03 Aug Rachel Allen to open Mathnasium at Waterfront, second location this year

Rachel Allen to open Mathnasium at Waterfront, second location this year

Wichita Business Journal by Josh Heck, Reporter

It’s sooner than Rachel Allen originally anticipated, but she will have an east-side Mathnasium open sometime this fall.

Allen, who opened a Mathnasium math tutoring center this spring in NewMarket Square, is opening a 1,400-square-foot location in The Waterfront in a space most recently occupied by Butter Bean Children’s Boutique, next to Gentry Ltd.

Mathnasium is an international chain of centers where children can improve their math skills. There are 300 centers in the United States, and this will be the fourth in Kansas.

Allen is the center’s director and a former teacher. She is married to Paul Allen, who leads Wichita’s largest accounting firm, Allen Gibbs & Houlic LC.

The Allens bought the exclusive rights to franchises of Mathnasium in Wichita.

Rachel says her plans included eventually opening a location in east Wichita, though she didn’t anticipate it being this soon.

“Our west site has done really great,” Allen says. “We’ve had great results and positive feedback.”

Feedback that Allen says has also come from a number of parents who use Mathnasium but live in east Wichita.

She is targeting a Sept. 1 opening for the east-side Mathnasium. With it comes the addition of five or six employees, similar to the staffing at her NewMarket Square location.

Key Construction Inc. is doing the build-out, which Allen says will cost $15,000 to $20,000.

Allen signed the lease Monday. Don Piros with Landmark Commercial Real Estate brokered the deal.

Allen says The Waterfront gives Mathnasium another high-profile location.

“I think The Waterfront is a really good location,” Allen says. “It’s a very safe area for kids, very family-friendly.”