At 25, Bradley Fair touts its distinctive stores, activities

George Laham has always preferred the term “lifestyle center” to “shopping center” when talking about Bradley Fair.

With his development turning 25 this summer, Laham’s preference seems more apt than ever.

These days, visitors flock to the site on North Rock Road for concerts and art shows as well as clothing, salon treatments and dinner. They shop for food in two specialty markets and an outdoor farmers market when not eating in its restaurants. Generations have grown up there, from feeding the ducks to rolling their own children around the lake in strollers.

“There are about 140 lifestyle centers like Bradley Fair in the country,” Laham said. “Wichita is one of the smallest to have a lifestyle center, and for it to have a lifestyle center really says a lot about Wichita.”

Bradley Fair will mark its birthday with a celebration in July, the details of which are still being worked on. Laham said he’ll probably be more interested in reminiscing at that point.

In the meantime, he pointed out, the center is not standing pat, although it’s been built out with rare vacancies for several years.

One change coming involves the Eddie Bauer location, which has been selected by that retailer to roll out one of its new store models. After about 20 years in its current location, the store will relocate between J. Jill and White House Black Market.

“They now sell footwear; that’s something new for them,” said Jessica Dunbar, marketing coordinator for Laham Development. “They’re just trying to give (the stores) a new look.”

She said the current location will remain open until the new one is ready for business. Bradley Fair hopes to announce soon a new tenant for the 7,000-square-foot space being vacated by Eddie Bauer.

“We typically have – we’re fortunate to have – a nice group of tenants who always want to be at Bradley Fair,” Laham said. “It’s always a matter of matching up who wants to be out there – and their square footage size – with what space we have available.”

Laham wouldn’t speculate about the identity of Bradley Fair’s next tenant but said his goal is to be the first to bring new concepts to the city – something he’s accomplished with retailers such as Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Sephora and Williams-Sonoma and restaurants such as Redrock Canyon Grill.

“We try to do that by listening to our customers,” he said. “As our customers travel and see concepts in other markets, they’re really great about letting us know.”

Bradley Fair’s guest services office, located between Williams-Sonoma and Cocoa Dolce, is being expanded and given a new look, a job expected to be finished this summer. The office is temporarily located between J. Jill and Soma Intimates.

One feature of the new guest services office will be a larger lobby for the sale of gift cards good at all of Bradley Fair’s tenants. Although many shoppers have probably never ventured inside the office, Dunbar said it’s actually pretty busy.

“We do about a half-million (dollars) in gift cards a year,” she said. “It’s a nice option for people to give to others. They can eat at a restaurant or have a spa service or go shopping. It gives them a lot of options.”

Bradley Fair had 13 tenants in about 28,000 square feet of space when it opened – on land that had been a horse farm – in 1990. Today it boasts 52 stores and restaurants in 280,000 square feet.

Local tenants such as Cocoa Dolce, Bella Luna and GreenAcres Market are an important part of the mix. Laham defines a lifestyle center as something that boasts distinctive architectural features and incorporates the open air, water features and activities beyond shopping.

This will be the 15th year for the free Bradley Fair summer jazz concert series and Opera on the Lake.

Six years ago, Bradley Fair began hosting Autumn and Art each September, featuring artists from across the United States.

Carriage rides during the Christmas season are another draw.

Laham said some of his favorite moments at Bradley Fair occur on quiet weekend mornings with his son Marco, who is 2.

“He loves the fountain, and he loves going down the lake and looking out over the water and running around on the plaza,” Laham said. “My family thoroughly enjoys Bradley Fair.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 9:19 AM with the headline "At 25, Bradley Fair touts its distinctive stores, activities."