Downtown Market Needs Your Help!!
WICHITA DOWNTOWN MARKET NEEDS YOUR HELP!!
The Wichita Downtown Grocery Urgently Needs Your Help!
Phil & Michelle Hermanson, have spent countless hours in the Downtown Wichita area, both for business and pleasure. It didn’t take them long to envision just what may have been missing, from the busy streets of Downtown, a grocery store.
That is one thing that anyone who knows the Hermanson’s will tell you, if you show them a challenge, even one with the slimmest of odds, they will take the impossible and make it reality. Tell them they Can’t, and They will show you that They Can!!
So, when Phil and Michelle were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, to fill this void, they welcomed the chance to make their own mark on the Heart of Wichita. They both felt that the stars were lined up just right, and they signed the lease on a portion of The Century Plaza Building at Douglas & Main. They both had a vision of a bustling and exciting Downtown Wichita. They spent months of preparation, market research, and personally reaching out to the people who both work and live in the area, to find out just what the community was needing, and integrated it into their business plan, which includes:
-The Wichita Market Downtown: A full line grocery store, including call ahead, email, and online ordering as well as Delivery service.
-Michelle’s Coffee Bar & Specialty Food: Full line up of coffee and espresso drinks, both hot and cold, and pastries. As well as a full Breakfast & Lunch Menu.
-ICT Venue & Catering: A beautiful event venue/ballroom that will seat up to 300 guests, with their own in-house catering company, all under the Wichita Market Flag.
The Hermanson’s are not just wanting to open a grocery store, it will be a Shopping Attraction. The Coffee Bar, will be complete with a comfortable environment, that will appeal to even the most technologically geared individual; free, secure, high speed Wi-Fi, charging stations, big screen TV’s and a state of the art sound system. It will also house live entertainment, with a constantly updating YouTube channel that you can tune into from home, so you won’t miss any of our excitement.
As you can see, there isn’t much that they have failed to include.
After vetting the plan with the Wichita Downtown Development Co, and the City Council Members, Planners, Architects, Accountants and Attorneys, they got the Green Light to proceed.
“Business is very hard, but we did a ton of preparation for 6 months, crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s.” Said Phil Hermanson, who has owned and operated a number of successful businesses.
So, the Hermanson’s started their journey by jumping in head first, not afraid to get in there, Get Dirty and Get It Done, remodeling, painting, cleaning and organizing the home of their future store.
Right out of the gates, they were initially funded by a group in KC, that Phil is working with on another venture. They looked over the business plan and quickly agreed to fund the project. After many lengthy discussions, they were advised that it would be best to raise the money for the Wichita Downtown Project, locally. Phil and Michelle followed the advice, and declined the funding from the KC group, and started the task of seeking out local investors, or financing. Much to their disappointment, this turned out to be a bad mistake. After several meetings with numerous business owners, professionals, and officials they had yet to raise the funding for the project.
In the situation where things were beginning to get tough, and more and more roadblocks were beginning to surface, rather than get discouraged, and start to lose sight of their dream, the Hermanson’s continued to pull from their own personal retirement accounts in order to keep things moving in the forward direction. It didn’t take long before approximately $150,000 of their own money had been invested.
During this time Phil had secured a deal with Heartland Credit Union, during the first week of May. The loan amount was over $100,000; just exactly what they needed to get over the hump and get the doors open for business. For 3 long months that Phil and Michelle went back and forth with the loan officer, with more and more requirements, they completed each one upon receiving them. Heartland had also changed many key positions including the CFO on Commercial Loans, causing the Grand Opening Date be pushed back. All along Heartland kept a promising façade and quoting a tentative close date for Mid-June.
Long story short, after fulfilling every requirement included in the loan package, it was presented to the underwriter 3 times. The Hermanson’s were left with 1 requirement left to fulfill, Heartland was going to need an Equipment Appraisal. In which the Hermanson’s took it upon themselves to seek out and pay out of their own pocket for a complete equipment appraisal for Heartland.
On August 2nd at 4:45pm, Heartland called to inform us that they basically no longer wanted to do the loan. As you can imagine, Phil and Michelle were devastated. After 3 months of jumping through every hoop they were thrown, and being reassured of a successful close on the loan. Time and time again they were falsely assured. The Hermanson’s were so convinced by Heartland, that when they counting every last penny to pay for the equipment appraisal, they went as far as to take Michelle’s Wedding Ring to a Pawn Shop, in order to secure the funds to finish paying for the appraisal, as well as operating revenue. As crazy as it may sound, this is just how dedicated they are, and this is most certainly something that the community needs to see. How much they have already given, and continue to give in order to make this dream a reality.
The Hermanson’s have dedicated themselves to this project, even so far as they moved out of their beautiful home on the West Side of Wichita, and into a small economic 2-bedroom apartment on the floor above the project site. In order to oversee the project from start to finish, sun up to sun down.
This is the time that Phil and Michelle are asking for your help, so they can, in turn help out the Downtown Wichita Community. They would be extremely grateful for any help they can receive. They need funds NOW, or it’s all over. You will not find 2 more humble, and appreciative people, whose dedication and loyalty is limitless. You’re even welcome to come and see for yourself, reach out, get in touch and go see the progress, and meet the Hermanson’s. Please do not let their selfless investment, blood, sweat and tears be wasted. Let’s all come together, as a community and make the Wichita Downtown Market a reality.
Feel free to contact Phil Hermanson with any questions or concerns at:
[email redacted]
or call him at:
316-516-2324
