Battery business charges up pilot
Feb. 2, 08
BY BILL WILSON

An airline pilot worried about his financial future is bringing his retail battery stores to Wichita.

Batteries Plus will open its first Wichita store March 3 at 7447 W. 21st St. Owner Chris Potts, a Minneapolis-based airline pilot, said there will be more Wichita stores if the West 21st location succeeds.

"There are a lot of opportunities in Wichita," he said. "Huge manufacturing base, high wages, high-tech industry and a growing economy absent the last few months."

Every imaginable battery under one roof is the Batteries Plus business model.

Plus, each store has staff trained in the assembling, testing, conditioning and rebuilding of custom battery packs for rechargeable household and commercial products.

"A lot of different stores offer various types of batteries," said Pat Berry, Potts' operations manager.

"But the problem is, if you need different types, you're running all over the place to different stores."

The battery stock runs the gamut from watches and cameras to electronic voice boxes, solar landscape lights, talking books for children and keyless entry door locks at major hotels.

Plus, the staff is specially trained to rebuild failed specialty batteries.

"Say you've got a surveyor with a custom battery pack who comes in," Potts said.

"A new one might set him back $300. We will have the ability to rebuild that pack for a third to half the cost."

Thus, store employees don't just walk in and go to work. The job requires three to six months of training to understand product lines and repair techniques.

Potts bought the Topeka Batteries Plus franchise three years ago, concerned that his career flying airliners might not hold up.

"It's a pretty battered industry," he said.

"And with the bankruptcies and the financial conditions of the airlines, plus I'm getting older, I needed to make sure I didn't end up close to retirement age with a significantly reduced or no pension."

Potts, a frequent Batteries Plus customer in the Twin Cities, originally tried to open a store there, but no franchises were available.

So he landed in Topeka.

"The more I looked at this, the more I liked the concept," he said.

"Even though it's farther away, and even though I'm down there a bunch, with technology I have the ability to manage the business from home. So we're pretty excited about the possibilities."

David Leyh of Landmark Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord, Barrington LLC, and Amanda Stucky of InSite Real Estate Group represented Batteries Plus.

Batteries Plus bills itself as the nation's largest retail battery chain, with 300 locations in 40 states and Puerto Rico.