Mattress Hub to open fifth Wichita store

April 16, 20125:00 a.m.

WICHITA — Mattress Hub is continuing its rapid expansion, this time at home.

The Wichita-based company, which Ryan Baty and Mark Barrientos founded in 2008, is going to break ground on its fifth Wichita site this week.

It will be near the southwest corner of 21st and Maize Road, just west of where the new Chick-fil-A is locating.

“We think it’s one of the best real estate positions in the city, and we’re excited to be there,” Baty says.

“Being able to do this at home, being able to go out and still grow in our hometown, that’s what makes this really exciting for us.”

He and Barrientos each live on the west side.

The new store, which will sell Tempur-Pedic, Serta and Simmons mattresses, will have a 6,000-square-foot showroom. It will be similar to the Mattress Hub near Kellogg and Dugan.

“That’s probably it for Wichita,” Baty says.

That’s hardly it for the chain’s expansion elsewhere, though.

There are 21 Mattress Hub stores in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Baty says he and Barrientos are working on five more in the Kansas City area.

Baty says its their Wichita relationships that have enabled their expansion.

“We’ve got some great relationships,” he says.

For instance, he credits David Harris and RelianzBank for a “practically seamless” deal for the latest space.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Filed under New business, Real estate, Retail, 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

Sleep Number mattress store to join Vitamin Shoppe at 21st and Rock Road retail center

Nov. 21, 20115:40 a.m.

WICHITA — Laham Development has got your number.

The company is bringing a Sleep Number mattress store to the retail center where it has already announced a Vitamin Shoppe will open on the northeast corner of 21st and Rock Road.

Sleep Number is relocating its store from Towne East Square.

“Our plan was to improve the aesthetics and the activity at the intersection,” says Cathy Erickson, vice president of Laham Development, which is the developer of Bradley Fair on the southeast corner of the intersection.

“We obviously have quite a large interest in that intersection and want to make it better.”

The center is 6,200 square feet. Vitamin Shoppe will take about 3,000 square feet, and Sleep Number will take the rest. Shelden Architecture is the architect and Key Construction is the contractor.

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

GracePoint Church buys former Cinemas West; has plans for an east-side church

June 4, 20094:05 p.m.

WICHITA — The former Cinemas West space at Westlink Shopping Center at Central and Tyler is going to be the new home — and first permanent one — of GracePoint Church.

“To find a place that will fit 700 people plus, there’s not a lot of of options here,” says lead pastor Bryson Butts.

Initially, Butts says the church looked into building its own building.

“When the economy went south . . . we came to the realization then that that’s probably not going to happen,” Butts says.

Shelden Architecture will remodel the former theater at 9035 W. Central, which has been empty for several years.

Renovation costs will be about $1.5 million, which includes expanding the building for a total of 15,000 square feet.

The church’s auditorium will seat more than 500, and there will be an area that holds 160 children.

Butts started GracePoint with about 20 people five years ago. The church now averages weekly attendance of more than 700 people at two Sunday services.

Services have been held at a variety of places through the years, including Northwest High School most recently.

The new space should be ready by next spring.

At that point, Butts says the church will take the portable equipment it’s using now and start a second location on the east side.

Building a new building is still in future plans.

“Absolutely,” Butts says. But he says the church won’t sell the former theater space at that point. “Having this facility is a long-term strategy.”

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