WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Another chicken chain closes shop in Lawrence, plus rumors of a new taco chain coming to town

Every time I’ve tried to figure out whether the chicken or the egg came first, I’ve never gotten past the research stage of a plate of scrambled eggs and a basket of chicken fingers. Now, it appears my research is going to be even more difficult. One of Lawrence’s relatively new chain chicken restaurants has closed. Zaxby’s hung a sign on the door of its lone Lawrence location at 4661 Bauer Farm Drive ...

Speculation grows that Payless Shoesource will open corporate office in west Lawrence with about 100 new jobs

Lawrence is set to feel the pain from one beleaguered retailer: Kmart, which is closing its Lawrence distribution center. But the city might get an employment boost from another long-struggling retailer that seems poised to make a major job announcement in Lawrence. The company may surprise you: Payless Shoesource. Two sources have confirmed to me that Payless has reached a deal to relocate virtually all of ...

East Hills Business Park manufacturer files for bankruptcy, plans to eliminate almost 100 Lawrence jobs

Just two years after an expansion project, a Lawrence manufacturing plant is set to close, costing nearly 100 people their jobs. API Americas announced in a federally required filing that it intends to close its manufacturing plant in the East Hills Business park within the next 60 days. The plant produces foils, films, holographic finishes and other such products that are used to create fancy packaging ...

Kmart to close Lawrence distribution center; more than 100 local jobs to be lost

Updated at 4:30 p.m. Thursday Kmart soon will close its large distribution center in Lawrence, eliminating more than 100 local jobs in the process, the Journal-World has learned. A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the beleaguered retailer has filed a WARN notice — a federal filing required when companies undertake mass layoffs — stating that the Kmart Distribution Center at 2400 ...

New coffee shop opens in North Lawrence; local CEO buys properties along N. Second Street

I’ve certainly known school administrators who like to have conversations. (Why were you late to school today? Who pulled that fire alarm? How did Ms. Beatty’s car end up on the roof?) But there is a former school administrator who loves even pleasant conversations, and she has opened a new coffee shop as a result. Former school administrator Kelli Huslig has opened Uplift Coffee Shop at 624 N. Second St., ...

Lawrence home prices continued to rise in 2019; number of local sales declined

Buying a home in Lawrence didn’t become any easier or cheaper in 2019, as the latest report shows home prices now have increased 26% since the middle of the decade. The number of homes sold in Lawrence last year dropped by about 2% compared to 2018 levels, while the median selling prices of homes increased by more than 4%, according to the year-end report from the Lawrence Board of Realtors. The slowdown ...