WICHITA — The latest round of musical chairs — business style — is almost over at Bradley Fair.
“The first piece of the puzzle was moving Howard’s Optique, which we did at the end of last year,” says Cathy Erickson, vice president at Laham Development.
Howard’s moved from its freestanding space to new space between Sephora and Jason’s Deli.
Now, Randy Cooper’s Fine Jewelry is moving into the freestanding building that Howard’s left. Amy’s Hallmark shop already is there.
Cooper’s impending move has been one of the worst-kept recent retail secrets, but now that it’s happening, she’s eager to talk.
“I am so thankful that George Laham has given me this opportunity,” she says of the center’s developer.
“I probably wouldn’t have stepped out on my own and done it,” Cooper says. “It just makes it so much more convenient for our customers to visit.”
Her new space will be 4,000 square feet, which is about 20 percent more than what she has now.
“So we can grow and be a better store and offer new lines and offer more of some lines that we have,” Cooper says.
College Hill Cleaners also is moving. It’s taking 1,300 square feet where Origins used to be and will have a new after-hours box for customers to drop off items needing cleaning.
The cleaners and Randy Cooper are both some of the original tenants from when Bradley Fair opened in 1990.
Erickson says their moves free up about 5,000 square feet between Talbots and Bella Luna Cafe. She’s been hinting about a national retailer that wants to locate at Bradley Fair and says that’s where the new store will go.
“We do have tenants that wait on the sidelines … sometimes for several years until the space of the right size comes along,” she says. “We’ve kind of done this a number of times to accommodate these new retailers that want to be here.”
Erickson says she’ll have news on the new national tenant later this month.
“We’re putting the finishing touches on the plans for the new store.”