Even though construction of the KCU Mall is finished, a bit of work remains, for both Kiowa County United head Scott Brown and the nine tenants in the process of getting their respective businesses set up in the new building.
For Brown it’s a matter of $100,000, the approximate amount KCU still needs to fully fund the $1.4 million project. For the entrepreneurs moving in it’s about painting, moving in furniture and equipment and the various other niceties of setting up a business concern.
“I’m making phone calls to narrow that gap,” Brown told The Signal last Thursday. “We’re trying our best to have a debt-free property.” Regardless of how much of the remaining funding gap is raised in the next couple of weeks, Brown said the rent for each of the nine businesses committed to occupying the mall will stay right where it is, at 30 cents a square foot, considerably less than the 45 to 50 cent rate talked about during the inception of KCU. At 1,500 square foot per space, that works out to $450 per month rent rather than the $600 first talked about.
Three of the businesses committed to the mall have already begun modifying their space to suit their needs, including Starla’s Stitch ‘N Frame, Fleener’s Furniture and Flooring (which is actually renting two adjacent spaces for 3,000 square feet for a showroom) and Main Street Flowers, which owner Cindy McMurry plans to open for business this Monday, February 8.
Starting from the south end of the mall, next to Where’d Ya Find That Antiques, going north will be Starla’s Stitch ‘N Frame (moving back to Greensburg from her temporary quarters in Mullinville); The Last Tangle beauty salon (also moving back from Mullinville); LaTerra Naturals (moving across the street from the Incubator); Fleener’s; Real Deals (new business dealing in fabrics, assorted gifts); Main Street Flowers (moving from temporary quarters at the back of the Farm Bureau building); Studio 54 (also moving from the Incubator) and Green Bean Coffee Company (a third moving across the street from the Incubator).
Noting all the spaces are being taken by retail businesses, with none being used as professional offices, Brown said, “It’s not that we wouldn’t have given a space to a lawyer or accountant, but our goal was to have retail businesses as tenants and we accomplished that.”
While he’s hopeful to raise all of the remaining $100,000 by the time of the February 18 first annual meeting of KCU, Brown said even if only half that amount is in hand by then, it’s a step in the right direction. “Paying interest on $50,000 is a lot better than paying it on $100,00,” he said.
Acknowledging each main street project has its role to play in Greensburg’s rebound, Brown didn’t hesitate to point out the nine businesses in the KCU Mall will deliver economic benefits to the city and county. “These businesses will employ 15 to 20 people, full and part time,” he said. “Plus this will raise revenue from sales tax. The new theatre isn’t going to do that, of course, but it has an important role as well. It will provide entertainment, provide our new school with a great place for plays and other events and serve as a place for conferences and civic activities with the meeting rooms they plan to have upstairs.
“We can’t do that in the mall. I hope they do well raising the rest of what they need, and I think they will as school time rolls around and people realize the need for that place even more.”
