Deal in the works for KC firm to buy homegrown, Lawrence manufacturer; Ulta Beauty open on south Iowa

In one way, Lawrence is kind of a hot spot in the extreme sports world of off-road racing, and I’m not even talking about the white-knuckle trek my wife’s Ford Taurus takes when there is a sale on South Iowa Street. No, Lawrence is home to HiPer Technologies, a homegrown manufacturing firm that has become a leader in making high-performance racing wheels for the ATV market. Well, there’s big news on the horizon for HiPer, and also questions about whether its future will remain in Lawrence.

HiPer is close to finalizing a deal to be purchased by Kansas City-based Weld Wheels, which is generally regarded as the top manufacturer of racing wheels in America. News of the deal started to circulated around town, and Andy Harris, chief executive of Lawrence’s HiPer, confirmed to me that the shareholders of HiPer have approved the sale. Now, HiPer and Weld are working on finalizing the remaining details.

One detail that is unclear is whether HiPer will continue to operate its Lawrence manufacturing facility near 31st and Haskell, or whether the company’s production will move to Weld’s large facility in Kansas City.

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As word started to make its way through certain circles of town, people were telling me that HiPer indeed would be moving to Kansas City. Harris, though, said that detail is still being worked out.

“Is there a possibility for that to happen? Of course,” Harris said. “But that decision hasn’t been made yet.”

Harris said a timeline for finalizing the sale to Weld hasn’t yet been determined.

HiPer has 11 employees at its Lawrence facility, which is at 2920 Haskell Ave. If that address sounds familiar to you, then you need to spend less time memorizing the phone book. But indeed, it is the same address as the Peaslee Tech vocational training center. HiPer and Peaslee Tech share space in the same building, which previously was occupied by Honeywell Avionics years ago. HiPer is a tenant of the building, and its lease payments go to help support the operations of Peaslee Tech. No word yet on how a move may impact that situation. UPDATE: I chatted with Hugh Carter of the Lawrence chamber of commerce, and he said the chamber has been aware of the pending sale. He said both parties have been in discussions about how Peaslee Tech will be made financially whole as part of any move by the HiPer, if it comes to that. Carter said if the HiPer space becomes vacant, he thinks there are some good possibilities to lease it to businesses that want to be near the new Peaslee Tech and the school district’s College & Career Center that has developed on the site.

I’m not exactly sure what the fortunes of HiPer have been in recent years, but it at one point was a technology company that generated a lot of excitement in Lawrence. Lawrence native Tom Darnell Jr. was a founder of the company because he worked on developing this new carbon fiber product with DuPont in the early 2000s. I thought carbon fiber was just a new flavor for my Shredded Wheat, but I soon learned it actually is a material that is more resistant to impact than aluminum but also lighter than aluminum. The unique profile of being both lightweight and strong has caught the attention of racers and other high performance wheel users.

Come see us at the Tucker Rocky Dealer Show!! We have the New Fusion wheel there for you to check out.

Posted by HiPer Wheels on Friday, July 25, 2014

“The majority of top (ATV) drivers use our wheels,” Harris said.

I think the company also has been looking for other products that can be made using the carbon fiber material, and some of the intellectual property is probably part of the proposed deal with Weld.

But thus far, HiPer has mainly been able to focus only on the ATV and utility terrain vehicle market. Weld, on the other hand, is in a wide range of wheel markets.

“We are definitely trying to expand our product line, and Weld is a good strategic partner to do that,” Harris said.

I’ll keep you updated on how the deal progresses.

In other news and notes from around town:

• Some people are excited about Menards opening — its first official day is today — while others are excited about Ulta Beauty opening on south Iowa Street. (And I suppose there are many excited about both because I know a little rouge can be the perfect complement to a tool belt.) Well, Ulta has opened its new Lawrence location at 27th and Iowa streets. The store opened over the weekend, and is going through its soft opening currently.

Its grand opening is scheduled for this weekend. I’ve had difficulty catching up with Ulta officials to get the details, but keep an eye out at the location. The store, in case you have forgotten, is next to Dick’s Sporting Goods at the southwest corner of 27th and Iowa streets.

Ulta lists itself as the largest beauty retailer in the country, and offers salon services in addition to cosmetics, fragrance, skin and hair care products.

UPDATE: The store will host grand opening festivities on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. each day. The store will provide a free gift valued at $5 to $100 for the first 100 people on each day of the grand opening. The store also will be giving away to select winners free hair and skin services at the store’s full-service salon.

With Ulta open, three of the four major pieces of that retail development are now up and running. (Chick-fil-A is the third piece.) Now we’re waiting on an opening date for Boot Barn, which sells boots, jeans and other items. It is opening next door to Dick’s Sporting Goods as well. I’ll let you know if I hear an opening date for that business.