Get a sneak peek at a new national clothing chain for Wichita

Wichita’s new Duluth Trading Co. is having a soft opening on Thursday and a grand opening March 21 with, as the Wisconsin company puts it in a release, “a ribbon-cutting ceremony and on-site lumberjack demonstrations!”

Duluth is one of several new stores opening at Greenwich Place at K-96 and Greenwich.

The clothing company has an emphasis on work wear and accessories.

“They have a huge internet sales business,” Greenwich Place developer Christian Ablah said last fall when announcing the store.

Ablah, of Classic Real Estate, said internet sales are a big part of why the company chose to open here.

“They can see where the consumers are buying,” he said. “This is a big deal for Wichita because people won’t have to travel to Kansas City.”

Duluth is bucking a trend, he said.

“It’s nice to see a retailer who has had great internet sales now want to have bricks and mortar, which is not exactly the norm in the retail shopping center business.”