College Hill neighbors planning petition, protest against custard shop on Douglas
When College Hill resident Aimee McCaffree learned late last week that Andy’s Frozen Custard was planning to open a store in the neighborhood, she was “heartbroken,” she said.
A franchise restaurant just does not belong in the eclectic neighborhood full of locally owned eateries and shops, she said, and especially not so close to so many other dessert shops.
So McCaffree, who describes herself as “not an activist,” decided to try to do something about it, she said. And even though she knows there’s almost no chance it’ll change anything, on Monday she and her husband, Stephen Holt, launched a Facebook page, petition drive and door-to-door campaign aimed at getting the Andy’s franchisee to reconsider.
The couple is also hoping to lead an in-person protest, possibly as soon as this weekend.
“It will change the whole feeling of that area,” said McCaffree, a residential real estate agent who lives on Broadview Street in College Hill. “Not only that, but it will hurt the little guy.”
But Brian Cates, the Wichita franchisee who’s planning to open the new Andy’s on the site of a one time Taco Tico restaurant at 425 E. Douglas, said that he’s a little confused by the outrage.
Not only did he work to get a more neighborhood friendly design approved for the neighborhood, but he also feels like his business — a walk-up frozen custard stand that encourages pedestrian business — is a perfect fit for the neighborhood. He plans to open his new custard shop in May.
“I’m sure that some people would love to have a voice,” said Cates, who also owns Andy’s franchises at 21st and Maize and at 21st and Webb. “But if they can come up with a better concept to locate in College Hill, I’d love to hear what it is. We are about as neighborhood friendly as it gets.”
‘Corporate cones’
McCaffree said she knew something was going on with the building at 3425 E. Douglas when she read in the Wichita Eagle that its most recent tenant, Dempsey’s Biscuit Co., had lost its lease. In December, Dempsey’s owner Steve Gaudreau said that the building got a new landlord who had “alternate plans for the building.” He moved the Dempsey’s concept over to his Crutch BBQ restaurant at 550 N. Rock Road, where he’s now serving the menus for both restaurants.
Then, on Friday McCaffree said, she saw the front part of the building being demolished and read on Dining with Denise about Cates’ plans for the new Andy’s shop. McCaffree didn’t like the idea and said so in a comment on Facebook. Immediately, she said, she heard from many College Hill neighbors who agreed with her.
With the help of Holt, a local house flipper, she came up with an action plan, she said. She launched the “College Hill loves LOCAL” Facebook page on Monday morning and announced plans to go door-to-door with a petition starting Monday evening. She invited others to put on masks and join her.
“I want the citizens of College Hill to have a voice, to have a say, to stand up for our locally owned businesses and say, ‘We support YOU. We love YOU. We love our community and we don’t want your corporate cones!!!’” she wrote on the page.
Holt said that he knows the Andy’s isn’t violating any laws or ordinances by building in the neighborhood. He and McCaffree have been to Wichita’s other Andy’s in town and say they have nothing against Cates. But they think he’s piggy backing off of the work of other locally owned businesses that have managed to build traffic to the area. And they also worry about nearby dessert shops like Frost, The No Bake Cafe and Papa’s General Store, who don’t have deep corporate pockets to help them survive.
Holt, who said he hasn’t spoken to Cates, wonders why he couldn’t open his shop at a more chain-friendly nearby intersection like Central and Hillside.
On Friday, Cates told The Eagle that he’d long wanted to open an Andy’s in a neighborhood and that College Hill had always been his first choice. But he said he was aware that the flashing neon lights and digital signs on his east and west stores wouldn’t fit into the College Hill neighborhood vibe. He got special permission directly from chain president Andy Kuntz to design a store that would blend into College Hill, with more muted lights, a mural and a large patio that will run right up to the sidewalk.
He also has opted not to install a digital sign, he said, even though there’s no ordinance against it.
His shop is part of a franchise, he said, but he’s the owner, and he’s local.
“I would think it would be a fantastic thing for College Hill,” he said. “Who doesn’t want a place where families can gather in their community, in a neighborhood setting? I just can’t see a negative. There’s two sides to every coin, but what‘s the negative?”
Some people who commented on the post about the arrival of Andy’s stood up for the business, saying they loved Andy’s custard and appreciated Cates for keeping the neighborhood in mind while designing the shop.
One said that neighbors should be applauding the franchisee’s willingness to adapt rather than condemning the shop for its ownership.
“Who cares if it’s corporate or otherwise?” he wrote. “If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, then it’s not.”
Derek Sorrels, who owns coffee and dessert shop Papa’s General Store in nearby Clifton Square, said that he appreciated neighbors wanting to stand up for his business. He purposely chose to open his business in a neighborhood, where kids would stop in after school and where families would come in for a scoop of ice cream on a hot summer day.
“This honestly is why I love College Hill,” he said. “The people are real. They love their little area of town and want to maintain that small town-feel. This is exactly why I wanted to have a business that was part of a community.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 2:56 PM.
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