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Shopping in Wichita |
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Two regional malls anchor Wichita’s shopping, Towne
East and Towne West. They are both shopping hubs for
their respective sides of the city, offering a
comfortable blend of national chain stores and specialty
shops. Towne West Square’s major tenants are Dillard’s,
J.C. Penney and Sears. The mall features more than 110
stores including Structure, Bath & Body Works, Eddie
Bauer, Express and Victoria’s Secret. Towne East, the
larger of the two malls, has more than 140 stores and
contains major merchants such as Dillard’s, J.C. Penney,
Sears and Stein Mart. It also includes many specialty
stores like Brookstone, Gap, Northern Reflections,
Disney and Sam Goody. Van Maur, an upscale fashion
store, is currently revamping a 120,000 square-foot
section of Towne East that will open in 2002. The store
will feature beautiful interiors with antique furniture
and a pianist seated at a grand piano playing background
music while you shop.
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Another cluster of shops has, quite
literally, appeared out of the ground in the
former red brick district around the railroad
yards on the eastern edge of downtown. Old Town
Underground offers their delightful and unusual
wares in what once was the underground storage
vaults of one of the old warehouse buildings.
Old Town, the entertainment center of Wichita,
has also become a retail center. Backwoods
Equipment Company, a Wichita-based outdoor
clothing and gear chain with stores in nine
cities, stands next to First Gear, a running
specialty store, also homegrown. |
New, multi-use buildings are opening right and
left, combining retail and office space under loft and
condo residences. The Farm & Art Market operates every
day from a renovated warehouse a half-block south of
First Street along Mosley Street. The market has
blossomed into a year-round exposition of fresh farm
produce as well as a must-see collection of artifacts,
gift items, and absolute necessities. Even farther west
along Douglas Avenue east of Seneca Street is another
developed pocket of retail activity. A series of smaller
stores and shops joined together with older and very
diverse businesses in the neighborhood to form the
Delano District. It’s home to its share of the antiques,
crafts and gifts shops which draw browsers and buyers of
every kind to the downtown area. Delano also contains
The Eclipse Teen Center, the one and only establishment
of its kind in city. It is a fun and exciting teenage
hangout that offers the atmosphere of a club without the
presence of alcohol.
Wichita retail continues to boom along Rock Road
from Derby and McConnell Air Force Base on the south,
past Towne East at Kellogg, to the chic centers of
shopping that reach to Willowbend Golf Course at the
city’s northern extremity. In between is the most
intense, upscale and varied gathering of consumer goods
in the city. National specialty shops are clustering all
along Rock Road and the surrounding area. The area is
home to retailers such as Harold’s, Eddie Bauer, Barnes
& Noble, Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Williams-Sonoma,
Borders Books, Kohls, Zany-Brainy, Restoration Hardware
and other coast-to-coast paradigms of the retail art.
Retail business is spreading perpendicular to Rock
Road as well. The Shops at Tallgrass is a case in point,
where Norwalk Furniture (custom-order living room
pieces), A Shade Better (specialized lighting), and
other upscale stores are opening along 21st Street east
of Rock. Farther east, at the intersection of Webb Road
and K-96 Highway, a $30-million retail, entertainment
and lodging center is taking shape. To be called
Fountain Square, the center is recruiting retailers
requiring from 5,000 to 150,000 square feet. Anticipated
tenants include hotels, restaurants, a convenience
store, a bank or other financial institution, a grocery
store, a home improvement complex and a garden store.
Far west and northwest Wichita is also enjoying
prolific residential growth and retail businesses are
following the surge. Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse,
Circuit City and Kohl’s are all established retailers
who have a home on the west side of Wichita.
Groundbreaking for ever-new retail centers continues in
west Wichita, too. Consider New Market Square, a mixture
of major retailers such as Wal-Mart Super Center, Old
Navy, Borders Books, Casual Corner Annex, Eddie Bauer
Outlet, Bath & Body Works, Shoe Carnival, Bed Bath &
Beyond, Beauty First and Dress Barn. One of the city’s
newer developments, other shops are still to come in
this open air center. Panera Bread and Red Hot & Blue at
New Market Square are welcomed dining additions and join
an ever-growing list of new and trendy restaurants for
the far western neighborhoods.
While Wichita has plenty of newly constructed
shopping centers it also has vintage buildings converted
into contemporary boutiques, which creates a unique
shopping experience. Found in Wichita’s historic College
Hill District, Clifton Square is a collection of shops
in a 19th century village. The transformation of the
square includes brick walkways, a shaded patio, old lamp
posts, leaded glass windows, and numerous pieces of
outdoor sculpture, leaving a unique blend of old and
new. In the square’s shops you will find men’s and
women’s apparel, souvenirs, gifts, pet boutique
products, books, a hair salon and fine dining
establishments.
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A serious Wichita area shopper would surely
drop several times before finishing a look over
all the retail centers in the city. From
favorite neighborhood centers built in the early
days of the shopping center concept to the
newest collections of shops in the city’s
fastest growing areas, Wichita has something for
every taste and pocketbook. Altogether, Wichita
is a solid, practical and varied retail
environment where a Saturday afternoon can take
care of every family’s shopping needs and
desires. |
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Nearly 50 new retail establishments opened in
Wichita in 2000 and 54 more had opened by early December
2001. The area’s economy has created a diversified
assortment of retail outlets, and projections for the
coming years point to continued growth. For more
information about shopping in the Wichita area
click here |
