At long last, Andy’s Frozen Custard franchisee Brian Cates is going to open an east-side Andy’s.
“That was really kind of our strategy from the start,” Cates says of opening east before west.
Instead, he opened an Andy’s at NewMarket Square at 21st and Maize Road in March 2017. An east-side property he planned didn’t work out.
“We just weren’t able to close on it.”
On Tuesday, he did close on another east-side site in front of the Opti-Life fitness center near the northeast corner of 21st and Webb Road.
The land had been available when Cates was looking for space in 2017, but there wasn’t much there then. Cates says a lot has changed since then.
“It’s really built out nicely, and we love it.”
Doug Malone owns the property, and his ICT Capital is building the Andy’s.
For east-siders who haven’t made the trip west to try Andy’s, Cates says the Missouri-based chain is all about fresh, seasonal flavors of dessert custard.
The Andy’s drive-through generally accounts for 65 percent of its business. It doesn’t offer indoor seating, but it does have benches and radiating heat near a walk-up window.
Andy’s also offers Italian ice for people who can’t have dairy.
Cates says he’s most proud that his first Andy’s still has more than a third of its original staff, which he says means a lot since so many workers are students who have to quit to go back to school.
He expects the new Andy’s to be open in April.
Christi Royse of J.P. Weigand & Sons and Jerry Jones of Jones Commercial Development handled the deal.
Business at the west-side Andy’s “has been fantastic,” Cates says.
He’d like to open a third Wichita-area Andy’s, but first he has to get the east-side one done.
“In the back of my truck right now is an ‘Andy’s coming soon’ sign.”
