Material Girls Quilt Shoppe to expand

Feb. 23, 20124:42 p.m.

WICHITA — Material Girls Quilt Shoppe is expanding in the Travel Air Building at 535 W. Douglas in Delano.

The shop currently has 3,175 square feet. Co-owner Jo Degner says there’s a front door, which she says has a great wow factor, and a back door. That area doesn’t have as much of a wow, she says, because it’s now used to hold classes.

A new 700 square feet will allow the classes to move, which will free space by the back door. Degner says it will feature more beautiful fabric to sell.

“That’s what we like to do is buy fabric to sell,” she says.

Cherisse Taylor of Occidental Management, which owns the Travel Air Building, handled the deal.

Degner is looking forward to the addition because of what it means for the back door area.

“It’ll be just as inviting coming in the back as it is the front.”

 

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

Pennsylvania-based Benco Dental to open office at Travel Air Building in Delano

Feb. 22, 20125:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Benco Dental, the third-largest dental dealer in the nation, will be moving to Delano in April.

“We sell everything that a dentist uses in his office,” says Dennis Doyle, a territory representative for the Pennsylvania-based company.

Benco, which arrived in Wichita about seven months ago, is taking 2,600 square feet in Occidental Management’s Travel Air Building at 535 W. Douglas.

The company has been in temporary Occidental space at Northwest Centre at 13th and Tyler while the new space is prepared.

“We’re going to keep the space very open to … show the old architecture of the building,” Doyle says.

There are brick walls and exposed timbers in the ceiling.

“We wanted someplace that wasn’t kind of sterile or an industrial park area,” Doyle says. He says the company wanted “a more relaxed setting.”

“Plus, it’s very centrally located for us as well.”

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Computer Troubleshooters to open second office at Historic Occidental Plaza

Feb. 2, 20125:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Sarah and Alex Nivison are expanding their Computer Troubleshooters with a second, more centralized location.

The couple has been working out of its Rose Hill home since getting the franchise a year ago.

Now, they’re opening a second site in the Historic Occidental Plaza at 300 N. Main in downtown Wichita.

“We love the beauty of the building, we love the location (and) the office space was a great fit because we have literally no work to do,” Sarah Nivison says. “It was set up exactly as we needed it.”

She says 90 percent of their business is at customers’ offices, which is why they want a centralized location in addition to their Rose Hill office.

“We want to be able to get to them as quick as we can,” Nivison says.

Computer Troubleshooters, an Atlanta-based franchise, caters to small businesses and individuals.

“Basically, we like to call ourselves the IT department for small businesses,” Nivison says.

They offer help with technology issues, problem prevention and website development. The company also offers managed service plans.

Stephanie Wiens of Occidental Management handled the deal for the new space.

Nivison says the office will open March 1.

“We’re going to take it to the next level downtown,” she says. “We see that there’s a lot of opportunity in downtown Wichita.”

 

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Another Lady’s Treasure to almost double in size

Dec. 8, 20114:53 p.m.

WICHITA — Tanna Debo-Loreg is almost doubling the size of her Another Lady’s Treasure consignment shop at Northwest Centre.

She’s been in 975 square feet at the center at 13th and Tyler for four years.

“It has just been fabulous,” Debo-Loreg says.

She says she has great consignors and customers.

“It just keeps coming through the door … and going out the door,” she says of merchandise.

The store sells clothing, handbags, jewelry and shoes.

Debo-Loreg says some of her consignors would like to offer antique pieces as well.

“We’ll just have to see,” she says. “I’m already having to put people off bringing clothes in.”

She’s running out of space.

The expansion, which will be ready in the new year, will create a much more open look. There will be new dressing rooms as well.

Stephanie Wiens of Occidental Management handled the deal for the new space.

Debo-Loreg says she doesn’t expect to expand again.

“I’ll still be able to manage to do everything myself,” she says. “It gets too big, and then it’s not fun.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , Filed under Northwest Centre, Retail | Comments Off

Wasabi Japanese Restaurant owner to open similar concept in former Bossa Grill space

Aug. 11, 20115:30 a.m.

WICHITA — Wasabi Japanese Restaurant owner Eun Young still has plans for an east-side restaurant, but they’ve changed slightly.

Young, whose first Wasabi is at 912 E. Douglas in Old Town, signed a deal this spring to open a similarly named restaurant in the 1,782-square-foot former Froz space at 3242 N. Rock.

After striking that deal with Occidental Management, Young learned of another nearby Occidental space that became available.

Now, he’s worked out a deal to take that 3,200-square-foot space where Bossa Grill used to be.

“He wanted the bigger space and obviously liked that it was already built out for a restaurant,” says Occidental president Chad Stafford.

He handled the lease with Occidental’s Bree Kelley.

Stafford also sold Young the restaurant equipment in the building.

Young is tweaking his Wasabi concept.

“I am going to try to be kind of a little bit . . . upscale,” he says.

The name will still be Wasabi, but it will be spelled differently. Young hasn’t decided how yet.

He likes the expanded space because it will allow him to do booths.

“I can make it more private.”

Young hopes to open in about two months.

Stafford is now working on finding a new tenant for the former Froz space.

“We’ve got several interested parties right now.”

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

Wichita Crime Commission to move a few blocks

July 22, 20111:03 p.m.

WICHITA — The Wichita Crime Commission is moving this fall.

“Right now we’re pretty cramped in 720 square feet,” says executive director Gordon Bassham.

Also, the current office at 125 N. Market doesn’t have much parking, so Bassham says that forces the public and the commission’s 180 members to have to park elsewhere and walk.

The commission is taking more than 1,700 square feet in Occidental Plaza at 300 N. Main St.

The commission is a privately funded nonprofit that works with law enforcement to support it and fight crime in a proactive way.

“We needed more room for potential future growth,” says Bassham, who is working to grow membership.

He says the commission is closely affiliated with Crime Stoppers, and there’s room at Occidental Plaza for that group to potentially have an office there as well.

Chad Stafford and Stephanie Wiens of Occidental Management handled the deal.

Bassham says the move will happen in November.

“We expect to be in the new location for quite some time.”

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Physiotherapy Associates to open at Auburn Pointe

July 19, 20116:49 a.m.

UPDATED — Physiotherapy Associates, which has more than 650 sites nationally, is coming to Wichita for the first time in early September.

The Pennsylvania-based company is taking 2,000 square feet at Occidental Management’s Auburn Pointe development at 135th West and Maple.

Occidental’s Chad Stafford and Bree Kelley handled the deal. Bradley and Brandon Tidemann of J.P. Weigand & Co. represented Physiotherapy Associates.

The company provides outpatient physical therapy and has an orthotics and prosthetics division as well.

Initially, the clinic will have a physical therapist and an athletic trainer.

Physiotherapy Associates also is looking to add two more clinics in the Wichita area.

Stafford, Occidental’s president, says another restaurant is in the works for Auburn Pointe, where Great Wall, Scooter’s Coffeehouse and Subway already are and Papa Murphy’s is coming.

That leaves only one space left to lease at the 5-year-old, 36,540-square-foot center.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under Health care, Leases, Real estate, West side | Comments Off

Two Wichita State University grads plan to bring Quad Cities-style pizza to Wichita

July 18, 20115:11 a.m.

UPDATED — Chicago has its deep dish pizza, but farther west in Illinois along the Iowa border the Quad Cities are known for a particular style of pizza, too.

Wichitans Robert McMullin and Kevin Groom want to bring it here.

McMullin, a Rock Island, Ill., native, says they’re tentatively calling their venture Rock Island Pizza Co., or RIPCO for short.

They’re hoping to lease space at 535 W. Douglas in Delano, though it won’t be ready until January or February.

“I know those are awful months to open,” McMullin says.

The 3,100-square-foot space requires extensive finishing, though.

Occidental Management’s Stephanie Wiens is working on the deal at the Occidental property.

McMullin and Groom are recent marketing graduates from Wichita State University.

The Air Force brought McMullin here in 2003.

“One of the first things I noticed (is) they didn’t have any pizza like we do back home,” he says.

Then, he says, he realized “that style of pizza is specific to the Quad Cities only.”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , Filed under Delano, New business, Real estate, Restaurants, Wichita State University | Comments Off

All Paws Pet Center owner to open third store, this time in Derby’s Spring Creek

July 13, 20115:45 a.m.

UPDATED — Less than five years after opening his first All Paws Pet Center, Paul Baumann is opening his third.

The new store will be in Occidental Management’s Spring Creek shopping center at Madison and Rock Road in Derby.

“There was definitely a need for our store,” Baumann says.

The 4,800-square-foot store will be slightly smaller than his west-side store, which is in 5,200 square feet at 13th and Maize, and slightly larger than his 4,500-square-foot east-side store in the Tallgrass Shopping Center at 21st and Rock Road.

The Derby store will be in the former Nifty Fifty space.

Occidental’s Stephanie Wiens handled the deal.

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Papa Murphy’s coming to Auburn Pointe

May 18, 20117:06 a.m.

WICHITA — There’s a Papa Murphy’s coming to Auburn Pointe, Occidental Management’s almost 40,000-square-foot development at 135th West and Maple.

This leaves only three spaces left at the 4-year-old center.

Occidental chairman and CEO Gary Oborny handled the deal, and Troy Farha of Grubb & Ellis/Martens Commercial Group represented the Papa Murphy’s corporation.

Oborny says the new restaurant, which has what it calls “take ‘n’ bake” pizzas, will feature the chain’s new sign design.

“They have a really cool new sign design.”

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Auburn Pointe, Leases, Real estate, West side | Comments Off