Massage Envy Spa to open at the Waterfront in May in space that Irvin Jacks is vacating

Feb. 13, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — East Wichita no longer has a reason to be envious of west Wichita, at least when it comes to Massage Envy Spa.

The first Wichita Massage Envy opened in NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize Road in 2010.

Now, one is moving into the Irvin Jacks space at the Waterfront in early May.

It’s not clear what’s happening with Irvin Jacks, a “barber spa” for men. Owner Felicia DeSpain didn’t return calls for comment.

Massage Envy franchisee Amy Gilliland, who also owns the Lawrence Massage Envy, says she’d actually hoped to open on the east side first.

“There was just no place to go that we wanted to go,” she says of when she looked previously.

She says she’s excited about the 3,290 square feet that’s coming open at the Waterfront.

“I love how upscale it is. I love the aesthetic. I like the tenant mix. I like the landlords a lot. They’re really great.”

Don Piros of Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.

Gilliland says Massage Envy is an affordable, approachable business that offers therapeutic massage and healthy skin facials.

The chain, which started in 2002, now has 854 stores.

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

Pho MC to open at Cherry Creek

Jan. 18, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — A new Vietnamese restaurant is opening in Cherry Creek at Harry and Rock Road.

Minh Tran and his wife, Kim Chi, are opening Pho MC in 3,200 square feet at the center. They plan to serve pho, which is Vietnamese soup, and other dishes from Vietnam.

The restaurant, which won’t serve alcohol, will seat more than 100 people.

Don Piros of Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.

Tran has worked at Saigon in the past along with restaurants in other states.

“I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants before.”

He says Pho MC will open in a couple of months.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Cherry Creek, New business, Real estate, Restaurants | Comments Off

Kansas Legal Services to move to former Rainbows United space downtown

Jan. 10, 20134:56 p.m.

WICHITA — The Wichita office of Kansas Legal Services is moving to a new home not far from its existing one.

The organization, which is based in Topeka, has offices in 11 counties throughout the state and offers a variety of legal aid to a variety of people and groups.

Currently, the Wichita office is in 7,000 square feet at 200 N. Broadway.

The new office is at 340 S. Broadway where Rainbows United used to be.

“This building is better suited for our needs,” says Rhonda Sullivan, managing attorney.

The new 8,400 square feet will offer more storage space and a conference room, which she says “makes me really happy.”

Sullivan says Kansas Legal Services has been in its current space a dozen years.

“We’ve changed a lot in those years.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , Filed under Downtown, Nonprofit, Real estate | Comments Off

Landmark’s Craig Simon takes over WaterWalk commercial leasing

Jan. 9, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Craig Simon of Landmark Commercial Real Estate is now handling commercial leasing at WaterWalk Place near Main and Waterman in addition to a few other properties Jack DeBoer owns.

“He’s just really excited about what’s going on downtown,” WaterWalk’s Vanessa Johnson says of Simon. “He’s really interconnected.”

There are five suites left on the west side of the first floor of WaterWalk Place. They’re 1,485 square feet each, except for one smaller suite that is 1,025 square feet.

“Hopefully we’ll have an announcement here in another 30 days,” Simon says of a new tenant.

Current tenants are V Wealth Management, Pulaski Bank, Fabulous Salon and Gifts, Kelley, York & Associates and Brothers & Co.

“That was designed for retail,” Simon says of the ground floor beneath residential condos. “It’s better suited for office right now.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Downtown, Real estate, WaterWalk | Comments Off

Despite sign to the contrary, T.J. Maxx isn’t coming to New Leaf Plaza

Jan. 4, 201310:40 a.m.

WICHITA — Shoppers in the 21st and Amidon area had brief hope that T.J. Maxx is coming to the intersection. A business in the area even had a sign saying so, but it’s not true.

“It speaks to a need or a demand at that intersection that’s probably not being fully fulfilled,” says Scott Harper, a broker with Landmark Commercial Real Estate.

“We have contacted them,” Harper says of T.J. Maxx. He was courting the store for New Leaf Plaza at the southwest corner where a Walmart Neighborhood Market is but says he “didn’t really get too far with it.”

Harper says that soft goods retailers such as T.J. Maxx like to cluster together.

“At the moment, that’s a little bit of a challenge for the intersection,” he says. Harper says it’s only one of a couple of intersections in the city with three grocers.

“I think soft goods are under served at the intersection,” he says. “A lot of them aren’t overly attracted to grocery-anchored centers.”

He says grocery stores are a draw for fitness centers.

“That’s why it’s good for Planet Fitness.”

The franchise opened in New Leaf Plaza last year, and Harper says it’s convenient for people to pop into the grocery store after their daily or weekly workout routine.

“Or, in my case, once-a year routine.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under New Leaf Plaza, Real estate, Retail, West side | Comments Off

Connie Hamilton sells Connie’s Cookies, which is moving east and changing to Connie’s Cookies Bakery Cafe

Jan. 4, 20135:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Twenty four years after opening Connie’s Cookies, Connie Hamilton has sold the business, but she’s not leaving.

That’s because she’s sold it to her son, Rob Smith, and his wife, Tanya.

“Everybody asks me if I’m really sad about that, and I’m not,” Hamilton says. “I get to go back to doing what I like.”

That’s making cookies instead of handling paperwork.

“I’m still going to be every bit as present as I’ve ever been.”

Except that won’t be in the Sweetbriar shopping center at 21st and Amidon.

The Smiths and Hamilton decided to move the shop to Reed’s Cove Plaza on East 21st Street just east of 127th Street where Knolla’s Pizza used to be.

“We have no visibility over here, and things have changed,” Hamilton says of the current location. “When we first moved in here, we didn’t need visibility.”

Though holiday sales still are strong, Hamilton says the rest of the year has become more of a challenge.

“Nowadays, everybody is opening a bakery,” she says. She says many bakers operate out of their homes.

“It has really, really eaten into our everyday sales,” she says. “We had to look at what’s wrong, and we decided what was wrong was where we were located.”

She and the Smiths initially only considered moving downtown or to Delano.

“We had every intention of staying central,” Hamilton says.

Then Craig Simon of Landmark Commercial Real Estate, who handled the deal for the Reed’s Cove space, suggested that center.

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

Birds on the Roof Bakery & Cafe to open in center at Central and Rock in March

Dec. 13, 20123:44 p.m.

WICHITA — Thao Luu couldn’t find the job she was hoping for when she graduated with a hospitality management degree from Butler Community College and was beginning to despair when she passed a sign at Fidelity Bank.

“Wichitans don’t hope for a better future. We build it.”

The sign inspired Luu to start her own business and hire her former professor, Roger Bosserman, to help.

Luu is opening Birds on the Roof Bakery & Cafe in the former Verde Sustainable Living space in the center at the northeast corner of Central and Rock.

Though Luu is Vietnamese — she moved here three years ago to marry chemical engineer Jimmy Nguyen — she will offer mostly American dishes for breakfast and lunch. That includes paninis, sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers and salad. There will be a French flair with some dishes, such as crepes and savory pastries.

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

Former Wichitans Dennis Thompson and Doug Glendenning to bring Firebirds Wood Fired Grill to the Waterfront

Dec. 10, 201211:57 p.m.

The Waterfront’s Stephen Clark II stands in front of the future home of Firebirds Wood Fired Grill.

WICHITA — A visit home to his native Wichita is what’s leading Lone Star Steakhouse founder Dennis Thompson to bring his latest restaurant concept to the Waterfront.

Thompson and former Wichitan Doug Glendenning and a private New York equity firm own 23 Firebirds Wood Fired Grills and have six more under construction.

Thompson, who founded the company in 2000 in Charlotte, N.C., planned to go to Oklahoma City and Tulsa next but changed his mind.

“I happened to be in Wichita for a class reunion,” he says.

While here, Thompson toured the former Brooks Brothers store at the Waterfront development at 13th and Webb Road.

The 7,650-square-foot space is on the corner of the retail section of the Waterfront and is known for its decorative domed roof.

“It’s the most prominent spot in the retail center,” says the Waterfront’s Stephen Clark II.

Glendenning, the former president of Lone Star, calls the Waterfront “one of the best areas in the greater Wichita area for sure.”

“I used to live just a couple of blocks from there, so I know that area very well,” he says.

Glendenning is a founder of Firebirds, too, but he says Thompson really created it.

Thompson’s Aspen home inspired what initially was a Colorado lodge theme.

“Over time … it’s evolved,” Glendenning says. “It’s a lot less Colorado feel and more just kind of upscale casual.”

Thompson says he wanted to start a concept that was more upscale than an Outback or similar restaurants but not quite as high end as a Morton’s or a Ruth’s Chris.

“The theme is based around steaks, but we’re not perceived necessarily as a steakhouse,” Thompson says.

There are lots of wood-fired dishes, many of which have a southwestern flair.

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

Liberty Tax Service to open at Oxford Square at 21st and Woodlawn

Dec. 5, 201211:10 a.m.

WICHITA — Liberty Tax Service franchisees Darrell and Kathie Phipps are opening a new location in time for tax season.

The new site will be at Oxford Square, which is at the northwest corner of 21st and Woodlawn.

Darrell Phipps says they already have locations in Newton and at Central and Hillside in Wichita. They closed a Valley Center office at the end of last tax season.

“It just wasn’t performing … to our expectations,” he says. “We’re moving everything basically from that store into this location.”

Don Piros of Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.

Phipps says when he started the business six tax seasons ago, his goal was to have three or four locations. He says there’s a chance he could open more.

“It’s always a possibility.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under East side, Oxford Square, Real estate, Valley Center | Comments Off

Liberty Tax Service franchisee to open second west-side office

Nov. 16, 201210:44 a.m.

WICHITA — After a decade in business, Liberty Tax Service franchisee Chris Merchant is opening a second location.

The accountant has a private firm as well as the Liberty office at 13th and West streets, which his wife, Deb, runs. Merchant’s daughter, Jamie Hanson, will run his second Liberty office, which will open in January in the same strip center where Domino’s is near 21st and Amidon.

“Mainly we’re doing another location because our first location has been so successful,” Hanson says.

She says Liberty is the fastest-growing tax preparation company in the United States. There are several other Liberty offices around Wichita that other franchisees own.

Hanson says more Liberty sites are possible in the future for her family.

“My goal is to have more than one location,” she says. “We’re going to see how this one goes. We can only do so much at a time.”

Don Piros with Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.

Hanson says the west side has been a good area for the company.

At the new location, she says, “We’re really going to try to target the Hispanic community.”

Hanson says the company already has one bilingual tax preparer and is training more.

“We’re just branching out.”

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