All Things Barbecue to expand in Delano

WICHITA — All Things Barbecue is expanding in Delano — again.

“The heart of what we’re doing is moving into 818 W. Douglas,” says owner Don Cary. “Kind of the big deal is it’s going to give us more room for retail.”

He and his wife, Kathy, opened the business in 1,700 square feet at 615 W. Douglas, west of the Delano clock tower, in July 2009 and then doubled their space in 2010 by taking another 1,700 square feet at 617 W. Douglas. They also have another building at 121 N. Oak for a teaching kitchen.

Their new space will open in July with 4,500 square feet for a showroom, 1,600 square feet for a classroom and 2,200 square feet for a patio.

“This is phase one,” Don Cary says of plans.

The next phase, which will come later this summer, is an addition of more property adjacent to the new space.

“We’re really, really moving into doing outdoor kitchen spaces,” Don Cary says. “One of the things that we desperately need to do that well is a dedicated showroom.”

He says he’ll share more news on that as the time gets closer.

For now, the Carys are concentrating on the move to 818 W. Douglas.

“It’ll facilitate several things,” Don Cary says.

That includes demonstrating the store’s grills, holding events and offering classes.

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Pink Door What-Not Shop in Delano to shrink by 10,000 square feet

WICHITA — When one door closes, it doesn’t necessarily mean another one opens.

In the case of the Pink Door What-Not Shop in Delano, the closing of one of the two buildings the store has will mean a much smaller shop.

“We have two buildings side-by-side, and we’re not going to be able to renew our lease on our big building,” says co-owner Deborah Weber.

She says the rent is going up, which is why the shop is leaving that side.

The 2-year-old store, which sells collectibles, antiques, furniture and home decor, is at 1316 W. Douglas.

Its small building is 1,300 square feet, and its big one is 10,000 square feet.

“We’re working on getting the furniture side closed down,” Weber says. “We’re going to see if we can make it without the big building.”

The store still will carry some furniture, but not as much.

“We’re going to do some reconfiguring on the floor in here,” Weber says of fitting it on the small side.

She says business has been up and down since the Pink Door opened.

“It’s been a little rough lately.”

If the smaller version of the shop doesn’t do well, Weber says she’s not sure if the store will move or close.

“We haven’t even thought that far ahead,” she says. “We keep our fingers crossed and just hope we can keep our nostrils above the water line.”

All federal agencies at the 271 Building downtown will by gone by September

WICHITA — By the end of August, all of the federal agencies in the 271 Building at 271 W. Third St. downtown will be gone.

Have You Heard? has written about several of the departures already. What follows is a complete list.

“This was originally an IRS lease at this building, but they returned some of the space, and then we backfilled it with other agencies … which is kind of why everyone is leaving at once,” says Angela Brees, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration.

The IRS has about 33,000 square feet of the 95,000-square-foot building.

Typically, whenever a federal agency’s lease is up, there has to be a bidding process for new space.

The IRS office and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office are moving to 555 N. Woodlawn. They’re taking about 40,000 square feet there, and there’s another 23,000 square feet available to lease.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration office and the Health and Human Services Inspector General are moving to Phil Ruffin’s Bank of America Center at Broadway and Douglas.

The Small Business Administration is moving to the Page Court Building at the Garvey Center at 220 E. Douglas.

The Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Defense Contract Management Agency are moving to the Lux building at First and Market.

The Railroad Retirement Board has already moved to the Cambridge Office Park south of 21st and Webb Road, and the Citizenship and Immigration Services office has already moved to Ruffin’s building at 550 W. Douglas in Delano.

The status of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Defense Inspector General offices is still unclear.

All of the agencies need to be out of the 271 Building by the end of August when the lease is up.

“We’re still dealing with them on that,” says Trey Ayers, executive vice president of Guthrie, Okla.-based Dominion Properties, which owns the building.

Dominion is seeking new tenants outside of federal agencies.

“We like Wichita, and we like what it’s about,” Ayers says. “Hopefully we can help some other local folks move into the property.”

Bang Bang T-shirt shop to open within Bluebird Arthouse in Delano

WICHITA — An excess of space is leading to another new venture at Bluebird Arthouse.

Owner Emily Brookover already uses the second story above her Delano shop to have an art market once a month, and she uses a wall downstairs for gallery space.

Now, she’s going to use an area near the front of the store to operate Bang Bang, a T-shirt business featuring original art.

“We’re banging out some T-shirts,” Brookover says.

She says she’ll be doing it more economically than Internet sites that help artists create shirts.

“It’s really cool, so I was thinking I could do something (like) that but on a local level,” she says. “We are hopefully going to do it grassroots style.”

Brookover is partnering with Phil Ross and Adam Phillips of Straight Screenprinting to create T-shirts from art.

“So we’re keeping it all local,” she says.

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Hutchinson-based Apron Strings store to have second shop in Delano

WICHITA — There’s good news for Wichita fans of Hutchinson’s Apron Strings shop.

Owner Anne Dowell is opening a second kitchen and dining store in Delano in June.

“We have a lot of good customers out of Wichita now, so hopefully we can be a little closer to them and gain a lot more,” she says. “There just seems to be a need in Wichita. There isn’t any other store like ours.”

The Apron Strings tagline is, “Be practical with style.”

“We do a lot of gifts out of here, but we also do a lot of practical tools,” Dowell says. “We have anything for the dining room or kitchen, but not furniture.”

That includes linens, decorative dishes, cutting boards, mixers, cookbook holders and wine glasses among other things.

The store will go in about 3,000 square feet at 810 W. Douglas, which is the space Lady Grace Boutique is leaving at the end of March. That store is moving to George Holland’s development at the northwest corner of Kellogg and Tyler.

Dowell says Delano is very similar to the Main Street area where her shop is in Hutchinson.

“We are in a historic area. We are in a old building that’s been renovated. . . . It’s got more character and personality.”

That’s what she says she found in Delano.

“It just seemed to feel right.”

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Table Guys and Chocolate Fountain Event Rentals consolidate in new Delano space

WICHITA — The party is moving to Delano – literally and figuratively.

Kimberly and Scott Daley are consolidating their Table Guys and Chocolate Fountain Event Rentals under one roof at the northeast corner of Douglas and Osage. For the first time, they’ll also offer their own party space for customers to use.

“We have all of the equipment to have a really great party, and now we’ll have some space in our own place to have one,” Kimberly Daley says.

The Daleys started their rental business with garage sale rental supplies, which they keep in a Derby warehouse, in April 2011. In 2012, they added table and chair rentals and then purchased the fountain business in August.

With the fountain purchase, they took over the business’ 900 square feet at 5424 E. Central.

“It’s just not very effective for us right now,” Kimberly Daley says of the “very small” space.

“Our showroom right now is extremely small.”

The new space is 4,400 square feet.

“We so need it,” Daley says. “Just the showroom alone … is bigger than our entire store here.”

Currently, the showroom includes fountains, tables, chairs, chair covers, linens, wedding centerpieces and garage sale rental items.

“Definitely we’ll have the room to expand on our wedding and party rental items,” Daley says.

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TJ’s Burger House owner John Abdayem wants to erase confusion over restaurant

UPDATED — It’s been more than nine months since TJ’s Burger House owner John Abdayem has been gone from his east-side TJ’s, but customers are still confused about his role there, especially now that the restaurant has closed.

Abdayem wants to be clear about a couple of things. Most importantly, he says, his Delano TJ’s remains open.

The former TJ’s that was on the east side at Harry and Webb recently closed, but it’s been since May that Abdayem was there. The circumstances surrounding his departure are in dispute.

Abdayem says he hadn’t planned on leaving but that his landlord, Homer Morgan, unexpectedly locked him out. Morgan’s attorney, Ed Robinson, says Abdayem broke his lease and left owing Morgan about $32,000.

“What actually happened is entirely different than what he’s describing,” Robinson says.

He says Morgan sued Abdayem in Sedgwick County District Court, and Abdayem has brought a counterclaim.

Abdayem says that until a week ago when it closed, the restaurant continued to operate as Burger House, which he says led some people to think he was still there.

Regardless of the legal situation and its outcome, Abdayem says he continues to get questions from customers and wants everyone to understand the situation and that it’s not related to his Delano restaurant.

Ruffin working on two Delano properties

WICHITA — Chris Ruffin director of real estate for his father Phil Ruffin’s Ruffin Properties, is working on a couple of new deals in Delano.

One is for what will be the former Ruben’s Mexican Grill space, which he plans to renovate.

“It’s going to be really neat,” he says. “Everybody will really like it.”

The other is behind 550 W. Douglas where the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office is.

There had been an old warehouse behind the building.

“We’ve torn down that building,” Ruffin says.

He says he can build to suit, most likely for an office use.

“I think retail would be difficult there.”

Ruben’s Mexican Grill to move within Delano this spring

WICHITA — Ruben’s Mexican Grill is moving, but not far.

“Pretty much I can’t afford to stay here,” Ruben Acosta says of his current location near the northwest corner of Douglas and McLean.

He says his rent is substantially increasing, so he’s moving to 915 W. Douglas, which is still in Delano.

Acosta will take the first floor of the building, which is 2,600 square feet. That’s a bit bigger than his current space, where his lease is up at the end of April.

Ruben’s moved to Delano in 2003. Previously, it was in Old Town and was known as Ruben & Anita’s Tacos.

Acosta says his wife, Anita, is returning to the restaurant following an illness. He says they decided not to revert to the former name because the restaurant offers more than tacos.

The Acostas also considered returning to Old Town.

“I like Old Town,” Ruben Acosta says.

He says parking can be a problem, though. In the end, he says Delano was the natural choice.

“Delano has been great to me,” Acosta says. “Delano has been growing so fast so much.”

The Acostas will make a number of changes at the new space, including adding a full bar, a patio, big-screen TVs and a new menu. There will be expanded hours as well. Ruben Acosta says he and his wife hope to make the restaurant more of a destination. He says they plan to open in early May shortly after the current restaurant closes.

“I hope I can get it ready by then.”

Norwalk Furniture & Design moves to temporary space while seeking new home

WICHITA — Norwalk Furniture & Design is still in business, but you won’t find it at the Shops at Tallgrass at 21st and Rock Road.

In fact, you might not find it at all if you don’t know what you’re looking for. This month, Julia Benson moved her store to temporary space in a warehouse at 8630 E. 32nd Court North.

“It’s a pretty good-looking showroom,” she says of the selling area she’s created.

Benson has had the 3,000-square-foot warehouse, which is in the same building as the American Heart Association, for eight years.

She and her husband, Jim, bought the business – which then was a franchise called Norwalk the Furniture Idea – in 2004. Greg Wyers opened the store in 5,110 square feet at Tallgrass in 1998.

“In fact, Norwalk was the first store in that complex,” Julia Benson says.

She and the chain faced some serious hurdles when the economy crashed a few years ago.

“In 2008, when the banks first started squeezing in, Norwalk went under,” Benson says.

Her store remained in business but felt the pinch, she says.

“The same thing happened to me that happened to everybody else.”

That’s why she’s looking for new, less-expensive space.

“I love what I do,” Benson says. “I believe that our customers will follow us wherever we go, and so far I’ve been proven right.”

She adds, “I don’t mean that to sound like a braggart.”

In the couple of weeks since she’s moved, though, Benson’s business hasn’t diminished.

Still, she hopes to find new space quickly, and she’s not picky about what part of Wichita it’s in.

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