Ranch Mart almost ready for grand re-opening |
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| Written by Loren Stanton | |||
| Tuesday, 09 June 2009 23:00 | |||
 The mess and inconvenience finally is about to go away at the Ranch Mart South Shopping Center.An extensive renovation at the 191,000-square-foot center could be done by the end of the month, according to Otto Westerfeld, Ranch Mart's director of real estate. The façade of the 50-year-old center, at the southeast corner of 95th Street and Mission Road, Overland Park, has undergone a complete facelift and will emerge with some new tenants. The completion will be welcomed by both merchants and customers, who have had to deal with disruptions and complications since construction work got under way early last fall. "It was not easy for the merchants," Westerfeld said. "This and the economy took a toll on them. But we have good tenants, and they are resilient and they'll make it. "It wasn't easy for customers either. They trudged through mud and a lot of mess. We have some great customers, and I want to thank them. I'm proud of them for putting up with it." Dawn Glowczewski, general manager of Leawood Theatre, said she is quite pleased with how the project is turning out, but she also confirmed that complications related to the construction work have posed challenges. "We're real pleased with it. It's going to really be an asset to the whole strip mall and hopefully to us, too, once it's done," Glowczewski said. "The customers have complained a lot. There was nowhere for them to park sometimes, there were nails in tires. Things like that." Glowczewski is unsure how much business was lost because of the construction, but she is confident that movie-goers will rise in number with the end of the work. It will be particularly helpful when convenient parking again is available. One thing she does not like is a change in signage necessitated by city regulations. The theater's street sign will be smaller than the old one. "We're not thrilled with that. It's constantly a fight just to let people know where we're at," she said. Westerfeld is pleased that the makeover provides a modern appearance while retaining the old place's personality. "What I'm most proud of is that while we put a new face on Ranch Mart it still has the feel of what the center always has been. It still has the same comforts as before and it fits the neighborhood," he said. Efforts still are under way to land some new tenants for the center. Two new pad sites do not have signed occupants, but Westerfeld said discussions are under way. CVS moves to a large new building at the center, but the drug store's former space still needs to be filled. Two tenants, each occupying 10,000 square feet, eventually will fill the former CVS area, and Westerfeld said he is in talks with a bath and kitchen retailer for one of the vacancies. A garden center that is part of the Ace Hardware store is set for operation at the southwest corner of the center. Though a date has not been set, Westerfeld said a celebration will be held not only for the grand re-opening of the center, but also in honor of its 50th anniversary. The future could bring change to the other half of Ranch Mart, which is located just north across 95th Street. "We have discussed it for the last few years and have some ideas, but nothing is going to happen until we finish this first," Westerfeld said. One change is happening in the north area that Westerfeld did not want. The Postal Service has announced it probably will close the branch office that has been located there almost 60 years. A letter sent to patrons by the Postal Service indicated that it had been asked to relocate by the landlord. Westerfeld acknowledged that he had discussed the possibility of the branch moving to an alternative site within the center because a restaurant company had expressed an interest in the post office location. But he said there was no intent to run off the service. "I never in 25 years have been in the business of kicking tenants out, especially in this economy," Westerfeld said. "I told the post office they are welcome to stay." Contact Loren Stanton at 385-6068, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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