ecity3138

According to Arkansas Times, a Mexican restaurant name La Chingada is coming to the former Library Kitchen and Lounge space in the Rivermarket District. While the name sounds odd, I think it’s interesting to see a Mexican restaurant across from another Mexican restaurant, Diablos Tacos & Mezcaleria. I was hoping another business would open in that spot that would be a big draw to the area rather than another typical Mexican restaurant that would hardly draw any visitors or locals to the area. https://arktimes.com/eat-arkansas/2023/08/21/la-chingada-opening-in-the-river-market-in-former-space-occupied-by-the-library-kitchen-lounge?fbclid=IwAR2v6OICq7YjEUsGEJ9Ou8rwvmgkeWy0lYwOui28RJoUJHEiHGO7VwH89rs_aem_AdhNDdY5RCXJOHDvhf1En8dXxgGGkJUIpNEOq5h3OgpYnsxk9xPyJyGw6_JD_ZoHRp8

Construction of Top Golf is coming along nicely. Anybody know when will it officially open to the public?

According to Kark, Aldi’s is opening a Little Rock location in the now closed Bed Bath & Beyond space on Chenal Parkway. https://www.kark.com/news/business/aldi-usa-buys-location-of-former-little-rock-bed-bath--beyond-report-claims-grocer-putting-in-storefront/

Here is an interesting article from Arkansas Money and Politics regarding the new owners plan for redevelopment of Park Plaza. It would be interesting to see what plans they have to turn Park Plaza around. Hopefully, they will add much needed restaurants and entertainment options such as an small aquarium (ex: Sealife Aquarium https://www.visitsealife.com/) or 3D thrill theater to the mall in addition to traditional shopping. https://armoneyandpolitics.com/?s=Park+plaza

According to THV11, the Library Kitchen and Lounge has close its doors at the River Market due to financial strains from the pandemic and other factors such as parking issues at the River Market. https://www.thv11.com/article/money/business/river-market-restaurant-closes/91-a0ce5c00-703b-4a80-854c-c9cbce3a83a1

While I’m glad to see the former VA Hospital finally getting a redevelopment, I just can’t see people living at the building once it being converted into apartments . The developers of this project first needs to remove all the asbestos (in the pipes) in the building which will be very expensive to remove. This was one of the reasons the former VA Hospital shut down and relocated to the current facility on I-630 next to UAMS. Also, there has been rumors of the building being haunted especially at night with weird noises heard throughout the building. Despite that, I’m glad the building is finally getting a facelift instead of just sitting there deteriorating.

According to THV11, Main Event will open on January 27, 2023 in the space previously occupied by Gordman’s Department store in Shackleford Crossing. The company lists a Little Rock location as coming soon on their official website (see website below) and are currently hiring for multiple positions for the entertainment venue. This is a great addition to the City of Little Rock that lacks in true family entertainment options besides Chuck E Cheese, Big Rock Amusement Center, and a few trampoline parks. https://www.thv11.com/article/money/business/main-event-little-rock-opening/91-b51f7aee-a6c9-4837-8829-b11466cf58ab https://www.mainevent.com/littlerock/

Honestly, they can omit the tech driven golf venue for this development and focused on more family fun destination such as an indoor theme park in its place. There are two proposed high tech golf range venue coming to both North Little Rock (Maly's Entertainment) and the actually Top Golf planned for Little Rock city limit. We need a true family fun entertainment center such as a dome shaped indoor theme park that featured rides, carnival games, and carnival foods such as the ones seen at the fair (ex: popcorn, corn dog, funnel cakes, pizza, etc). I prefer something like this as the main attraction rather than another trampoline based park and a third planned high tech golf venue around the metro area.

Arkansas Times reports that Soul Fish Cafe on Main Street will be closing on August 7 due to not agreeing on lease renewal of the space. I’m surprised to see them shut down as the place has always been pretty busy the times I passed the place. Source: https://arktimes.com/eat-arkansas/2022/07/24/soul-fish-cafe-to-close-in-august

Did Shorty Smalls close on Rodney Paraham in LR? I drove by there the other day and notice no cars in the parking lot in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

It will be located in the former Gordman’s space. Main Event typically requires at least 50,000 square feet of space so the former Babies R Us space is too small for a Main Event location.

Maly’s Family Entertainment Center is the propose high tech golf venue and entertainment center in North Little Rock where the former Wild River Country once occupied. Yes, the entire Outlet Mall area (Gateway Towne Center) is within the Little Rock city limits.

Nice. I hope it’s like the other locations in Texas and across the country.

iFly is a skydiving simulator center in which guests can experience a simulated version of skydiving in the sky. They have locations in Dallas and other major cities. It would be a great addition to include them in the mix of entertainment options that’s sprawling around the Central Arkansas market. Website: https://www.iflyworld.com

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, however, I tend to disagree on the fact the market can’t handle two. Some people may not like a venue that just centered around golf and prefer more varieties such as bowling or laser tag. There’s some that could careless about bowling, arcades, and laser tag and just want to play simulated golf. At Shackleford Crossing, there’s two steakhouse restaurant right next to each other that are doing perfectly fine. Same goes for Trader Joe’s vs Whole Foods along with Costco vs Sam’s. Both of these business are performing exceptionally well despite the competition. Competition is good because it forced other competitors to upgrade the quality of their customer service, products, and reasonable price. Just look at the price of Sam’s gas station when Costco opened their gas station in the same area. T- Shotz and Top Golf are both in Kansas City metro area and while Kansas City metro area is much bigger than Little Rock metro they still have to compete against each other to survive such as great customer service, great value for families, atmosphere, and quality food. I love Central Arkansas as well and is very impressed that entertainment venues like Top Golf, Main Event, and Maly’s Entertainment Center express interest in the Central Arkansas market. I am confident that these venues will perform well if they decide to open locations around the Little Rock metro area and hope many more entertainment venues (ex: iFly would be a great addition to the market) would soon land in the Central Arkansas market in the future.