Wichita building being demoed was home during WWII to business that helped ‘feed our boys’
During World War II, patriotic women went to work there, picking turkeys, wrapping butter, and breaking and candling eggs.
In the mid-1960s through mid-1970s, it served as the home base for a future wine magnate’s family business.
After that, it was where many Wichitans’ work uniforms were made and embroidered.
The massive, four-story warehouse near the northwest corner of Waterman and Washington has never been one of downtown’s sexiest buildings — nor much to look at. But since it went up in 1914, it has served as a bit of a guidepost for those finding their way downtown or, in more recent years, heading to Intrust Bank Arena.
But now, the building is coming down. Construction fencing has been set up all around its perimeter, and over the last several days, crews have been slowly removing bits of its exterior. As of Monday, the third floor was completely see-through.
The site of the old warehouse will become home to a luxury apartment development that developer Paul Jackson of Vantage Point Properties first announced last year. Clearing the corner is the first step toward starting construction on the project, dubbed Vantage 906.
Although the 38,000-square-foot warehouse may not be an architectural wonder, it’s had an interesting series of occupants during its 111 years.
The Wichita Beacon first reported in November 1913 that Charles Phillips of the Arctic Ice & Refrigeration Co. was putting up the $50,000 fire-proof building to serve as a poultry and egg packing plant. It was to have three stories and be completed by the following April. Its first tenant would be Swift & Company produce dealers, which had previously operated at 135-137 S. Rock Island. A fourth floor was eventually added.
Swift & Co. frequently took out ads looking for employees. Among the earliest, published in 1916, was seeking “women to dress poultry.” In 1924, it needed “men to come pick turkeys.” Then, from 1945 through 1948, it was looking for women for egg breaking, creamery room testing, egg candling and butter wrapping.
As an “essential industry” during World War II, Swift & Co, was searching for employees and its help-wanted ads during the war asked for people to “help produce food for our boys in the armed forces.” One advertisement suggested that patriotic women should apply for open jobs.
By 1959, though, Swift & Co. was using the building only for storage and decided to sell it. Valued at $80,000, the building was purchased by Elenore Rudd, wife of Sam Rudd. The couple used the building as a warehouse and offices for its Standard Mercantile Co., which Sam had started in 1949, not long after Kansas ended prohibition. The company eventually became Standard Beverage, which is still today among the leading liquor distributors in the state.
Rudd served as the chairman of the board for the company until his death in 1986. His son. Leslie Rudd, got into the family business in 1968 and became president in 1978. Leslie, who died in 2018, also eventually became the majority owner of upscale grocery chain Dean & DeLuca and started his own winery, restaurant and grocery store in Napa Valley.
By 1974, though, Standard was building a 35,000-square-foot new headquarters at 29th North and Hydraulic, and the downtown warehouse needed a new tenant. It became home to Industrial Uniform Co., which manufactured, embroidered and distributed work uniforms — and was known to sell its overstock items to the public.
Industrial Uniform Co. got new buyers in 2008, and they wanted to relocate it. In 2009, the Eagle ran a photo of crews removing a 12-head embroidery machine with a crane from an upper floor of the warehouse. The business, by then called Industrial Uniform and Logo Depot, was moving to 902 E. Indianapolis
Jackson’s company, which also owns The Avante at 37th and Ridge, bought the vacant warehouse in 2020. It couldn’t work out a parking deal with the city last year, though, so the apartment development will be a bit smaller than the 370 units originally planned.
This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 5:03 AM.
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