This piece originally aired Aug. 12, 2015, during All Things Considered.
A new convenience store and Valero gas station is set to open soon near the canal route in northeast Wichita.
The economically challenged neighborhood has been without these services for over a decade. The owner plans to create about 20 new jobs.
The property at 21st and Piatt was a former grocery store and Amoco gas station that closed in the early 2000s.
The new convenience store includes a full kitchen that will serve chicken and pizza. There are also store racks reserved for specialty coffees and grocery items.
Outside, state-of-the-art gas pumps have been installed in the formerly blighted area.
With financing from his father, Masoud, 33-year-old entrepreneur Amir Etezazi says acquiring the property was part of his dream.
“This area has a lot of potential as Wichita State is growing," Etezazi says. "Of course this neighborhood is also growing, and I think we owe it to the neighborhood to reinvest in it.”
Etezazi will hire about 15 to 20 clerks for the 24-hour business. The new store will open by Sept. 1.