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The Olive Tree Bistro , its banquet room and Chelsea's Bar and Grill are being evicted from Comotara Center at 29th and Rock Road.
"We filed an eviction petition... a week ago," says Jeff Kennedy of Martin Pringle . "They're not paying their rent."
Kennedy represents the landlords, who are mostly California investors.
He says Latour Management , which owns the restaurants, is more than $60,000 behind in rent.
"In January, that's when we started having problems with them paying their rent on a timely basis," he says.
Latour president Joumana Toubia says there are problems with the condition of the building. In a prepared statement to Have You Heard? , Toubia said her operations "have unfortunately become threatened due to irreconcilable issues with the property owners."
Kennedy says some of the property condition issues Latour has raised are nonissues, such as moisture problems that occurred during roof repairs. He says those have been corrected.
As for some of the other issues, Kennedy says, "The management company was perfectly willing to resolve them, but they would not pay their rent."
"Anytime you get into a situation like this, somebody is going to look for excuses why they're not paying their rent."
The restaurants are open for now.
"That's something that we're talking about," Kennedy says.
It's not clear when they will close or where they may reopen.
In a recent letter to customers, Toubia and her sister, Randa Toubia , said with "deep regret and great sadness" they had decided to move.
"We have great interest in relocating to the heart of the city but are not ready to announce our new location just yet," the letter said. "However, we can say, we are absolutely committed to honoring the reservations on our books by helping to move events to mutually agreed upon venues and to provide the catering."
Strait to Intrust
Country fans have a lot to like about Intrust Bank Arena so far.
Brad Paisley is the arena's inaugural act Jan. 9. News of Taylor Swift's April 1 show came shortly after that. And then Tim McGraw announced he'll play there June 11.
Now, country legends George Strait and Reba McEntire will play the arena together Feb. 19.
"The 'King of Country' is back!" heralds a news release from the tour promoter, and "this time, he's bringing along one very special lady."
Strait is a 17-time CMA Entertainer of the Year .
McEntire is a four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year .
There's no date for ticket sales yet. We'll let you know as soon as one is set.
Yoder moves in quick
Only one week ago, Yoder Meats owner Alan Waggoner called YB Meats owner Eric Kauffman to see if he might be interested in selling his store.
Kauffman was, and now the longtime store at 798 N. West St. will operate as Yoder Meats . It officially opens today (though there may have been a sale or two in the past day or so), and the deal will close in January.
"He was motivated to be done, and I was motivated to take over," says Waggoner, who owns a meat plant and retail shop in Yoder with his wife, Carol .
If a one-week turnaround seems like a crazy kind of time frame, Waggoner agrees.
"Yeah, way crazy."
Kauffman didn't return a call for comment.
Yoder Meats has been a supplier to YB Meats.
"We were interested in coming to Wichita," Waggoner says.
He'd even looked at a couple of sites but was happy to take over YB Meats instead.
"It just made sense for us to own it," Waggoner says. "It's a good fit for us."
He says he'll sell the same locally raised beef that he previously supplied. He's also looking at some grass-fed options.
YB Meats previously had a second store at Normandie Center at Central and Woodlawn. It closed in September after two years in business. Waggoner says he isn't interested in a second store at this time. He's content with what he has.
"We're excited to be to Wichita. . . . YB just has a tremendous history in Wichita, a lot of longevity. It's something that needs to stay in Wichita."
Freddy's trip to KC
The owners of Freddy's Frozen Custard are making their first foray into the Kansas City area.
President Bill Simon says there will be a company-owned Freddy's in Overland Park near 135th and Metcalf by spring.
It will be the first of about eight stores the company plans to bring to the greater Kansas City area.
"We've been wanting to get... to the Kansas City area for a long time," Simon says.
The 3,500-square-foot, free-standing Overland Park Freddy's will be similar to the one in Wichita in front of the Warren Theatre at 13th and Greenwich.
On Thursday, the new Freddy's in Derby will open in a strip center in front of Target at Derby Marketplace at 71st South and Rock Road.
This Freddy's, which is the sixth company store, will be 2,500 square feet and have a drive-through.
And the 30th Freddy's franchise store will open in Hays on Monday, which brings the total number of Freddy's stores to 36.
You don't say
"We don't control who tours when but we're working on providing as many options as we can so we have something for everybody. Keep watching!"
—Intrust Bank Arena general manager Chris Presson's e-mailed response to criticism that the arena is booking a lot of country acts that appeal to a limited audience
