2 February 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – With the West Ridge Mall now under new ownership, multiple tenants have opened for business this week.
The owners of Advisors Excel, one of the areas largest employers, bought the mall last September.
“We want to make this a community hub again,” AIM Strategies CEO Seth Wagoner said. “This was everything when I was a kid here living in Topeka. We wanted to just stop the bleed and really bring it back to life.”
Wagoner said one of their main goals is to repopulate the space with shops relevant to the entire community.
“Malls are really connected with Gen Z right now,” Wagoner said. “They want that experience of coming out, touching, seeing, actual shopping. We want to connect with that younger generation out here. And of course, we’ve got people like me that are trying to relive their glory years out here.”
Absolute West Tattoo celebrated the grand opening of its second location today. Owner Jacob Schell says the unique opportunity to run their business out of the mall gives them lots to look forward to.
“I’m really excited, I just like the natural lighting in here,” Schell said. “How can you not be happy coming to work when you have these beautiful skylights above you? This is a much newer, cleaner, just a big beautiful giant castle of a mall.”
A major staple of any mall is the food court. Boxer BBQ also had its grand opening on Thursday which followed some other new additions to the food court. To see all of the tenants currently at the mall, click here.
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