A new ownership group, which prefers not to be named, has signed two new tenants to the center and will be making upgrades to the property as well. That includes additional landscaping, new paint and lights and a replacement for part of the roof. More changes will be coming in the next year.
For now, the focus is on new tenants, says Zach Zerbe of Landmark Commercial Real Estate. He handled a deal for a new business called Advanced Satellites, and he and colleague Ken Saville handled a deal for a new business called the Shop.
The Shop is opening soon in 1,670 square feet at the former Chic Street Boutique space.
“We are a very different atmosphere,” says co-owner Christy Jones.
She says she has not seen anything like the Shop in Wichita.
There will be a coffee shop, bakery and art gallery along with handmade jewelry, refurbished furniture and knickknacks.
Jones and her wife, Randi Jones, and Randi Jones’ sister, Tanis Mason, are opening the Shop.
“It’s our lifelong dream to own our own business (and) to do something that we love to do,” Christy Jones says.
Randi Jones is an artist.
“She’ll paint on anything,” Christy Jones says.
“Ninety-five percent of everything in our shop has been handmade or redone or something,” she says.
There will be paint and craft classes in a loft as well as a children’s art area.
Randi Jones, an El Dorado native, and Christy Jones recently moved to Kansas from Florida.
Randi Jones says there was more of a hurdle for artists to show their work in Florida. She says artists often have to pay to show their work in a business. She wants to make it easier by having a drawing to regularly choose area artists who can show their work for free at the Shop.
The store is ready to open except for missing a license to operate a restaurant, although Christy Jones says all she’s serving is a variety of coffee, a few other drinks and some pastries.
“Nothing major,” she says. “It’s on a small scale.”
She says the city says the business needs a grease trap.
“I have a convection oven and a coffee pot. Do I need a grease trap?”
She says she hopes to resolve the issue and open by the end of the month.
There is seating for 10 in the coffee shop.
“The location is superb,” Christy Jones says of Central and Rock.
That’s even though she’ll have competition from Starbucks next door.
She says they are two different kinds of businesses, though.
“I don’t want to steal their business.”
Also at the center, Advanced Satellites is settling into its new space, and owner Todd Bordenhopes to have a grand opening next month.
The business is a local retailer for Dish Network and DirectTV. It also does internet satellite with HughesNet and Exede.
The store offers home security and automation services as well.
Borden also owns Advanced Satellites stores in Salina and Hays.
“We’ve been looking at Wichita for a very long time,” he says. “There’s nobody that does what we do to the level we do it.”
Borden says the shop is good for people who want to see potential services in person or get in-store help instead of over the phone.
“I want to talk to somebody face-to-face,” is something he says he hears.
“We do have the nicest showroom in the Midwest,” Borden says. “We have everything on display.”
The almost 2,000-square-foot store is in the former Metro Real Estate Group space.
Borden says he hopes to open a store on the west side and what he calls a Dish Latino store as well. He says he expects both stores to be open within a year.
Borden says Jennifer Acker is managing the Wichita store.
“She’s real big on preaching local.”
Look for more news on Mill Creek Village as the ownership adds more tenants and makes other changes.