McCain Mall

[SangreRaVen]

They have started the remodel of McCain Mall officially, I dont have any pics right now but I live over in that area. They have already started taking down sections of the front entrances to the mall, as well as inside many ceiling panels have been removed and the stairs in the food court are almost gone now... so they seem to be moving at a rather good pace with demo.

-R

[ecity3138]

I agree that the movie theater will attract more people to the mall even though I'm not a fan of movie theaters in a mall. A movie theater in the mall attract a lot of teens hanging out in the mall creating an unpleasant shopping experience. I can see this being a problem at the mall already. I think the movie theater should be built elsewhere (near Walmart on McCain Blvd for example) instead of the mall. A department store or another large store (forever 21 or Urban Outfitters) would have been a better choice.

[quote name='thewizard16'

timestamp='1304569805' post='1142398']

I noticed that McCain Mall/Simon finished the purchase of the old M.M. Cohn space improvements/lease interest recently. Price tag- $1.85 million. It mentioned the lease-hold rights covered 4.28 acres, which is larger than the footprint of the store by a decent margin, I hadn't realized another company was still holding those rights and they extended beyond the actual space (for potential expansion, I suppose?). I bet they're hoping this movie theater works out...

[SangreRaVen]

I wish they would have used this remodel process as an opportunity to have turned the old M.M. Cohn section into a new Food Court and small shop area. I tend to agree about putting the theater in the mall as a bad idea, they just dont seem to mix that well (malls and theaters that is unless the theater is right beside it but a seperate structure). I do think a new Food Court area to go along with the remodel would have been much better and helped change the overall look of McCain Mall.

-R

[LRguy21]

Are there any interior renderings of what the space might look like? I still fail to see how this will help attract new tenants.

Also, is there a theater less than several hundred feet away in Lakewood Village?

[SangreRaVen]

Yes Dickson Lakewood (Former UA Lakewood) is right up the hill from McCain Mall but even after Dickson purchased and remodeled it that theater is still rather out of date. What is funny is Regal wants to build the new theater in McCain mall but they are the ones who owned Lakewood and let it run further into the ground before they sold it off so...

-R

[ryanaw]

Not McCain Mall news, but very close by. Lakewood Village will get a different type of restaurant addition to the metro. Taste of India Restaurant. It will be between Shoe Carnival and Avenue. The closest thing I can think of is the Genhis Mongolian Grill. Finally something different.

Edited July 23, 2011 by ryanaw

[Architect]

There are a couple of Indian restaurants in Little Rock (Star of India being on particularly good restaurant)...so I'd say it's obviously closer in concept to those rather than Ghengis Grill.

[ryanaw]

Thanks for the info. You learn something new everyday.

[SangreRaVen]

I heard that a new store called Best Buy Mobile (owned by Best Buy obviously ) will be opening in McCain Mall, looks like its meant to compete with Radio Shack in the mobile market.

-R

[ArkansasTraveler]

I heard that a new store called Best Buy Mobile (owned by Best Buy obviously ) will be opening in McCain Mall, looks like its meant to compete with Radio Shack in the mobile market.

-R

This makes me think more of those airport-style kiosks than a full-fledged store.

[comreguy]

This makes me think more of those airport-style kiosks than a full-fledged store.

They are a full service operation typically leasing between 1,500 and 2,500 sf. The store in Fayetteville is actually a good looking store.

[ArkansasTraveler]

They are a full service operation typically leasing between 1,500 and 2,500 sf. The store in Fayetteville is actually a good looking store.

Come to think of it, I think I might have seen one or two of these as well, while careening through the Atlanta airport.

[SangreRaVen]

I think it will be an actual store, not sure where it will go in the mall.

-R

[thewizard16]

I visited McCain yesterday and thought I would share some photos of the progress so far for those of you that haven't been recently. I apologize for the quality, these are just from my cell phone's camera.

The new entrances are coming along:

The new floors, ceilings, glass dividers and railings, paint, and lights have gone up on the second level:

The new floors, lighting, dividers/railings, and paint are done in the Food Court, and work on the elevator is underway:

A look at the new lights in the food court, and a better view of the new dividers/railings, paint, ceilings in the walkway areas, etc.:

My thoughts: I'm pretty impressed with what they've done so far. The buzzing gym lights, metal mesh dividers, and nasty ceilings were the worst part of the mall pre-remodel, and with those things replaced with more modern fixtures, the atmosphere difference is amazing. The colors are an interesting choice and I'm not sure I like the scheme (very mild/bland), but it looks much better than before, and the new floors look very nice. I know there was a lot of doubt that the amount of money they were spending on the remodel would have much of an impact/be a band-aid fix, but I think my view of "if they use it wisely, it could make a big difference" is coming true, luckily. There are still some distinct areas of improvement on the overall exterior of the mall, but the new entrances will look much nicer and the new common areas are really coming together nicely.

On an unrelated note, I strongly dislike this new forum software. I couldn't get it to let me insert images any other way than HTML and it's been a pain to work with when it comes to formatting posts. It seems we upgraded to a sleeker looking forum with much older/less functionality.

[thewizard16]

Not only that, but I can't edit that post to fix the image links it altered.... Very frustrating.

I visited McCain yesterday and thought I would share some photos of the progress so far for those of you that haven't been recently. I apologize for the quality, these are just from my cell phone's camera.

The new entrances are coming along:

Shot at 2011-08-19

The new floors, ceilings, glass dividers and railings, paint, and lights have gone up on the second level:

Shot at 2011-08-19

The new floors, lighting, dividers/railings, and paint are done in the Food Court, and work on the elevator is underway:

Shot at 2011-08-19

A look at the new lights in the food court, and a better view of the new dividers/railings, paint, ceilings in the walkway areas, etc.:

Shot at 2011-08-19

[Architect]

I guess I should wait until they're complete, but as is, this is not great.  Either do it well, or don't do it at all.

[thewizard16]

I guess I should wait until they're complete, but as is, this is not great.  Either do it well, or don't do it at all.

I respectfully disagree. I don't love the color scheme, but everything else in the common areas has seen a dramatic upgrade. The atmosphere is already much nicer than it was before the remodel started, which was the whole point of this project. Does it make it seem like a whole new mall? No. But it did update and modernize the decor and fixtures, floor, and ceiling in the mall. The only thing that I can really think of that would have made it better is a more dramatic color scheme, ripping out the old metal/skylight ceilings and glassing those all in with large peaked skylights, and some new touchscreen directories/displays. You may not like the style of the remodel, but I don't think there's any denying that this is a big improvement over the dated, run-down look it had, and will increase the appeal and prolong the life of the mall. In my opinion, that's much, much better than just leaving it as it had been.

[Architect]

I respectfully disagree. I don't love the color scheme, but everything else in the common areas has seen a dramatic upgrade. The atmosphere is already much nicer than it was before the remodel started, which was the whole point of this project. Does it make it seem like a whole new mall? No. But it did update and modernize the decor and fixtures, floor, and ceiling in the mall. The only thing that I can really think of that would have made it better is a more dramatic color scheme, ripping out the old metal/skylight ceilings and glassing those all in with large peaked skylights, and some new touchscreen directories/displays. You may not like the style of the remodel, but I don't think there's any denying that this is a big improvement over the dated, run-down look it had, and will increase the appeal and prolong the life of the mall. In my opinion, that's much, much better than just leaving it as it had been.

I don't deny that it's an improvement, but that still does not make it great.

[thewizard16]

I don't deny that it's an improvement, but that still does not make it great.

Oh, absolutely- they definitely could have done more (and doing more would have probably had a greater impact on their appeal to future tenants/shoppers/etc.), I just think this is a lot better than if they'd done nothing. This might be enough to turn things around for them a little bit, it always amazes me how much busier Park Plaza is than McCain and its reputation has suffered in the past several years too. I was talking to a friend when I was at McCain yesterday and when I mentioned where I was, his response was "For the love of God, why?". I'm hoping for them (and their tenants) that this remodel will be enough to turn that perception around.

[ArkansasTraveler]

I'm hoping for them (and their tenants) that this remodel will be enough to turn that perception around.

I'm with you on that. McCain Mall has already had a few retailers over the years to vacate not for greener pastures but just to cut their losses. Reshuffling the deck with a new theater in the mix and a (slightly?) fresher look isn't earth-shattering, but it couldn't hurt.

Also...

I apologize for the quality, [this is] just from my cell phone's camera.

The new entrances are coming along:

Shot at 2011-08-19

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I thought the picture quality turned out just fine, especially the colors in this shot of the entrance.

[thewizard16]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I thought the picture quality turned out just fine, especially the colors in this shot of the entrance.

Thanks, cell phone cameras certainly have gotten better, but it still doesn't do well in low light or anything involving movement.

[Gavdog28]

They have completed enough of the main sign "renovation" to get a little more information from what will be coming next. Most importantly, we now know that the movie theater will be a Regal Cinemas theater. On the Regal website, it says this theater will be opening in 2012, It will feature 12 screens, stadium seating, and will feature an RPX theater (Regal Premium Experience), which is the same thing as the large screen at the new Conway theater. This will be a VAST improvement on Lakewood 8 which appears to have its days numbered.

[thewizard16]

I went to McCain tonight and looked around a bit after I did some Christmas shopping. Here are my thoughts on the remodel now that it's essentially finished:

• The new sign at the entrance looks much better, even though the top isn't finished yet. The anchors have more prominent, attractive signs than before and it looks more modern.
  
• The new entrances are much, much nicer.
  
• The overall atmosphere inside is much more modern before. No, it doesn't feel like a whole new mall, but they really made the money they spent work hard and I think it has dramatically increased the appeal of the mall and definitely extended the life they'll get out of it before another major update.
  
• The new bathrooms are actually some of the nicest I've ever seen in a regular mall, they did a good job there.
  
• They still need to work on the areas of ceiling around the skylights- it looks as tired/worn as it did before and detracts from the new lighting and drop ceilings throughout the rest of the mall. I guess that wasn't planned in this remodel, but some nice glass pyramid skylights like the ceiling of Park Plaza would make the halls seem much nicer.
  

My verdict overall: As I'd hoped/suggested originally, the amount of money they spent could dramatically improve the mall if done intelligently and it appears they did just that. It's not perfect, and there are some things that will need to be updated before too many years pass, but McCain is definitely going to get some new life out of this remodel.

A couple photos from my phone that aren't great, but get the idea across.

[ArkansasTraveler]

Nearly three years after the last post in this thread, McCain Mall seems to be gaining momentum — especially where restaurants are concerned.  Along with Mr. Duinderbak's that opened on the mall's lower level after the picture in post #73, Taziki's is on the cusp of their grand opening on the upper level on September 23, with BJ's Brewhouse in the works for an outparcel by next year.  Now comes word that Bar Louie will also be joining the ranks in 2015.

 

http://www.thv11.com/story/news/local/north-little-rock/2014/09/16/bar-louie-to-open-at-mccain-mall/15727095/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Architect]

Nearly three years after the last post in this thread, McCain Mall seems to be gaining momentum — especially where restaurants are concerned.  Along with Mr. Duinderbak's that opened on the mall's lower level after the picture in post #73, Taziki's is on the cusp of their grand opening on the upper level on September 23, with BJ's Brewhouse in the works for an outparcel by next year.  Now comes word that Bar Louie will also be joining the ranks in 2015.

 

http://www.thv11.com/story/news/local/north-little-rock/2014/09/16/bar-louie-to-open-at-mccain-mall/15727095/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

I still can't believe there's no GAP store here anymore.  That is telling.