Aporkalypse

Isn't Kirkland's going out of business like Bombay did?

Vice versa. K-Mart was bankrupt. They staved it off for a while with heavy store closures and Sears bought what was left.

The net job loss won't affect LR much as the Caterpillar plant and windmill jobs will offset it but we haven't been hit by big economy-related layoffs yet. This one hurt.

Agreed, boy would that be a mess. Lots of malls are getting pretty frequent vacancies, even ones that are more successful. The freestanding Sears in LR would be an easy conversion, maybe to a Target. Sears really screwed up by buying KMart. It's a dying company and it may drag Sears down with it.

I eat at the one on Financial Centre all the time and the service is good there. I love the hot pepper relish. That's not a great location for fast food, people from the Heights or Hillcrest are going to go someplace closer (and frankly Burge's, Boulevard Bread, Cheers, and Satellite Cafe all make better sammiches.) Alltel losses won't affect Riverdale much. That area wasn't much different way before Alltel got so big. Plus, that's some of the best office space in the city and when/if they give up a building or two in that complex it will get jumped on really fast. Close to downtown but with convenient parking is a tough thing to find. The big losses will come out in Chenal and to a lesser degree Maumelle, where the impact is probably already occurring. A lot of people are staying and redirecting careers but a lot of people are going to leave and it's not hard for something like this to increase inventory enough to drop prices. I sure wouldn't be building a $400,000+ home out west right now.

A West LR extension is just a silly idea. It would be very expensive and unused. It would take an hour to go by trolley the distance it takes 15 minutes to drive. The airport and River Cities Travel Center connections just make sense and should be a priority. I would rather see as an ultimate goal an extension down Main to the Quapaw Quarter and another west down Markham to the Capitol and eventually to Hillcrest and possibly the Heights, which was one of the city's major original trolley routes. Those areas have density and the kind of residents that are likely to take the trolley to work, eat, or get groceries.

I totally agree. I don't know feasible it would be to leave the UA system at this point, though. I can't really think of a precedent.

Makes sense. There should be a lot of pedestrian traffic there on game days and there isn't really another old commercial street in Argenta to renovate.

Good thoughts. It also should've been routed with stops at Alltel Arena and Dickey Stephens for packing accessability. I think a limited trolley service along Dickson, the Square, and the UA campus itself would do well. I think Morgantown, WV has something like that.

Just for retail. Otherwise we are weathering it surprisingly well. Actually, I am kind of proud of the fact they are filling up all of these centers against all odds. Shackleford Crossing and Promenade are picking up steam now.

If Dillard's files bankruptcy it will reorganize out of it and keep its stores open, it has assets it can sell off, starting with CDI. Macy's (Federated Dept Stores) is in poor financial shape right now as well and won't be buying any stores anytime soon.

The restaurant Ya Yas is opening in mid to late January. It sounds like a nice addition and I'll definitely try it. www.yiayias.com

The week of Christmas parking and traffic through the areas around the mall was a nightmare, which is an excellent sign for the mall. I have to say I still love the remodel, it looks virtually new inside and out. I just wish Dillard's would follow up with a remodel of their stores.

It's all about the right development. Oh, and have you been to Jackson? I wouldn't agree with that at all. Hell, everyone I know from Jackson that visits here thinks LR is the coolest place on earth.

It's not an Aloft based on the height.

Well, that's a good thing. LR has really bucked the trend of what's going on nationally. I just hope that losses at Dillard's and Alltel don't offset it.

Agree with this. It's awesome. It would be good pizza in city. You guys sent Jim's Razorback down here and we sent you Larry's, neither of which are all that great. Damgoode Pies really is.

It is. The owner lives in LR and has locations in the River Market and Conway as well.

I've heard that over and over. I've also heard oddly enough over at Ole Miss there are still a lot of wealthy kids from Delta compared to elsewhere (of course Jackson and the Memphis burbs contribute as well). Farming was a lot more productive in the delta and the Ozarks were terrible for farming. You don't raise chickens on good farmland and the poultry economy led to one of NWA's big companies being formed and now that's an economic pillar. The other was just luck.

Interesting unemployment stastistics for Arkansas and for the LR metro. National unemployment: 6.1% Arkansas: 4.9% Pulaski Co: 4.1% Faulkner Co: 4.0% Central Arkansas seems to be GAINING jobs and lowering unemployment despite dire national figures. Those unemployment rates are as low as LR has had in a while. Growth in LR has been picking up the last few years. I think this is a sign we are about to move into a major growth phase. Just as importantly Arkansas as a whole is doing well. The delta really skews these numbers, NWA and LR are both strong economically right now.

Exactly. We need a core retail district and current developments ensure we won't have one in West LR with all of these sprawled developments. I still think we are overreacting to this. Most of us thought all along Apple belonged in Midtown and it may be looking for the right spot in Midtowne SC or in Park Avenue when it's built. That's the logical thing most of us thought would be wise and Apple may have finally seen that retail density and visibility trump affluent demographics but like most of you did.

The real question is what are they really building? Despite the failures to build an arena in Rogers (which as most of you know I predicted and was shamed) I think there should and will ultimately be a publicly funded arena in Benton Co in the 6000-10,000 seat range similar to Summit Arena in Hot Springs. I have no issues with that being built there as it would serve a different niche and not compete with Walton Arts Center or Bud Walton directly, just provide different services. If it's a performing arts center in the 2500-3000 seat range as had been there is no reason whatsoever it couldn't go on or around Dickson/downtown Fayetteville. A comparable structure would be Robinson Auditorium in downtown LR and that would fit in a space the size the lot across the street from ithe current WAC. Putting something like that far away from the university makes no sense.

This is all a setup for the Walton Foundation or another Benton Co donor to come in and pay for a chunk of it and dictate it be done in Benton Co. I think the plan has been there to move it all along and that this is being done the way it is in order to not ruffle any feather in Fayetteville.

I grew up with family in Rogers and 20 years ago you had to drive to Fayetteville for pretty much anything nicer than Bonanza. We went to Stephenson's Cider Mill on the Missouri border when we wanted to go somewhere nice. Boy have times changed.