New Balance Open, Bookstore Coming To Downtown Rogers

By Lana Flowers

Posted: November 16, 2009 at 3:55 a.m.

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ROGERS — A shoe store with a pedorthist to do custom fittings, a used and collectible book store and an upscale men’s clothier are adding to the Rogers business base.

New Balance opened in early September at 1720 W. Walnut St. in Rogers, in a former bedding store near Walgreens. New Balance sells athletic shoes, workout gear and accessories. It has five full-time employees, including Scott Hall, a pedorthist who does custom shoe fittings and makes custom shoes and orthotics.

Rogers building inspection records show it cost $31,692 to remodel the New Balance space.

Hall said New Balance is owned by Bart Dickinson, who also owns New Balance stores in Hot Springs and Little Rock. Dickinson is the son of David Dickinson, who owned Tops Shoes in Springdale before it closed earlier this year.

Bauman’s Fine Clothiers, an upscale men’s store selling suits, shirts and grooming products in The Shoppes at Pinnacle Hills, is doubling its space.

Owner Donnie Hubbard said he will spend about $50,000 to renovate an adjacent, vacant space to double the 1,400 square feet Bauman’s now has at 3300 Market St. Suite 130, in Rogers.

“It’s a little cheaper than it was three years ago,” Hubbard said of commercial real estate.

The additional space will mean adding a tailor and a tailor’s assistant who also will press high-end clothing, like Hugo Boss and Zegna suits, Hubbard said.

He also plans to add a lounge in the rear of the store, with leather couches and a large-screen television, along with complimentary cocktails for regular customers. Those who prefer nonalcoholic drinks can take advantage of Bauman’s coffee service, with deliveries from nearby Silver Joe’s, Hubbard said.

Bauman’s first came to Northwest Arkansas in 2006 with a temporary location along Horsebarn Road in western Rogers, as a satellite of the Bauman’s Cantrell Road location in Little Rock.

Downtown Rogers has The Friendly Bookstore, selling donated, used books, games, videos and other items to support the Rogers Public Library.

Now Myra Moran, who owned a bookstore in Little Rock for eight years, plans to open her own used book store in downtown Rogers.

Trolley Line Bookshop will open Tuesday at 110 W. Walnut St., in the space Opel Beck’s clothing store occupied for more than 40 years.

Trolley Line Bookshop has about 1,350 square feet, two full-time employees and two part-time employees, Moran said. She did minor renovations to the space and did not require a building permit.

Moran will sell scarce, hard-to-find books in several subject areas, but won’t stock paperbacks or popular “book of the month” club books, she said.

Trolley Line will have about 12,000 books in its inventory and Moran also will offer book search and book appraisal services.

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