Wichita is a hub of activity for discounters

Discount Store News, Dec 14, 1987

Wichita Is a Hub of Activity for Discounters

Mention Wichita, and most often farmland will come to mind. Other than Kansans, not many people in the nation may be aware that:

The city of Wichita in Sedgwick County is one of the few urban counties in the state.

Wichita is the largest county in the state.

It generates the most retail sales in Kansas.

And, discounters account for one of the fastest-growing segments of retail sales here.

It is described by Wichitans and Kansans alike as a hub of retail and cultural activity.

And, all three of the nation's biggest discounters are represented here: K mart, which opened its first Wichita store in 1967, now has four units; Target, which landed here in 1980, has two stores; and newcomer Wal-Mart, which opened its first store in August and has two more stores on the drawing board that could be open by next fall.

Sedgwick County's 1987 population was projected at 400,000 by CACI, a market research firm based in Fairfax, Va. Following Sedgwick, Johnson County is the second-largest urban county with 317,000 in population. However, that county is not solely confined to the borders of Kansas because it includes Kansas City, Mo.

Sedgwick County's gross retail sales for general merchandisers is the largest in the state, growing 11 percent to $662.9 million during the September 1986 to August 1987 period, up from $596.9 million for the year-ago period, according to Kansas Department of Revenue figures.

More than one-third of the total sales of general merchandisers is generated by department and discount stores. It is one of the fastest-growing segments, with sales rising 17 percent to $249.8 million from $213.1 million in 1986.

Wichita is distant from other major communities and serves as the regional center for shopping and retail activity, said Bud Grant, executive director of the Kansas Retail Council and vice president of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Topeka.

"People are willing to drive many miles to shop," said Carlene Hill of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at the Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. "In rural communities, people don't think much about driving 100 miles in order to go shopping."

Wal-Mart is taking advantage of Wichita's growth in retail activity. Since its entrance in August, the chain has announced plans to have three stores in Wichita by 1989. Wal-Mart's presence is not totally new here, since the discounter has had stores in the outlying suburbs of Derby and Augusta.

Wal-Mart opened its first store in Wichita at the Pawnee Plaza Mall in August, taking over a former 103, 161-square-foot Woolco at one of the busiest intersections (Pawnee & Broadway) in Wichita, averaging 32,926 travelers per day.

In June, Wal-Mart said it would construct an 89,899-square-foot freestanding store adjacent to its Sam's Wholesale Club on West Kellogg to open next fall.

In October, Wal-Mart bought 12 acres of farmland in northeast Wichita on 21st and Rock Road to build a third Wal-Mart in this market. Construction will begin in the fall of 1988. The discount giant also operates two dot discount drug stores in Wichita.

However, while Wichita is the hot retail spot in Kansas, on a national basis, the city is ranked just under the top 100 metro markets in both general merchandise store sales and total retail sales.

"Four stores is enough right now in the Wichita market, said Wayne Keller, regional manager of K mart's Midwest region. "It is not a boom town compared to the rest of the nation," Keller said. "It is a stable economy and growing."

History in the Market

K mart was one of the first discounters in the market, opening its first store in March 1967 on the east side of Wichita and followed a month later with a second store on the west side of the market. Two additional stores were opened in 1976 and 1977, one on each side of the city, K mart also operates a Builders Square home center next to the Sam's Wholesale Club on West Kellogg.

Wichita's economy is heavily dependent on aircraft manufacturing. Recent hiring by such manufacturers as Cessna, Boeing and Beech bode well for retail sales in 1988.

"I can't see anything but positives, with farm products and oil starting to come back and strong airplane manufacturing in Wichita," Keller said. Wichita differs from most markets in Kansas due to its mix of farm, oil and aircraft manufacturing industries, whereas others are solely based either on agriculture or oil, he said.

Target arrived in Wichita in 1980 and now has two stores across from Towne East Mall and Towne West Mall, two major shopping centers. Other discount competition includes Abilene, Kan.-based Duckwall-ALCO, which has six stores in the Wichita market.

K mart considers Target its No. 1 competitor in the Wichita market, Keller said.

According to a new study conducted by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, Chicago, for DSN, Target customers bring home a mean income of about $32,000, which closely matches the average income of $31,270 in Sedgwick County, according to CACI.