Chase Koch plans to add a full-service grocery store in downtown Wichita
Wichita civic leaders and community members have been clamoring for a downtown grocery store for years, and Chase Koch — heir to the Wichita-based Koch dynasty — is planning to make it a reality.
Movement Musick, a Wichita-based nonprofit founded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch’s son, announced Wednesday that it plans to add a 30,000-square-foot “urban market concept” to its music-themed redevelopment district in the city’s core. It’s expected to be within a two-block radius of the Shirkmere Apartment building at Second and Topeka.
Koch’s nonprofit is partnering with the Queen family of Kansas City, founders of the Price Chopper grocery store chain that’s popular in Kansas City and Des Moines, to develop the grocery store.
“The downtown Wichita store will be a new urban-focused grocery concept and brand that will feature fresh produce, meats, and traditional grocery store essentials in addition to prepared foods and other staples tailored to meet the needs of the downtown shopper,” the news release, which includes no timeline for completion, said.
The Koch nonprofit acknowledges that the downtown grocery store is unlikely to be profitable — at least initially.
“The current downtown population is simply too small for a grocer to be profitable in the area,” Raffaele Fazio, a Koch lawyer who heads up development for Movement Musick, said in the release. “However, the lack of food accessibility is also a deterrent for people who might consider moving downtown.”
Movement Musick is betting that its downtown hub for creatives — which includes a 3,000-seat music venue, a 1-acre community gathering space and housing at the former Shirkmere Apartment building — will act as a “catalyst for growth.”
“We believe this store will meaningfully improve daily life for downtown residents by providing convenient access to quality fresh and nutritious foods, acting as a catalyst for growth, and attracting more residents and businesses downtown,” Fazio said.