Yoder Meats to take east YB spot

Less than six months after opening in the former YB Meats space in west Wichita, Yoder Meats is making plans to open a second store.

The new one also will be in former YB space, this time on the east side at Normandie Center at Central and Woodlawn.

"It was all set up, so it was a good deal for us," says Alan Waggoner , who owns the business with his wife, Carol .

The two purchased the four-decade-old Yoder Meats in Yoder two years ago.

They didn't intend on expanding into Wichita with retail sites, but Alan Waggoner says he noticed sales slipping at YB Meats — including Yoder products — and told the owner he'd be interested in buying the business if he ever wanted to sell.

They had a deal within a week. That was November. The sale closed in January.

Quickly, the Waggoners saw the need for an east-side store.

"We just had so many patrons from the east side that were coming to the west side," Alan Waggoner says. "We're so far away, they'd come once a week ... or once every other week instead of a couple of times a week."

In the fresh food business, he says, customers "tend to come every couple of days to do their shopping instead of once a week."

Waggoner says he wants to make it more convenient for those customers and increase his market share.

"It's good for our plant there in Yoder," he says. "You create demand."

YB Meats, which had been in Wichita for more than two decades, closed its Normandie space last fall after two years in business there.

Waggoner expects he'll have more success there.

"We are super-excited to be next to the Seafood Shop . They have a great clientele. It makes a good fit for us."

His west-side sales already have jumped about 20 percent over last year.

Waggoner thinks that's in part because customers recognize the Yoder Meats name and also because he's offering a home-grown product with no additives.

"Obviously, we're very old-fashioned, very old school in our manufacturing process," he says. "You end up with a very high-quality product."

Sales could dip a bit at the west Wichita store when the east one opens, but Waggoner says he won't be concerned.

"When you look at the whole, which is the most important, you'll see that everything is progressing well."

He's already thinking of adding another Wichita store farther west and possibly one in Hutchinson.

The east store opens April 28. It will be open seven days a week.

By Memorial Day weekend, the west store will be open seven days a week as well, with the addition of Sunday sales from noon to 5 p.m.

"We found that there seems to be a demand," Waggoner says of being open Sundays.

Customer demand is what business is all about, he says. Waggoner says it's customers who are giving him the confidence to expand.

"If you have what they're looking for, then obviously they support you."

Nice mention, but ...

Wichita got a great mention on Monday's "Today "show on NBC , but not as great as it could have been.

In a real estate segment, the show named the top five most affordable cities in America.

There were lots of descriptions and pictures of Spokane, Wash.; Durham, N.C.; and Great Falls, Mont. —cities No. 5, 4 and 3.

The show ran out of time, though, so only fleetingly stated that Pocatello, Idaho, is No. 2 and Wichita is No. 1.

The criteria wasn't solely money. The cities all have good jobs and schools and amenities that make for a good lifestyle, the show said.

So what would have been said about Wichita had there been time?

A "Today" spokesman says there were several bullet points about the city that could have been used:

* Its reputation as the Air Capital of the World , with a look at the aircraft industry past and present.

* Numerous art and history museums and theaters — the "cultural center for Kansas."

* The "renown" Tallgrass Film Festival .

* Downtown Wichita, which is dotted with galleries and is home to the Wichita River Festival .

Of course, Wichita's housing also would have gotten a mention.

The example? You can get a two-bedroom, one-bath house with bay windows and a screened porch for $119,000.

You don't say

"Our line-up rivals anyone in the country and this proves that point."

—Intrust Bank Arena general manager Chris Presson's e-mailed response about Billboard naming the Elton John -Billy Joel concert the No. 1 grossing concert in North America (with $1,706,428 in sales) for the week ending March 16

This story was originally published March 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Yoder Meats to take east YB spot."