WICHTIA — Braum’s is having an active month in Wichita.
The ice cream and grocery chain is closing one store, readying two other sites for future Braum’s stores and has purchased property for a store at least a year or two down the road.
First, the Braum’s on Central near West Street is closing after business Sunday.
“The store’s been there for quite a while,” says marketing director Terry Holden. “Twenty years roughly.”
He said the new Braum’s just west of 21st and Amidon is attracting some of the Central customers.
“Customers gravitate to the newer, better,” Holden says.
The chain hopes to eventually open a new store somewhere near the one that’s closing.
“That is certainly the plan,” Holden says. “We don’t have a prime spot picked out.”
As Have You Heard? previously reported, Braum’s also plans to open two new stores this year.
The first is on Seneca near First Street just north of QuikTrip. When it opens, the Braum’s on Douglas just around the corner from there will close.
A new Braum’s near Harry and Rock will follow.
And eventually, a Braum’s will locate just north of the Residence Inn by Marriott at Plazzio at 13th and Greenwich.
Braum’s closed on the purchase of land there last week.
Leisa Lowry, a broker with J.P. Weigand & Sons, handled the deal.
The Braum’s at Plazzio won’t be built immediately.
“They felt like it’s a spot where we eventually want to be,” says Gordon Pulis, director of real estate for Braum’s.
Scott Redler, co-owner of Freddy’s Frozen Custard, which is also at Plazzio, doesn’t mind Braum’s one day opening there. He doesn’t see it as competition.
“They’re more like a store. They’re more like a QuikTrip operation,” Redler says. “We’re OK with that.”
