When will Best Buy open? The best bet is next year

Oct. 15, 20095:21 p.m.

WICHITA — The question keeps coming:

When will the Best Buy at NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize open?

There’s no answer yet.

“They’ve accepted possession of the building, and they’re in full compliance with their lease,” says Jerry Jones of Slawson Cos., the NewMarket developer.

But he’s not certain when the store will open.

“When I’ve asked them, they’ve said . . . ‘We haven’t decided yet.’ ”

At this point, the opening isn’t likely for this year. Though there’s still a slight chance the store could be open in time for Christmas shopping, early next year is a better bet.

Jones says there’s no question about whether the store will open.

“We haven’t received any indication that they wouldn’t open,” he says.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , Filed under NewMarket Square, Retail | Comments (7)

Nelson Designs to open at Shops at Tallgrass

Aug. 28, 20092:27 p.m.

WICHITA — Sharon Nelson’s new next-door neighbor will be an old friend, but that’s not what’s prompting her to move to the Shops at Tallgrass.

Nelson owns Nelson Designs, which will move next to where World Import Gallery is locating at the center at 21st and Rock.

Philip Holmes is renaming his Gallery the Rug Studio and moving in September.

Nelson is moving into 1,400 square feet in early October — she just signed a lease Thursday.

“Which is just so ironic because neither one of us knew,” Nelson says of herself and Holmes. “Isn’t that amazing?”

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , , , Filed under Retail, Shops at Tallgrass | Comments (0)

Scottrade to open second Wichita branch at NewMarket Square

Aug. 26, 20092:34 p.m.

WICHITA — After 15 years in business in Wichita, Scottrade is opening its second location here.

“The business has been growing,” says Ernie Landwehr, branch manager.

Scottrade is a national discount stock brokerage firm.

The first location is in 1,500 square feet in Tallgrass Centre at 21st and Rock.

The new branch will be in 1,400 square feet next to Pei Wei at NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize.

April Reed with Slawson Cos., which owns NewMarket, handled the deal.

The new branch should be open by sometime in December.

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Financial, Leases, NewMarket Square, Real estate | Comments (0)

World Import Gallery to move to the Shops at Tallgrass and be renamed the Rug Studio

Aug. 14, 20093:58 p.m.

WICHITA — World Import Gallery is heading east to the Shops at Tallgrass at 21st and Rock.

When the rug store opens in early September, it will have a new name — the Rug Studio — a new look and new merchandise.

“The Shops at Tallgrass was kind of an ah-ha thing,” owner Philip Holmes says of reinventing the store there.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Retail, Shops at Tallgrass | Comments (3)

University of Phoenix to open west campus at NewMarket

May 20, 20097:27 a.m.

april1The University of Phoenix is opening a west-side campus at NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize.

“From a student’s standpoint, they’re going to be ecstatic about coming out to NewMarket Square,” says April Reed of Slawson Cos., which owns the center.

Reed says she can envision students stopping off at NewMarket’s numerous restaurants before or after class or stopping in various stores to run errands while there.

In the past, the University of Phoenix has been in office settings, Reed says. It has an east Wichita campus at the Feist building at 3020 N. Cypress Dr. It’s now moving into retail areas like NewMarket.

“We just thought it would be a great opportunity and a great location,” says Philip Orlando, the university’s director of academic affairs in Wichita.

He says the new location will be more convenient for some current students and will be a draw for new students as well.

“We’d like to think that we’re going to see a new influx,” Orlando says.

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By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , , , , , , Filed under Leases, NewMarket Square | Comments (8)

You don’t say

April 7, 20096:01 p.m.

“I’ve been saying I think I may give birth before this lease is signed.”
— April Reed of Slawson Cos., who is close to a real estate deal she’s been working on for a year but still thinks her baby will arrive in June before the deal is done

By Carrie Rengers | Tags: , Filed under You don't say | Comments Off