Shear Voltage to leave the Collective for expanded space at the Garvey Center

May 1, 20134:23 p.m.

WICHITA — A salon is opening in the former Bob’s Place barber shop at the Garvey Center downtown.

Jennifer Collins and Shelby Cheatum are moving their Shear Voltage salon from a small suite at the Collective near 21st and Greenwich to the Garvey Center on July 1.

“We’re just really excited to be in the downtown area and continue to grow our business,” Collins says.

She and Cheatum have been cutting hair together for about seven years and opened their business almost two years ago. They purposely started small because they heard the first couple of years in any business are particularly rough, Collins says. She says they’ve been successful, though, and are ready to grow.

The new space is 1,512 square feet.

Adam Clements and Larry Weber of Builders Inc. handled the deal.

The expanded salon will have eight stylists and offer a range of services in addition to hair care. That includes spray tans, massage, body waxing, makeup, eyelash extensions and, eventually, manicures and pedicures.

Collins says it makes sense to move downtown now.

“I think we’re hitting it at the time that we can grow with the downtown area.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , Filed under Downtown, Garvey Center, Salons | Comments

Wild at Heart owner says delinquent taxes related to former store

June 29, 20122:27 p.m.

WICHITA — Wild at Heart owner Marissa Marklewitz owes almost $18,000 in state taxes, but she says they relate to her former east-side store and that her west-side store is doing just fine.

Marklewitz closed her Wild at Heart at the Collective at 21st Street East and K-96 last year after three years in business to concentrate on an expanded west-side store at the southeast corner of 21st and Maize Road

She says the day before a new tenant was to sign a lease to take over her east space, the deal fell apart, and she had to unexpectedly continue the lease.

“We sat on it for seven months,” Marklewitz says. “Due to the extended circumstance there, we got a little behind on things.”

She says she’s on a payment plan with the state.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , Filed under East side, Taxes, West side | Comments Off

Prairie Gynecology to open at the Collective

Feb. 27, 20125:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Obstetrician and gynecologist Amy Short is leaving the Center for Women’s Health on North Webb Road to open her own practice, but it won’t be a traditional OBGYN clinic.

In fact, once Short’s pregnant patients deliver their babies, she won’t continue that service.

Instead, she’s going to focus on gynecology and functional medicine.

“You might just think of it as going to the root causes of imbalance, whether that’s chronic illness or hormone imbalance, and solving it from the ground up rather than dealing with it … once the disease process has already manifested,” Short says.

“I actually feel like the Lord has asked me to do this, and I think that there is a great opportunity for … me to find balance in my life … as well as to provide a focused niche for women that’s not currently available.”

Her Prairie Gynecology will open in April in 3,000 square feet at the Collective near 21st and Greenwich.

Short’s husband, Jeff, who will be the clinic’s business manager, says his wife has “identified, I think, a real unique niche in Wichita.”

“She’s seen an opportunity to help women.”

The Shorts say there are many fantastic OBGYNs in Wichita, but Amy Short’s practice will be more focused on a patient’s complete care.

“All of the systems of our body are interdependent,” Jeff Short says. “If one’s not functioning, you’ll see consequences in other places.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Collective, East side, Healthcare, New business | Comments Off

Extremo Vino liquor store to open at the Collective at 21st Street and K-96

Aug. 23, 201111:15 a.m.

UPDATED — Computer programmer David Keeton discovered a love of wine three years ago and now wants to combine it with his longtime passion for technology.

Keeton is one of the founders of Callcap, a 10-year-old Wichita company that helps businesses track and analyze customer calls.

Now, he’s opening Extremo Vino, a liquor store at the Collective, which is J.V. Johnston’s development at 21st Street and K-96.

“Basically, it was born out of my own frustration,” Keeton says.

He’s developed software to help customers keep track of wines they’ve enjoyed and then offer recommendations based on those.

“I never could remember what wines I liked and what wines I didn’t like.”

With his system, customers can track the wines they like with his software on their home computers or use the system in the store with a key chain bar code tag.

Keeton also plans iPhone and iPad apps.

Based on what customers enter, he says, “Then we can make some suggestions about what else (they) might like in the store.”

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

East-side Wild At Heart to close; West-side store to expand

July 20, 20111:29 p.m.

WICHITA — The east-side Wild At Heart is closing after business Saturday so owner Marissa Marklewitz can concentrate on expanding her west-side Wild At Heart.

“We’re expanding into gifts and gourmet goodies,” she says.

Her west-side shop, which sells clothing, accessories and handbags, moved to the southeast corner of 21st and Maize Road in October. She has 2,700 square feet she’s using now and another 1,300 square feet on the second floor where she plans a new gift boutique.

It’s how much space she’s wanted in one building all along.

“If we could have found something three years ago, we probably would not have opened an east location.”

The east-side Wild At Heart opened three years ago at the Collective at 21st Street East and K-96.

The expanded space on the west side will include more denim items and a new handbag line called Spartina 449, which has leather-and-canvas bags.

“They’re so cute,” Marklewitz says.

The new boutique will open in October.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under Closings, East side, Retail, West side | Comments Off

Collective Merchants Association sues salon owner and developer Sami Halaseh

April 29, 20106:11 a.m.

WICHITA — Salon owner and developer Sami Halaseh is in a dispute with Collective developer and Johnston’s owner J.V. Johnston.

The Collective Merchants Association has filed a lawsuit against Halaseh’s Jordan’s Place LLC.

Halaseh bought ground at the Collective, which is at East 21st Street and K-96, where he then brought Soho Salon and Mini Dental Implant Centers of America. He’s also negotiating to bring a 4,000-square-foot medical spa there.

The lawsuit is over maintenance fees for things like mowing, snow removal and the operation of fountains on the property. The merchants association is suing for $11,400 in nonpayment of those services, plus interest and attorney’s fees.

“I’m doing my own maintenance,” Halaseh says. “I’m just basically separating myself from the Collective area. That’s the dispute.”

Halaseh says he never signed anything agreeing to maintenance.

“Yeah, he signed it,” Johnston says.

“When you buy the land, you sign it just like a homeowner’s situation,” Johnston says.

“He just doesn’t want to pay. He said, ‘I’m going to take care of it myself,’ and I said, ‘No, you can’t.’ ”

Halaseh doesn’t think Johnston and the association have a case.

“I said, ‘If you want to do it that way, fine, we’ll take it to court,’ ” he says.

Johnston says the association continues to take care of all of the Collective property, including Halaseh’s.

“He’s a nice guy,” Johnston says, “but I wish he’d pay.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Collective, East side, Lawsuits | Comments

PS Designs moving to Towne East Square

Feb. 26, 201010:32 a.m.

WICHITA — PS Designs is heading back to the mall.

The home and garden accessories shop left Towne West Square in early 2007 to open at the Collective, J.V. Johnston’s development at East 21st Street and K-96.

Now, the store is moving to Towne East Square.

“They just got too far behind on their rent, honestly,” Johnston says. “It happens. I hope they do well.”

Co-owner Bobby Peltier says the rent at the Collective was too high for the amount of shoppers he had.

“Just with the recession . . . there’s no traffic out here,” Peltier says. “We’re so far out to the northeast side of town that, you know, we’re basically just drawing from the local neighborhood that’s here close to the store.”

His new store, which should open by late March, will be by Specs Eyewear on the upper level of Towne East.

“I feel comfortable that we’ll at least be able to survive the recession,” Peltier says of his move there.

He’s leaving 3,000 square feet at the Collective.

“I’ve got a couple of people looking at it, actually,” Johnston says of potential tenants, “which is kind of amazing in this economy.”

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