but sister stores in Wichita, Derby and Emporia will remain open

Nov. 11, 20095:37 p.m.

WICHITA — The Dwyer’s Hallmark store at 420 S. Andover Road is closing at the end of February, but the Dwyer’s Hallmark stores in Wichita (at Brittany Center at 21st and Woodlawn), Derby and Emporia will remain open.

The Andover store is closing because the Dillons that used to be near it moved farther away.

“That’s really killed our business there,” says Scott Dwyer, who manages the businesses for his parents, Sue and Harold.

The store has been there for 10 years. Dwyer says his family isn’t moving to be closer to the new Dillons because rent would be higher.

The family already has closed its Nifty Fifty store at 321 S. Andover Road. That store used to sell the Hallmark shop’s close-out items along with other close-out merchandise.

“It just didn’t work out, either,” Scott Dwyer says of the store, which opened in 2006. “We started out OK, and the sales just really fell off.”

Business at the other stores is all right.

“I’m not going to say it’s great right now,” Dwyer says. “It’s been a pretty tough year. We’re just hoping for a good Christmas.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Andover, Closings, Emporia, Leases, Retail | Comments Off