Longtime Wichita business to be auctioned, and it’s harder than it looks

The first of a couple of auctions at the former Barney’s Discount Drug store near Central and Zoo Boulevard will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

It’s new territory for Scott Riffel and his family, who have had the business for four decades.

Ask him how he’s doing these days, and Riffel might stutter a reply.

“I’m OK . . . I think.”

Riffel said he hesitates to compare it to a death, but “it’s very draining to go through.”

He and his family decided to close the store because the pharmacy within it was closing.

The Riffels owned that business with George Saghbene. Changes in the way prescriptions are reimbursed forced the closure, and without the pharmacy, Riffel said Barney’s could not survive.

A lot of over-the-counter medications will be part of the first auction as will various medical, home health and personal supplies along with a variety of other items, such as greeting cards and light bulbs.

“Mostly for this first one, it’s leftover merchandise,” Riffel said. “Just a little bit of everything we were unable to sell in the liquidation sale.”

There also will be items such as open and closed signs, “things that we found that we still had after 40 years of hoarding things in the warehouse.”

Bud Palmer Auction is handling the auction and will sell a lot of the items in lots instead of individually.

“They’ve been impressive,” Riffel said. “I mean, Bud knows what he’s doing.”

A second auction, at 9 a.m. on June 25, will be to sell fixtures in the store.

Riffel said he’s already learned a lot from Palmer that he wishes he’d learned earlier in business. Not that he recommends anyone go through this.

After reading about so many businesses closing or being forced to close through the years and having their merchandise auctioned, Riffel said, “I see it through a different light now.”

He said he feels a lot more compassion for those businesses these days.

“When I read these in the future, I will think and pray for them more than cruising through the article.”

Among the mixture of feelings he’s experiencing, Riffel said gratitude — for his employees and customers, whom he’s already missing — is a big one.

“I’m really grateful that Wichita gave us such a nice run.”

This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM.