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Shopping/Dining: What is Little Rock still lacking?

bchris02

By bchris02
in Little Rock Metropolitan Area

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bchris02 Hamlet

bchris02

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Hi, I'm from the Orlando forum and just passing through. I was wondering why NWA would get things before Little Rock? Is it a larger metro area? Is it touristy because of Wal-Mart HQ? Little Rock appears to be the big city in Arkansas and also the capital. So if there is no Macy's, what are the major department stores in Little Rock and which is considered to be the most upscale? Don't waste your time wishing for a PacSun, that's just an average kid's mall store, nothing special at all. I suppose you must have Abercrombie, Banana Republic since they are not mentioned. How about Lucky Brand Jeans. Panera gets bland and tiresome when there's one on every corner, how about CPK (California Pizza Kitchen)? Do you have Chipolte, they sure beat Taco Bell and are expanding like crazy and I believe they are owned by McDonalds as well as Donato's Pizza. Speaking of Mickey D's, do you have any McDonalds that are Bistro Gourmets? They are McDonald's split in half with one side traditional and the other more of a "Panera" menu.
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VistaLakes01 Hamlet

VistaLakes01

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While Little Rock's metro (pop 650,000) is still much larger than NWA (pop 400,000), NWA was growing at an astronomically fast pace for the first half of this decade as Wal-Mart expanded. There was huge hype surrounding NWA and many developers jumped on the bandwagon with very ambitious projects. Most notable was a new 900,000 sq ft upscale lifestyle center unlike anything seen in Arkansas up to that time. That lifestyle center combined with the fast growth was able to bring in tons of new retailers into the state that didn't have a presence in Ark. before. At the same time, Simon was planning a new mall in southwest Little Rock but many people were fighting it because it would have spelled the doom of the exisiting malls. So for a long time, not much was developed in Little Rock as all the major retailers were waiting on the new mall. Some stores even closed their stores in the existing malls because they wanted to locate in the new mall when it opened and could not have stores in both. The anti-mall people won and Simon backed off building the new mall and when that happened many developers jumped in and wanted to get a piece of the pie. Today, several much smaller, open air lifestyle centers have been popping up all over the city.

As for whats here, we dont have California Pizza Kitchen, Chipotle, etc. Little Rock is weak on chain restaurants but has numerous locally owned restaurants to fill the gap. In my opinion, locally owned restauants, if done well, are much better than chains. I hope Little Rock gets more chains but I don't want to see chains become dominant like they are in so many other metro areas. The one area I feel its really lacking is we don't have a huge presence of middle eastern cuisines. Not sure about McDonald's Bistro gourmet, I haven't been in a McDonalds since 2005. As for shopping, Dillard's is our main department store and they sell Lucky Brand Jeans. We don't have a real Lucky store. We used to have a Parisian as our upscale store but it was bought out by Belk. I haven't been in it recently so I don't know of the quality has went downhill. I could care less about PacSun personally, but it still surprises me they aren't here. Macy's is the real department store Little Rock has a shot at that it doesn't have. It is currently in markets a lot smaller than Little Rock, so I don't know why they aren't here. They aren't even in NWA.

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LRguy21 Whistle-Stop

LRguy21

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We have a Pei Wei in our Midtown Center. I personally believe that one will sill go in NLR and one out at Chenal. Macys is the biggest store Little Rock is lacking. As to where that is going is still a blur. I thought it would go in at Park Ave, but with the announcements of late, it doesn

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VistaLakes01 Hamlet

VistaLakes01

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We have a Pei Wei in our Midtown Center. I personally believe that one will sill go in NLR and one out at Chenal. Macys is the biggest store Little Rock is lacking. As to where that is going is still a blur. I thought it would go in at Park Ave, but with the announcements of late, it doesn
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LRguy21 Whistle-Stop

LRguy21

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Yeah, I looked at the website for McCain Mall and it didn't look very updated. It looks like there is an empty anchor, what they have been doing is adding a lifestyle concept where the empty anchor stores are and in McCains case they would probably do an anchor attached to the outdoor lifestyle concept, a Macy's could go there with theaters shops and restaurants, maybe if another company buys it from Simon they will do something like that, that is one way older enclosed malls are competing with lifestyle centers. So I know McCain is in the north, what is Midtown Center and are there any more enclosed malls? Also, what sides of town are the two new centers going and are they in an upscale demographic that could support a Macy's?
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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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You are wrong. Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn opened in Midtowne before they ever opened in NWA. As a matter of fact, I am not even sure if the PB in NWA is open yet, although it will be soon if not already. Lewis and Clark started in Fayetteville and is not a national chain. I am not sure if they even have stores outside of Arkansas. It is a small local operation that is growing.
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LRguy21 Whistle-Stop

LRguy21

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In the End, im guessing that the top 4 centers in Little Rock are going to be Park Plaza, Midtowne, Park Avenue, and The Promenade at Chenal.

The top retailers missing are Macys, Crate & Barrel, Coach.,.......................Fill in the list.

Where could those go? assuming that we dont have any other centers built.

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keithc1981 Unincorporated Area

keithc1981

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I am friends with a project manager with vcc. the contractor for promenade chenal. and their company has reportedly signed on to do the redevelopment of mccain mall expected to be announced this summer. he said somewhere in the range of $8-$13 mil. he told me last week and ive been meaning to get on here and let you guys know. so this sounds like great news

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Architect Town

Architect

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I am friends with a project manager with vcc. the contractor for promenade chenal. and their company has reportedly signed on to do the redevelopment of mccain mall expected to be announced this summer. he said somewhere in the range of $8-$13 mil. he told me last week and ive been meaning to get on here and let you guys know. so this sounds like great news
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candacet Unincorporated Area

candacet

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I was doing a wish list...on stores I would wish to see.

Anyway, Cheesecake Factory not going to happen that soon. Spoke to family member that works for company. He says Arkansas was talked about and then they took it down. He states at least "24-36 months if at all". He will call me when he hears anything.

Sorry, had to edit to protect the information he told me.

Crate and Barrel - could happen, was on the original tenant list for Pleasant Ridge

Pappadeaux - Won't happen, Shackleford tried to recruit them but they said our market was too small

MAC Store - Is coming to Promenade at Chenal

Marble Slab Creamery - In NWA, could come to LR. Is it really any different than Cold Stone or Baskin Robbins?

Club Libby Lu for my niece - Won't happen

Borders - Possible for Park Ave

Dylan's Candy Bar - DEFINATELY won't happen, the nearest one is in the Houston Galleria

Janie and Jack - Probably not as they aren't in OKC or Tulsa

Steve Madden - Possible but unlikely

Nine West - In NWA, could come to LR

The Body Shop - In NWA, could come to LR

L'Occitane - Definately not

Torrid - Probably not

The best way to determine is something is likely to come to Little Rock is its existing presence in NWA, since they usually get new-to-the-state retailers and restaurants first. If Tulsa or OKC don't have it, its probably never coming to LR.

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bchris02 Hamlet

bchris02

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I was doing a wish list...on stores I would wish to see.

Anyway, Cheesecake Factory not going to happen that soon. I spoke with my cousin ( his jobs is to train managers for new restuarants). He says Arkansas was on the board and then they took it down. He states at least "24-36 months if at all".

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turboturtle Hamlet

turboturtle

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Thats discouraging news. If Des Moines, Iowa can support a Cheesecake factory I have no idea why they doubt Little Rock can. I still think its possible as 24 months is shortly after the projected opening of Park Avenue. If there was going to be a Cheesecake Factory, that would be the place.
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candacet Unincorporated Area

candacet

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I was doing a wish list...on stores I would wish to see.

Anyway, Cheesecake Factory not going to happen that soon. I spoke with my cousin,his job is to train managers for new the new restaurants. He says Arkansas was on the board and then they took it down. He states at least "24-36 months if at all".

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candacet Unincorporated Area

candacet

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No worries. You're doing well to type.

We appreciate the info. Nice to be able to call up a cuz and get the lowdown.

If Park Avenue, Midtowne and Park Plaza could become connected to enable more foot traffic, then I think the Midtown area would be ideal for just about any restaurant or retail establishment. Even a trolley car (shuttle bus) for the three centers would help and may even be preferable. It would be nice to be able to find one parking spot and not have to worry about finding another one for a while. Or, to walk down from St Vincent and be able to hop a shuttle and go to all three centers.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Little Rock has a better chance of getting a Nordstrom than a Macy's, Nordstrom is in expansion mode and would like to have at least one store in each state with a decent sized metro area. They just announced Birmingham AL and Baton Rouge, LA and Jacksonville, FL.

Metro Area 2006 Populations:

#48 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL CSA AL 1,180,206

#63 Baton Rouge-Pierre Part, LA CSA LA 789,986

#42 Jacksonville, FL MSA FL 1,277,997

#60 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR CSA AR 829,032

Florida Metro 2006 Populations with existing Nordstrom stores:

#11 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA FL 5,463,857

#20 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA FL 2,697,731

#21 Orlando-Deltona-Daytona Beach, FL CSA FL 2,633,282

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