Article: Wichita Eagle | https://kansas.com | by: Josh Witt
Utopia Modern Salon Suites is about to get bigger — and it may not be long before the brand is seen beyond Wichita.
Owner Kristin Kienzle, who has opened two east Wichita locations since launching her business in 2022, is targeting a September opening for a west-side Utopia.
The location will be in suites 116 and 117 at 8641 W. 13th St. within Occidental Management’s Tyler Pointe Shopping Center.
Kienzle said demand for suites continued after she leased up her first two Utopias, and that she started getting questions about the possibility of a west location.
Then Tim Kerr of ReeceNichols South Central Kansas put the Tyler Pointe space on her radar.
“It was situated perfectly for what we wanted,” said Kienzle, noting the site doesn’t need demo work. “I just kind of realized these opportunities are presenting themselves — with the demand and then the space that was pretty much perfect — so we went for it.”
The west Utopia will be around 2,900 square feet and have 14 suites — two more than Kienzle’s locations at 11124 E. 28th St. North, near 29th and Greenwich, and 10111 E. 21st St. in The Offices at Cranbrook.
“I’ve found that people really want more space, so we’re going to make them as large as possible,” Kienzle said.
Kienzle said she will open pre-leasing for the west location May 1.
In the salon suite model, stylists pay rent to the owner but are able to run their business within their own private space while also in a community of fellow professionals.
Kienzle said the west Utopia will have the same overall upscale look. It’ll have a coffee bar and she’ll also hold events there.
As they have with her first two locations, Tim and Ryan Kerr of ReeceNichols worked with Kienzle on the lease. Occidental’s Charlie King repped the landlord.
Team Architecture and Rock Construction are the architect and general contractor.
Months away from opening, Kienzle said she’s already been warmly welcomed.
“They like nice things, they have money to spend and they get really excited when businesses invest in their side of town,” she said.
Kienzle is now also making moves beyond the city.
She recently completed the process of becoming a franchise business, in partnership with Franchise Marketing Systems, as she aims to expand across the country.
Kienzle noted last year that franchising was a goal.
“We are officially on the market, ready to sell franchises,” she said. “We haven’t sold any yet. We’ve just really begun the marketing and are in the very early stages of it. But it’s pretty exciting.”
According to Utopia Modern Salon Suites’ franchising website, the minimum estimated cost to open a Utopia location is $346,042, with a $40,000 franchise fee.
“I think that there is a lot of room for us in the market — in the Midwest and all the way north and south of where we’re at,” Kienzle said. “The whole salon suite concept franchise market is pretty young, and so there’s not a lot of competition there yet. We’re hoping to get in and saturate before everybody else decides they should do this.”
Sola Salons is an example of an existing salon suites franchise with a presence in Wichita and across the country.
Utopia Modern Salon Suites’ current locations and the west-side spot will continue to be company-owned, Kienzle said. She hopes to have two franchise locations open by the end of 2024, with three to five additional franchise salon suites operating in 2025.
Kienzle praised local business coach Lee Gray of ActionCoach, who she hired over a year ago.
“She not only gives me direction, but she gives me confidence and kind of shows me the path for growth,” Kienzle said. “I’m a hairstylist and not a business person. So I’ve had to learn to become a business person, and I can’t credit her enough.”