Despite pandemic, Bling owners open a new store and sign a deal for another

Mere days before the coronavirus pandemic changed almost everything in Wichita, particularly for businesses, Bling owners Mark Campos and Nicole Hedges-Campos announced plans for their 12th store.

Instead of canceling or postponing those plans, the new Bling opened last week at 2100 N. Rock Road in Derby, next to Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers.

Now, the husband and wife have signed a deal for their 13th store, this time in Lincoln, Neb., at the Gateway Mall. It will open in October.

“I just have an attitude of whatever’s going on around us, we always just quietly move forward, and that’s what we’ve been doing,” Hedges-Campos said.

She said the pandemic has forced her chain to be innovative, particularly online. Hedges-Campos said that hasn’t been a strong suit for her business previously.

“We definitely got to learn a lot about online.”

She said she’s now hired someone in that position full time.

The chain had closed its stores for two and a half months after the coronavirus hit.

Hedges-Campos said that almost worked to her advantage because of “the pent-up demand and just, like, having somewhere to go that felt normal and happy and enjoyable.”

Now, she’s preparing to have her first Wichita-area warehouse sale, a tradition she used to have in western Kansas, where she started the business.

The sales were so popular in the past, Hedges-Campos said, people would drive from Colorado to attend them.

The Bling warehouse is at 536 N. Andover Road, and the sale will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Hedges-Campos said the sale features a lot of the chain’s best-selling items that have only one or two remaining sizes.

There was a preview of the sale, and she said, “People were like, ‘I can not believe this.’ ”

This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 1:20 PM.