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Restaurant Development in Little Rock Metro area


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On February 26, 2016 at 6:54 AM, Architect said:

Thanks for clarifying, and I completely concur with your summary above.  I just couldn't think of many examples of closings or unsuccessful attempts at this market.  My apology for my response coming across defensive...I appreciate your perspective.

You were making the point that many don't perform well on a per store basis (so Chipotle and Changs haven't done well locally?).  I don't have access to that information, and perhaps you do (either way, you know potential retailers have that info...data is king).  If that's the case, that is disappointing. I hope some of that is simply due to unique market tastes or demographics, or local competition, and not strictly an indictment on our economic health.

It's definitely not indicative of our economic health.  I think we are all very proud of Little Rock and Central Arkansas in general.  We should be.  But I do find from the information that I've seen that brands you would expect to do very well in markets across the country do not fare as well here.  Like I stated earlier, I don't like that.  BUT it is what it is.  The behavior of many in our market is to strongly support local brands and options.  There's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.  Yellow Rocket, David's, Chi's, South on Main, Cache, etc. (like you said the list goes on and on) - we should be out there giving them our business.  But that in turn will drive away some brands that look at coming to town and it also means less support for the bigger brands that have already made an investment to be in our market.  Sometimes they leave sometimes they stick it out.  In my opinion Chick-Fil-A does exceptionally well here but there's one or two stores where they question "what happened?".  But such brands like Pei Wei, they will have had several stores in market for as long as they've been at Midtown but are just now getting around to doing their second location.  They've been worrying about growth for a long time.

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2 hours ago, LRretail said:

It's definitely not indicative of our economic health.  I think we are all very proud of Little Rock and Central Arkansas in general.  We should be.  But I do find from the information that I've seen that brands you would expect to do very well in markets across the country do not fare as well here.  Like I stated earlier, I don't like that.  BUT it is what it is.  The behavior of many in our market is to strongly support local brands and options.  There's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.  Yellow Rocket, David's, Chi's, South on Main, Cache, etc. (like you said the list goes on and on) - we should be out there giving them our business.  But that in turn will drive away some brands that look at coming to town and it also means less support for the bigger brands that have already made an investment to be in our market.  Sometimes they leave sometimes they stick it out.  In my opinion Chick-Fil-A does exceptionally well here but there's one or two stores where they question "what happened?".  But such brands like Pei Wei, they will have had several stores in market for as long as they've been at Midtown but are just now getting around to doing their second location.  They've been worrying about growth for a long time.

Do you think it may have to do with market saturation?  In other words, is there some metric (seats per capita) that identifies whether a market is over or under served?  It seems like we have a TON of restaurants, and whether my perspective is true or not (clearly, my perspective is anecdotal), surely this is measured or considered in some way by retailers.  If that's true, and there is a metric, where do we stand?

You mentioned Pei Wei...it is VERY odd to me that they're just now getting around to adding other locations.  I talked to the manager when they first opened (and many times afterward) and she told me about plans to open several other locations locally (with perhaps one Fayetteville location opening first), and then nothing ever happened.  Again, this is anecdotal, but it seems like a very successful location, so I find it odd that they'd have any reason to suspend growth, unless it's an issue company-wide.

p.s.  Also, I find it odd that Zaxby's absolutely surrounds Little Rock, but no locations in NLR or LR proper (even though they were originally slatted to open at Shackleford Crossing, as I understand).

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On March 1, 2016 at 4:05 PM, Architect said:

Do you think it may have to do with market saturation?  In other words, is there some metric (seats per capita) that identifies whether a market is over or under served?  It seems like we have a TON of restaurants, and whether my perspective is true or not (clearly, my perspective is anecdotal), surely this is measured or considered in some way by retailers.  If that's true, and there is a metric, where do we stand?

You mentioned Pei Wei...it is VERY odd to me that they're just now getting around to adding other locations.  I talked to the manager when they first opened (and many times afterward) and she told me about plans to open several other locations locally (with perhaps one Fayetteville location opening first), and then nothing ever happened.  Again, this is anecdotal, but it seems like a very successful location, so I find it odd that they'd have any reason to suspend growth, unless it's an issue company-wide.

p.s.  Also, I find it odd that Zaxby's absolutely surrounds Little Rock, but no locations in NLR or LR proper (even though they were originally slatted to open at Shackleford Crossing, as I understand).

Pei Wei numbers are mid-pack compared to system average.  Like many brands similar to them, they fear cannibalization.  The demographics tell them that three stores can be placed but once store #1 goes up they don't see enough support to justify #2, until now.  From what I understand, there's some fear in the decision to place #2 because the day time in Chenal isn't as strong.  PF Chang numbers are severely under par and they are considering shuttering that store.  

The Zaxby's franchise arrangement is different from most others.  They demand that each store be owned 25% by the manager operating it.  So it takes a more specific franchisee to make that happen.  The franchisee for our market has spoken many times that finding suitable real estate (suitable to them) is hard to find in Little Rock.  They've built out all their other stores and the LR ones are the last.  They are scouting hard and I think they will be opening somewhere in LR soon (next 1-2 years).  

I agree with you.  I think we have a ton of restaurants.  But that goes back to the fact that our local restaurant operators are serious.  They are doing just as good of a job as the bigger national guys.  As a whole, I think we've reached market saturation in our MSA but there are lots of areas in the restaurant scene that are underserved.  So that's where you see many of the successes.  

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22 hours ago, LRretail said:

Pei Wei numbers are mid-pack compared to system average.  Like many brands similar to them, they fear cannibalization.  The demographics tell them that three stores can be placed but once store #1 goes up they don't see enough support to justify #2, until now.  From what I understand, there's some fear in the decision to place #2 because the day time in Chenal isn't as strong.  PF Chang numbers are severely under par and they are considering shuttering that store.  

The Zaxby's franchise arrangement is different from most others.  They demand that each store be owned 25% by the manager operating it.  So it takes a more specific franchisee to make that happen.  The franchisee for our market has spoken many times that finding suitable real estate (suitable to them) is hard to find in Little Rock.  They've built out all their other stores and the LR ones are the last.  They are scouting hard and I think they will be opening somewhere in LR soon (next 1-2 years).  

I agree with you.  I think we have a ton of restaurants.  But that goes back to the fact that our local restaurant operators are serious.  They are doing just as good of a job as the bigger national guys.  As a whole, I think we've reached market saturation in our MSA but there are lots of areas in the restaurant scene that are underserved.  So that's where you see many of the successes.  

Interesting.  I wouldn't disagree on PF Chang's.  I think its location is as big a factor as any other measure.  It's a great restaurant that isn't close to anything.  Out of sight, out of mind.

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I don't think I've seen anyone mention Panda Express.  I know that's not super high-end, but I've eaten at several when traveling and really liked it...sort of the Chiptole of Chinese restaurants (different/more casual than Pei Wei).  Even Hot Springs has one (along with several in NWA).

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On March 19, 2016 at 8:04 AM, Architect said:

I don't think I've seen anyone mention Panda Express.  I know that's not super high-end, but I've eaten at several when traveling and really liked it...sort of the Chiptole of Chinese restaurants (different/more casual than Pei Wei).  Even Hot Springs has one (along with several in NWA).

They've had a hard time finding real estate they like in LR/NLR.  They've looked several times over the last 6-7 years.

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11 hours ago, LRretail said:

They've had a hard time finding real estate they like in LR/NLR.  They've looked several times over the last 6-7 years.

Looks as if it could have been a good replacement for Cactus Jack's on W. Markham. And I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Panda Express eventually open shop somewhere in the general vicinity.

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Pie Five Pizza, which opened its first Arkansas location in Benton's Hurricane Creek Village, is headed somewhere near Bass Pro Shops for its first Little Rock outpost.  The plumbing permit lists 10800 Bass Pro Parkway, Suite D, as the address. Thing is, there's a Bass Pro Drive, with address numbers in the single digits (e.g., David's Burgers at 6 Bass Pro Drive), but no Bass Pro Parkway, unless I'm out of the loop on street development around there.

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17 hours ago, ArkansasTraveler said:

Pie Five Pizza, which opened its first Arkansas location in Benton's Hurricane Creek Village, is headed somewhere near Bass Pro Shops for its first Little Rock outpost.  The plumbing permit lists 10800 Bass Pro Parkway, Suite D, as the address. Thing is, there's a Bass Pro Drive, with address numbers in the single digits (e.g., David's Burgers at 6 Bass Pro Drive), but no Bass Pro Parkway, unless I'm out of the loop on street development around there.

The address for the Outlet Mall is 

  • 11201 Bass Pro Parkway, Little Rock, AR, 72210 View Map »
  • Phone: 501.455.9100
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1 hour ago, LRretail said:

Yes.  It's the same chain.  

I guess my point is, it seems they've completely rebranded and transformed the chain into something else entirely.  So if it were a long time ago, under a different brand strategy, I wouldn't really compare them.  Here's hoping they don't either.

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8 hours ago, Architect said:

I guess my point is, it seems they've completely rebranded and transformed the chain into something else entirely.  So if it were a long time ago, under a different brand strategy, I wouldn't really compare them.  Here's hoping they don't either.

I understand your statement better.  Hopefully in 10-15 years they've evolved a little bit.  I've seen some of the newer locations in Central Texas and they look pretty good.  I'm not a fan of the food.  But the stores look nice.  From what I've seen, one of the local groups will probably beat them to the punch and open something similar.  So that may keep Panda Express from opening if they have established competition.  But you never know.  There's that national vs. local thing again.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Eat My Catfish has now opened, and is getting decent reviews so far.

Elsewhere in west Little Rock, a check of the plumbing permits shows an entry for Mr. Hui's in Pleasant Ridge Town Center. Though it's hardly certain, perhaps there's some relation to this restaurant in Lincoln, NE. One of its employees in 2012, according to a local restaurant review at that time, had worked for a time in Little Rock on the way to Nebraska.

Edited by ArkansasTraveler
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not really surprised by this, the WLR location was the last one left in the state so... wonder what will go there? that is a big building... maybe they could take it down and expand out the small strip mall that is located behind it where Moe's and the other places are at. If I had to guess though, most likely some Chinese buffet will end up in it :P

 

-R

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I think cafeterias are just on the out altogether...in some ways a holdover from another time and place.  People expect to get some service for a price paid, and standing in line getting your own food, then paying a price that is not inexpensive has got to be a tough business plan.  While I think Luby's food quality was decent (the few times I've been there in recent memory), people expect service AND experience, and cafeterias offer neither.

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