WICHITA — There’s a new strip center under construction in front of the Academy Sports on North Maize Road, and its first tenant is a familiar one.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is going to open in 2,200 square feet when the almost 7,000-square-foot center is completed just north of Panda Express.
Newton residents Shawn and Madeline Stobbe are opening the first Wichita-area Dickey’s in their hometown on Thursday.
Topeka resident Ryan Wenrich, who also is a Quiznos franchisee, is opening the west Wichita Dickey’s.
Wenrich says it’s “kind of a blossoming area. It makes sense. There’s a lot of rooftops around there.”
With 60 seats, this Dickey’s will be about half the size of the one in Newton. Wenrich has Dickey’s restaurants in Topeka and Lee’s Summit and one that’s opening soon in Liberty, Mo., and he says smaller sizes work well for him.
“I think it’s more efficient that way,” Wenrich says. “We have one of the highest-volume stores in the system in Topeka.”
The west Wichita Dickey’s will be one of more than 400 in the Dallas-based chain.
Don Piros of Landmark Commercial Real Estate handled the deal.
Wenrich expects to open sometime around fall. He has the rights to do other Dickey’s restaurants in Wichita, and he says he plans more.
“But you know, one at a time,” he says. “We’re not growing just for the sake of putting them up. I want to make sure we do this one right.”
