NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - In this age of online shopping, large regional malls are in trouble and big box stores have already done a number on local strip malls.
That has to mean big trouble for places like Lakewood Village Shopping Center in North Little Rock, which is a combination of the two. With several famous brands recently closing their doors, drivers and shoppers on McCain Boulevard could easily get the impression the place is heading for hard times. But managers here say business is better than it looks.
“Every shopping center has turnover,” said Gregg Mueller, the director of operations for the Ashley Group, property manager for Lakewood and dozens of other retail locations. “That's just part of having a shopping center. It is a difficult time or a changing time for retail with the internet sales that are going on and through Amazon and all the others.”
But despite the recent store closings, Mueller points out the good old days weren’t always so good.
“When we bought the mall in 1994 there were only 160,000 square feet in here and then only 60 percent of it occupied,” he said. “Today it’s twice the square feet and 94 percent occupied.”
A fountain and pool at the center of the complex is shut down and, which is one reason people think times are tough for the shopping center. But Mueller says they have a plan to turn the eyesore into something other malls might envy.
“The pool was something every tenant paid for. We spent money to repair the fountain, then found out the pool would need some extensive work,” Mueller said. “So we’re looking into turning it into something that is revenue positive as opposed to something that costs our owners money.”
Mueller said it could be an enclosed space or a plaza for kiosks and retail carts. It will fit the push to brand the property as an outdoor “lifestyle shopping center.”
“Lifestyle shopping centers are kind of the new thing as opposed to regional malls that are enclosed,” he said. He also pointed to a new tenant attracted by the open space Lakewood Village offers.
"The thing about this business is people want to come in and kick the tires of the vehicles,” said Julie Briscoe. “They want to see the parts and handle the parts. You can't do that with online retailers.”
The amphitheater and empty pool will come in handy on that opening day.
"[R.C. car maker] Traxus is going to send up a number of demo vehicles,” Briscoe said. “We'll be running demonstrations all day long. That’s part of the reason we liked that space out there, this parking lot is so full, we can't do it in the parking lot. We had to have that extra little space out there.”
As for filling the high-profile roadside vacancy in the old Dixie Café, Mueller says a chain restaurant called Black Bear Diner out of California begins remodeling Monday Oct. 29 with an opening planned for Feb. 2019.