THAT'S BUSINESS

Chicken or boutique: Bowman Curve comeback?

A shopping center that once defined the western boundary of retailing in Little Rock lost its anchor, and perhaps its bearing.

The Buffalo Grill closed July 31, and with it went much of the traffic, the lifeblood, of Bowman Curve I.

Since then, Cooper Realty Investors of Rogers had been looking for a suitable replacement.

It's looking no more, you may have heard.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken will open a restaurant in that 8,400-square-foot space, or about two-thirds of it, sometime this summer.

And the Gus's franchise holders in Arkansas probably won't stop with two, you probably have not heard. They hold the rights to eight surrounding states, according to Seth Jenkins, a manager at the Little Rock River Market store.

Repeated efforts to reach the owners, Daniel Bryant and William Slabaugh, were unsuccessful.

After the Buffalo Grill closed, another major tenant in the center, Lindsey's Pools and Spas, moved out. But that will change soon when RK Collections Boutique moves into that 5,800-square-foot space.

RK Collections, which specializes in women's fashions, is increasing its space nearly fivefold as it moves this week to Bowman Curve, said manager Josh Mayville. It is moving from the Cantrell Heights Shopping Center, where it has had temporary quarters since August, Mayville said.

The space it will occupy is on the end of one of the three nodes that front the center along Bowman Road, along with J. Oliver's Fine Jewelry, another stalwart.

It may prove the axiom that what goes around comes around.

And, if true, it couldn't come at a better time for the shopping center and its companion, Bowman Curve II, which were built in 1988 and 1989, respectively, and have seen a downturn in recent years with the opening of malls east and west of them.

RK has been in the Promenade at Chenal, one of the newer open-air malls in west Little Rock that had siphoned off some of Bowman Curve's tenants -- including RK Collections.

The shop had been at Bowman Curve for about 10 years before going to the Promenade, and is looking to recapture the momentum that had launched it westward, Mayville said.

Jim Keith, development and leasing manager for Cooper Realty Investments in Rogers, said, "We feel like we've got some positive energy."

Asked about a half-dozen or so vacancies at Bowman, Keith said the number is down from a year ago.

Asked which came first -- the chicken or the boutique? -- he said he didn't really know.

No small part of the shopping center's renewed energy is Mid-State Appliances, which opened in July during the shopping center's doldrums.

Its LG scratch-and-dent appliances business has exploded. It started with a 1,700-square-foot space and now has expanded to 5,600 square feet, said Diane Crafton, who owns the store with her husband, Jim.

And the couple have diversified, now offering Ashley furniture overstock, Diane Crafton said.

The Craftons plan to open another store in Hot Springs, she said.

Gus's, a Memphis-based chain, opened its first outlet in the state on May 27, 2013, in the River Market. And it has made a niche for itself in the Little Rock restaurant market, according to the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Of 836 restaurants in the city, it ranked 172nd in revenue last year, after being open only six months of 2013.

As you might expect, if it comes from Memphis, it's liable to have humble beginnings -- like blues, rock 'n' roll and barbecue. Gus's is no different.

Man v. Food, a Travel Channel staple that ceased a couple of years ago after the clever and amazingly hungry Adam Richman ate himself into early retirement, informs us that the business was hatched in the 1950s in a shack in Mason, Tenn., about 40 miles from Memphis.

Gus's eventually moved to Memphis, and, well, some great things that started there have flourished.

If you have a tip, call Jack Weatherly at (501) 378-3518 or email him at

jweatherly@arkansasonline.com

SundayMonday Business on 06/01/2014

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