Palace Cards & Gifts closing; restaurant to take its place

It is time to buy a farewell card for Palace Cards & Gifts.

The longtime downtown card and gift shop at Eighth and Massachusetts streets is set to close by the end of May to make way for the national chain restaurant Noodles & Company.

It also may be time for hundreds of downtown employees to start planning a little better. The Palace was the last true card shop in downtown, and owner Greg Guenther said it certainly served a purpose for downtown employees who waited until the last minute to buy that needed greeting card.

“On Valentine’s Day, we had a lot of last-minute purchases happen here,” Guenther said. “There are only a few smart people who plan ahead.”

As previously reported, a deal with Noodles & Company has been in the works for months, but Guenther said the deal just became official this week. The company already has won necessary approval from City Hall to operate a restaurant and sidewalk dining area at the site.

The company — which offers noodle dishes ranging from Asian fare to macaroni and cheese — hasn’t yet announced a date for the store to open. Guenther said he’ll turn the building over to the company in early June.

Guenther currently is running a sale to clear out the store’s remaining inventory, but he’s also seeking a buyer to purchase his operations, which would allow a business to sell a full line of greeting cards elsewhere in downtown.

“I think a greeting card component is needed somewhere downtown,” Guenther said. “And I absolutely think a card place could make a go of it.”

Guenther said he’s not continuing on because he’s reached retirement age, and has lost some energy for the business.

In other development news:

l The Lawrence nightclub scene has had a couple of recent changes. Coyote’s, a country music dance club at 23rd and Haskell, has been replaced by 23rd Street Roadhouse. Manager Bryan Lewis said the club still focuses on country dance music.

Lewis said the newly formed company of Entertainment Solutions & Innovations Inc. took over for Dennis Steffes, who previously operated Coyote’s. Steffes was well known in the Lawrence bar scene for having operated The Last Call, a downtown nightclub that he eventually closed after several instances of violence surrounding the club. Steffes also was the Lawrence bar owner who unsuccessfully lodged a challenge at the Kansas Supreme Court of the city’s smoking ban.

The former Molly McGee’s location at 2412 Iowa also has been converted into a dance club. The space is now home to Wilde’s Chateau 24.

l Plans are in the works for a new two-story building at the southeast corner of Seventh and Connecticut streets. Property owner Lance Burr has filed for a site plan for a new building to house contractor shops on the ground floor and two to three apartments on the second floor. The property is presently a vacant lot.