West Little Rock

[vbfl85]

According to Arkansas Business, Moses Tucker wants to redevelop the vacant kmart into a multi million dollar medical office plaza. 

[ecity3138]

7 hours ago, vbfl85 said:

According to Arkansas Business, Moses Tucker wants to redevelop the vacant kmart into a multi million dollar medical office plaza. 

This is a waste of prime space for what could be a potential opportunity for other purpose such as retailers like Costco, restaurant row, or an indoor Entertainment center. The medical office plaza could been built in the middle part of town near St. Vincent or UAMS.

Edited September 28, 2018 by ecity3138

[Arkanzin]

Apparently the former Tia's and Famous Dave's location will become a daiquiri shop.  

[SangreRaVen]

A daiquiri shop.... hmm.... 

 

-R

[Architect]

5 hours ago, Arkanzin said:

Apparently the former Tia's and Famous Dave's location will become a daiquiri shop.  

Tia's....hadn't thought about that place in a while!

[SangreRaVen]

Article on Rock City Eats mentioned West End Tavern is closing. 

 

http://www.rockcityeats.com/little-rock-shows-overall-positive-restaurant-growth/

 

-R

Edited October 2, 2018 by SangreRaVen

[ecity3138]

3 hours ago, SangreRaVen said:

Article on Rock City Eats mentioned West End Tavern is closing. 

 

http://www.rockcityeats.com/little-rock-shows-overall-positive-restaurant-growth/

 

-R

And yet another longtime dining spot closing. The Little Rock restaurant market is slowly declining regardless of whether it’s local or a chain eatery.  I know that Catheads Diner and other local eateries opening near the downtown area but the future of the restaurant scene in West Little Rock and other parts of the city  is slowly fading away.  It is not a good sign for other eateries looking to open in the city to see all these closures.

Also, the local restaurants that the article mentioned about opening this year are mostly bars (ex Fassler Hall) and nothing special. Sad!!

Edited October 2, 2018 by ecity3138

[Architect]

And yet another longtime dining spot closing. The Little Rock restaurant market is slowly declining regardless of whether it’s local or a chain eatery.  I know that Catheads Diner and other local eateries opening near the downtown area but the future of the restaurant scene in West Little Rock and other parts of the city  is slowly fading away.  It is not a good sign for other eateries looking to open in the city to see all these closures.
Also, the local restaurants that the article mentioned about opening this year are mostly bars (ex Fassler Hall) and nothing special. Sad!!

The point of the article is that there are more openings than closings this year. Either way, restaurants close EVERY year. Is 2018 statistically different from a typical year? I’m not sure we can categorically say it is “declining.”


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[ecity3138]

1 hour ago, Architect said:

The point of the article is that there are more openings than closings this year. Either way, restaurants close EVERY year. Is 2018 statistically different from a typical year? I’m not sure we can categorically say it is “declining.”


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I disagree with the article stating there are more openings than closing this year. I get tired of seeing so many restaurant closing on the Arkansas Democrat Restaurant transition section back to back that it’s depressing.  I understand there will always be restaurants closing every year but when there’s restaurants closing almost every single week and back to back that raises a red flag. This has to be the worst year for the restaurant market compare to previous years.

Edited October 3, 2018 by ecity3138

[Architect]

10 minutes ago, ecity3138 said:

I disagree with the article stating there are more openings than closing this year. I get tired of seeing so many restaurant closing on the Arkansas Democrat Restaurant transition section back to back that it’s depressing.  I understand there will always be restaurants closing every year but when there’s restaurants closing almost every single week and back to back that raises a red flag. This has to be the worst year for the restaurant market compare to previous years.

Do you really know if it's worse?  I'm not arguing...I'm asking a legitimate question.  Unless you have comparative data, it's impossible to say.

[EJC]

The premise that the Little Rock restaurant scene is struggling is beyond ludicrous. There are so many great dining options in this town I don't even have a chance to enjoy them all in spite of eating out far more than I should.  And yeah, I eat on the west side a lot.  Plenty of options there, and in so many other neighborhoods.  West End closing is not a loss for the Little Rock consumer - at all.

[ecity3138]

2 hours ago, EJC said:

The premise that the Little Rock restaurant scene is struggling is beyond ludicrous. There are so many great dining options in this town I don't even have a chance to enjoy them all in spite of eating out far more than I should.  And yeah, I eat on the west side a lot.  Plenty of options there, and in so many other neighborhoods.  West End closing is not a loss for the Little Rock consumer - at all.

The reason why this premise is brought up because there’s been multiple restaurant closures reported in the newspaper back to back and it does raises a red flag with our restaurant market. Everyone is entitled to their opinions as well as taste buds, but there’s not that many good reasonable price local dining spots in the West Little Rock area (besides burger joints, coffee shops, upscale steakhouses, etc) with all these unfortunate restaurant closures. Also, West End was a Little Rock staple and it is very sad to see them go after so many years of being in the local restaurant/nightlife industry. 

It would only be a matter of time when more restaurant closures be announced before the end of this year including some popular spots specifically in the western part of town. A couple of years ago, Little Rock was booming with several local and non-local restaurant openings announced all in one year, however, this year was completely the opposite with more closures announced than openings and it just not chains either. The Northwest Arkansas market is seeing a surge of restaurant openings this year and was even mentioned on the Arkansas Business site a couple of months ago, however, the Little Rock market seems to be losing its luster. This got to be fixed.

Edited October 3, 2018 by ecity3138

[LRretail]

I’m heavily involved with the restaurant industry in our city.  From someone that is on the ground in the field I can unequivocally state that the market has reached saturation point.  Possibly this happened last year. There are more dining options than ever for the consumer. While the consumer may love that, it absolutely doesn’t work for the owners of the businesses.  This year I’ve talked to many restaurant owners both chain and independent that have experienced a significant shift in the industry. Off premise sales are increasing while on premise dining is losing steam by the double digits.  

We are beginning to see many long time restauranteurs have second thoughts about their business.  Many new owners are finding that business isn’t what they had hoped for.  There was mention in previous comments that “there’s so many options I can’t eat at them all” and that’s precisely the problem.  The market is saturated and you can’t eat at them all and that kills business for some folks.  So while business is usual for openings and closings perhaps on an annual basis, I can tell you from being ingrained in the industry that this year is worse than last year by double digits and last year was worse than the year before by high single digits. 

Edited October 6, 2018 by LRretail

[ecity3138]

On 10/6/2018 at 7:48 AM, LRretail said:

I’m heavily involved with the restaurant industry in our city.  From someone that is on the ground in the field I can unequivocally state that the market has reached saturation point.  Possibly this happened last year. There are more dining options than ever for the consumer. While the consumer may love that, it absolutely doesn’t work for the owners of the businesses.  This year I’ve talked to many restaurant owners both chain and independent that have experienced a significant shift in the industry. Off premise sales are increasing while on premise dining is losing steam by the double digits.  

We are beginning to see many long time restauranteurs have second thoughts about their business.  Many new owners are finding that business isn’t what they had hoped for.  There was mention in previous comments that “there’s so many options I can’t eat at them all” and that’s precisely the problem.  The market is saturated and you can’t eat at them all and that kills business for some folks.  So while business is usual for openings and closings perhaps on an annual basis, I can tell you from being ingrained in the industry that this year is worse than last year by double digits and last year was worse than the year before by high single digits. 

The market is saturated with restaurants that basically serve the same food item on the menu. As I mentioned in a previous post, we can’t have dozens of burger joints (ex: Burger 21, David’s Burger, Big Orange, Freddy’s Frozen Custard Steakburger, Five Guys, and Wayback Burgers)  in the city that claimed they served the freshest ingredients on the menu such as organic burgers or steak burgers as well as Mexican or Chinese restaurants around the city. There’s  too many of those type of cuisines that confused consumers on where to dine at. The city lacks a true seafood restaurants (not counting Cajun’s Wharf, Red Lobster, or Arthur’s Ocean Seafood restaurant to which I adore), Italian restaurants (other than Olive Garden, Bravo, La Madeline or Bruno’s downtown), family theme type dining, and other cuisine not found in the city. There are plenty of cuisines that the city would love to see such as more Thai, Indian, and Caribbean style cuisine (would be great if Bahama Breeze would come here).

I guaurantee you there still room for more restaurants that don’t serve the same type food as existing restaurants. We don’t need another Chinese restaurants, Mexican restaurants, burger joints, bar style restaurants, or fish and chicken joints such as Shark’s Fish and Chicken or Eat My Catfish though I do love the latter. We need something different to introduce to the Little Rock market. We also need  kid theme restaurants (many people has been requesting this for awhile) such as Purple Cow or All Aboard restaurants where family of ages can enjoy not just breweries or same old traditional restaurants. A unique family theme restaurant (I can come up with plenty of theme type dining from scratch that kids and families would enjoy while still providing excellent food and service) will help draw in more people because it’s something different from traditional restaurants such as Applebee’s and Chili’s. Thats one reason why Purple Cow is expanding its business north of the river due to its unique atmosphere as well as unique food such as Purple Vanilla Ice Cream or Milkshake.

Overall, the market is saturated with restaurants with the same type of cuisines rather than saturated with restaurants in general.

Edited October 8, 2018 by ecity3138

[SangreRaVen]

The new Kum & Go is getting closer to opening, all the signage is up and they are testing the main signs that display the gas prices. Looks like they have just a little landscaping left to finish and some final interior work. 

 

-R

Edited November 1, 2018 by SangreRaVen

[LRretail]

On 10/8/2018 at 9:07 AM, ecity3138 said:

The market is saturated with restaurants that basically serve the same food item on the menu. As I mentioned in a previous post, we can’t have dozens of burger joints (ex: Burger 21, David’s Burger, Big Orange, Freddy’s Frozen Custard Steakburger, Five Guys, and Wayback Burgers)  in the city that claimed they served the freshest ingredients on the menu such as organic burgers or steak burgers as well as Mexican or Chinese restaurants around the city. There’s  too many of those type of cuisines that confused consumers on where to dine at. The city lacks a true seafood restaurants (not counting Cajun’s Wharf, Red Lobster, or Arthur’s Ocean Seafood restaurant to which I adore), Italian restaurants (other than Olive Garden, Bravo, La Madeline or Bruno’s downtown), family theme type dining, and other cuisine not found in the city. There are plenty of cuisines that the city would love to see such as more Thai, Indian, and Caribbean style cuisine (would be great if Bahama Breeze would come here).

I guaurantee you there still room for more restaurants that don’t serve the same type food as existing restaurants. We don’t need another Chinese restaurants, Mexican restaurants, burger joints, bar style restaurants, or fish and chicken joints such as Shark’s Fish and Chicken or Eat My Catfish though I do love the latter. We need something different to introduce to the Little Rock market. We also need  kid theme restaurants (many people has been requesting this for awhile) such as Purple Cow or All Aboard restaurants where family of ages can enjoy not just breweries or same old traditional restaurants. A unique family theme restaurant (I can come up with plenty of theme type dining from scratch that kids and families would enjoy while still providing excellent food and service) will help draw in more people because it’s something different from traditional restaurants such as Applebee’s and Chili’s. Thats one reason why Purple Cow is expanding its business north of the river due to its unique atmosphere as well as unique food such as Purple Vanilla Ice Cream or Milkshake.

Overall, the market is saturated with restaurants with the same type of cuisines rather than saturated with restaurants in general.

I can honestly tell you that it's a lot of both.  There are far too many restaurants that serve the same food.  (la Madeleine btw isn't a Mexican place.  It serves French food.)  However that's the restaurant scene everywhere, even in larger markets.  The difference is that there are enough people to support lots of different brands in the same space.  With 200k or so in Little Rock city limits, alot of the restaurants compete with each other across types and spaces.  I don't agree with your assertion that there's room for more restaurants without further diluting existing restaurants that are already in operation.  Thai and Indian places have opened up and have done "OK" but not well enough to write home about.  Most of those folks are owner/operators who basically bought themselves a job.  

It's honestly very hard for consumers to expect more diversity in choices outside of the norm as you describe (burgers, Mexican, pizza, fish/chicken, etc) when that's all the local residents support.  Restaurant developers see that in their demographics because they do their homework before coming to market.  I respect your opinion and/or observations about what you think you see in the market but I encourage you to talk with some existing restaurant owners and see what their experience is this year versus last and 2017 versus 2016.  85% of the respondents I talk to in the market (especially in Little Rock) tell me that this year sales have been down.  I don't see how lower sales justifies opening more restaurants just for those stores to open with a six month honeymoon season only to close in less than five years.  This is of course just my field observations in the market, for what its worth. 

 

[SangreRaVen]

The new Kum & Go on Chenal is now open.

 

-R

[Architect]

4 hours ago, SangreRaVen said:

The new Kum & Go on Chenal is now open.

 

-R

I'll have to admit, as far as gas stations go, it looks fairly nice.

[SangreRaVen]

Yes it was, stopped in after work. Got a coupon for a free breakfast sandwich

[Arkanzin]

18 hours ago, Architect said:

I'll have to admit, as far as gas stations go, it looks fairly nice.

They are.  I wish there were one in the midtown area.  They keep their stores and properties clean, unlike other chain convenience stores.   

[SangreRaVen]

I went to David's Burgers over the weekend and one of the employees mentioned that David's might be moving from that location but she did not know where yet. Has anyone heard anything about this? I imagine it is possible considering half of the building is pretty much unused and if someone new comes in they might want the whole building... Not sure where David's would move considering that this seems to be a pretty good location for them. 

 

-R

[dnashobviously]

11 hours ago, SangreRaVen said:

I went to David's Burgers over the weekend and one of the employees mentioned that David's might be moving from that location but she did not know where yet. Has anyone heard anything about this? I imagine it is possible considering half of the building is pretty much unused and if someone new comes in they might want the whole building... Not sure where David's would move considering that this seems to be a pretty good location for them. 

 

-R

I have been hearing for years from a friend who works in a CVS pharmacy that CVS has wanted this spot for many years.  

[SangreRaVen]

 I could see that, they seem to like to open near Walgreen's from what I have noticed. Just curious where David's could go if that happens and still stay in WLR.

 

-R

[Arkanzin]

3 hours ago, SangreRaVen said:

 I could see that, they seem to like to open near Walgreen's from what I have noticed. Just curious where David's could go if that happens and still stay in WLR.

 

-R

What about the old Mimi's location?  

[SangreRaVen]

Possibly, I imagine they would either need to gut and remodel it or demolish the current building in favor of a new one though. It might be a decent spot for them though, guess it all depends on why they are moving for sure and if they want to stay in WLR. 

 

-R