Pinnacle Hills Promenade

[mcheiss]

is W-S really a big box store? Much as I'd like it to show up, I've only seen Pottery Barn like that.

I would really like W-S to come.

It can be done in the Big Box fashion.

[masons_dad1]

Anyway, I welcome them as an addition to the bookstores in the area.

I agree. But, I do wish we also had a Hastings up here in Benton County to add to the mix. I expect that this Borders will be very different from any of the ones I've visited, especially being 2-stories.

[mcheiss]

I don't know why, but this shot of the Promenade reminded me of the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

[thewizard16]

I agree. But, I do wish we also had a Hastings up here in Benton County to add to the mix. I expect that this Borders will be very different from any of the ones I've visited, especially being 2-stories.

It does look very similar to the entrance off of College, I suppose.

[Mith242]

I don't know why, but this shot of the Promenade reminded me of the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

Before I read your post and saw the pic pop up that's exactly what I was thinking.

[masons_dad1]

^

Other than the fact that the NWA Mall entrances have far better landscaping I guess it kinda looks similar.

[Mith242]

Once you look more closely it's obviously not the NWA Mall. But at first glance it does seem to look like it.

[KJW]

I don't know why, but this shot of the Promenade reminded me of the Northwest Arkansas Mall.

Indeed...it looks like that entrance by the "South Dillard's" in the NWA mall.

It's said that when current University of Texas head football coach Mack Brown was in his first year as head coach at Tulane his mentor, the legendary Texas HFC Darrell Royal paid a visit during pre-season practice, looked at the very ragtag team and said words to the effect of "Nice. Now where are your starters?"

I went to the new Promenade the other day, and my first thought was "Looks nice, where's the rest of it?" (And again, I was spoiled by living 12 miles from the Mall of Georgia, my favorite shopping center ever.) Frankly, I also found myself thinking "I'm sure glad Bill Dillard talked J.B. and the boys into expanding this into three times the size they originally were planning...hate to see what it would have looked like otherwise."

I hadn't put on a heavy enough coat and was somewhat uncomfortable walking in the afternoon chill despite the sunshine of two Sundays ago. (Didn't stop several women and girls from wearing flip-flops that day, though, as happens frequently this time of year.) I am kind of concerned that in inclement weather this mall as it currently is won't be as fun for some to shop at as a fully or mainly enclosed one, but hopefully I'm way off on that prediction. I also agree with ya'll that this could be ONE INCREDIBLE place to look at decorated for Christmastime on those (usually) infrequent NWA snowy nights.

Entering from the north this mall looks almost plain. However, I remembered the potential Barber group developments alongside it and got to thinking "This is going to be incredible someday". Already, when one stands outside the north entrance to the Dillard's there, you see a view that looks totally alien to what we've known as Benton County, and that view's going to continue to change in fascinating ways.

It's funny...other cities like Atlanta, where we moved from, or Springfield, MO, where I grew up, tend to expand solidly in all directions like blobs of ink spilled on paper if there are no physical limits such as lakes or oceans to stop their growth.

NWA's metropolitan area, on the other hand, is like a jigsaw puzzle that we're watching being assembled without a picture on the cover of a box to guide it by. In other words, we've no clue what the finished work is going to look like, but it's so intriguing you just love watching it being built piece by piece.

[masons_dad1]

Once you look more closely it's obviously not the NWA Mall. But at first glance it does seem to look like it.

I got ya. Imagine a mall entrance resembling a mall entrance. I think they all really look the same except the east side of NWA Mall is very nice compared to most malls.

[nwa_479]

Well the Best Buy opened today and I heard that it is a little bit smaller than the one in Fayetteville. But, what do I care. I'm just glad we finally have one up here in Benton County. Here some pics...

sorry the pictures are a little blurry. but, i'll try and take some more of the area later. i'm a first timer so i hope it's not that bad.

[mcheiss]

Those shots aren't half bad, they have good color. It's hard to take shots at night. You have to stand still for a lot longer for enough light to come into the camera to take a pic. A tripod works wonders with this. I plan on taking shots at night sometime around Thanksgiving.

[Mith242]

It's hard to do night shots by hand. No matter how steady your hands are there's bout to be some shaking to keep the shutter open long enough to get enough light. Another trick is if there is some blurriness if you resize your pics down a bit it doesn't look quite so bad. Of course the best option is to have a tripod. But then again that would stand out and you'd probably have someone coming up and telling you that you can't take any pics there.

[nwa_479]

I'll note that the next time I go out and get some pictures. Thanks for the info guys.

[mcheiss]

Of course the best option is to have a tripod. But then again that would stand out and you'd probably have someone coming up and telling you that you can't take any pics there.

I've been studying their security at night. Usually, there's only one guard in the entire complex from 8 on and he's usually in the center courtyard. If you stood at the end with a tripod, I'm sure he wouldn't bother you.

[nwa_479]

Taking pictures while driving isn't the easiest thing to do. So there's only one guard throughtout the whole place? Maybe I should just park in one of the parking spots and just take pictures from there.

[mcheiss]

Taking pictures while driving isn't the easiest thing to do. So there's only one guard throughtout the whole place? Maybe I should just park in one of the parking spots and just take pictures from there.

Go for it. That's what it's like once the sun goes down.

[Julles]

The Discovery Channel Store is open! I was surprised; when I passed by the storefront last week, it looked like they were weeks away from opening. I asked the clerk when they opened and he said yesterday. It's a nice store, although quite a bit smaller than the Sharper Image. Remote control gadgets are big right now, especially robots and dinosaurs. Both stores had several to choose from. The employees at the DC Store were super-nice, by the way. I guess if we give them a few weeks of dealing with temperamental gadgets and wild bratty kids, that may change

[nwa_479]

So what are all the new stores that have opened recently? Is it just Coach and The DC Store?

[acx_guy]

Although it is great that Rogers/Bentonvilles has a 'true' mall now, I think the Promenade really lost an opportunity to distinguish itself as "THE MALL" for the NWA area just so the developers could make a quick buck. More than 90% of the stores are also located in the NWA mall and I think the developers had an opportunity to create a unique (Utica Square) mall that would differentiate itself from NWA Mall. As much as everyone likes to think their town (Fay, Spr, Rog, Bent) as better than the other, the fact is we really are 1 large market. NWA mall already has established retail stores for most of the demographics in this area where as the higher income demographic are still under served. If the Promenade hadn't forced their ridiculously high rent prices on everyone then some of the "higher end" stores might have come to NWA. We then might have had 2 unique malls that serviced the entire region rather than two malls the same, now we have more of the same. And although the outdoor atmosphere of the Promenade is great, those stores won't keep anymore of Arkansas tax dollars from going out of state (OK. MO, or TX) when people wamt to shop at Macys, Pottery Barn, J Crew, Williams Sonoma, etc.

Don't take this the wrong way. its about time Roger/Bentonville got a nice mall, but if we want to think of ourselves as an emerging market then a 20 min drive between 2 malls that support totally different demographics shouldn

[masons_dad1]

I've been studying their security at night. Usually, there's only one guard in the entire complex from 8 on and he's usually in the center courtyard. If you stood at the end with a tripod, I'm sure he wouldn't bother you.

You been casing the joint Matt?

[masons_dad1]

Although it is great that Rogers/Bentonvilles has a 'true' mall now, I think the Promenade really lost an opportunity to distinguish itself as "THE MALL" for the NWA area just so the developers could make a quick buck. More than 90% of the stores are also located in the NWA mall and I think the developers had an opportunity to create a unique (Utica Square) mall that would differentiate itself from NWA Mall. As much as everyone likes to think their town (Fay, Spr, Rog, Bent) as better than the other, the fact is we really are 1 large market. NWA mall already has established retail stores for most of the demographics in this area where as the higher income demographic are still under served. If the Promenade hadn't forced their ridiculously high rent prices on everyone then some of the "higher end" stores might have come to NWA. We then might have had 2 unique malls that serviced the entire region rather than two malls the same, now we have more of the same. And although the outdoor atmosphere of the Promenade is great, those stores won't keep anymore of Arkansas tax dollars from going out of state (OK. MO, or TX) when people wamt to shop at Macys, Pottery Barn, J Crew, Williams Sonoma, etc.

Don't take this the wrong way. its about time Roger/Bentonville got a nice mall, but if we want to think of ourselves as an emerging market then a 20 min drive between 2 malls that support totally different demographics shouldn

[Aporkalypse]

I was there this weekend. My wife went to Dillard's and bought a scarf, hat, and gloves.

Overall I like the external appearance. It's nice, but it's this time of year you miss the indoor malls. The store offering was a bit more limited than I expected but I forgot how much is over at Scottsdale Center. The wife and I ate at Copeland's, which was kind of slow and wasn't up to par with the one I've been to on St Charles in New Orleans.

I've never seen so much dirt in my life. Man, there's going to be a lot of work around the Promenade.

Watch carefully, a traffic NIGHTMARE is being created in NWA. I-540 is the least of your worries. Pinnacle Hills Parkway, the connector streets in that area, and the freeway interchange with 540 are going to be painful in a decade. Just watch. Whoever planned that layout should be shot.

[masons_dad1]

Watch carefully, a traffic NIGHTMARE is being created in NWA. I-540 is the least of your worries. Pinnacle Hills Parkway, the connector streets in that area, and the freeway interchange with 540 are going to be painful in a decade. Just watch. Whoever planned that layout should be shot.

Maybe the city planners should buy a copy of Sim City 4. I'm still wanting to get a copy so I can build a model of Northwest Arkansas.

[mcheiss]

Overall I like the external appearance. It's nice, but it's this time of year you miss the indoor malls. The store offering was a bit more limited than I expected but I forgot how much is over at Scottsdale Center. The wife and I ate at Copeland's, which was kind of slow and wasn't up to par with the one I've been to on St Charles in New Orleans.

Hey, I was at the mall on Saturday as well. May'be I saw you there.

[thewizard16]

Maybe the city planners should buy a copy of Sim City 4. I'm still wanting to get a copy so I can build a model of Northwest Arkansas.

I have it, but I get frustrated because I can't get the model cities I want off the ground without running out of money. So then I went and found their money cheat code, but that didn't help because then the thing would still go into debt. Frustrating as a game I'm willing to bet, but fun to build models with.