At long last – and we mean long, long, long, depending on your shopping perspective – there’s confirmation that Designer Shoe Warehouse is coming to Wichita this year.
It’s going to open at Greenwich Place, the 106-acre development at K-96 and Greenwich.
Christina Cheng, a spokeswoman for the Ohio-based chain, confirmed via e-mail that DSW is going to open in 18,000 square feet “later this year.”
Greenwich Place is already home to the Wichita Sports Forum, Bed Bath & Beyond, World Market and BuyBuy Baby.
As Have You Heard? reported on Tuesday, Ross Dress For Less also now has a sign at the development saying that it’s “coming soon.” It looks like neither of Wichita’s two existing Ross stores will be affected, meaning the Greenwich Place Ross will be the third for the market.
There’s also going to be a third Wichita Ulta Beauty that will open at Greenwich Place.
That’s not all. Joining those stores will be HomeGoods, a home decor sister store to T.J. Maxx and Marshalls; Cavender’s, a Texas-based western wear store; and Mardel, a Christian book and gift store, though none of those stores is confirming the news yet.
In 2013, Have You Heard? first reported DSW was coming to the market. Employees at a couple of the chain’s more than 400 stores began telling Wichitans who shopped there that DSW had plans to open at NewMarket Square.
An employee even checked one of the store’s electronic tablets and found the NewMarket store on the list.
“Yep, March of … 2016,” she said.
That’s not going to happen this month – or anytime soon – though there’s still hope it could eventually.
In her e-mail confirming the east-side DSW, Cheng wrote that she doesn’t have any NewMarket Square updates.
For those who haven’t shopped at a DSW, Cheng wrote that the store “typically offers a breathtaking assortment of national brands for footwear, and fashion accessories.”
Wichita financial adviser and shoe aficionado Margaret Dechant is one of the shoppers who, while shopping at the Overland Park DSW, was told that a store would be opening here. She’s now “super excited” to hear it will be this year and only “two miles away from me.”
“I might have to apply for another credit card,” she says.
As Dechant put in a follow-up e-mail:
“The mother ship is finally landing nearby!!”
Carrie Rengers: 316-268-6340, @CarrieRengers