LITTLE ROCK — LaHarpe is a name as old as Little Rock. No, older.
French explorer Jean-Baptiste Benard de la Harpe “discovered” an outcrop that he dubbed la petite roche, or “the little rock,” on the south bank of the Arkansas River in 1722.
He was greeted by friendly Quapaw Indians, and so the trading began.
It’s still going on at La-Harpe’s Office Furniture at 318 President Clinton Ave.
Founded about 40 years ago by Russ Matchett, the store is owned by his son, Rusty, and daughter, Suzanne Hicks.
LaHarpe’s is the last streetlevel retailer in the River Market District that doesn’t fit in the arts and entertainment mold.
Until the mid-1990s, the area was mostly vacant warehouses.
LaHarpe’s now has signs in its windows offering “for lease ... bar/restaurant space ... build to suit.” Another sign says “showroom sale.”
Rusty Matchett says he is weighing options to find the best use for the 40,000-squarefoot LaHarpe’s Landing building, which he and Hicks own.
“We are by no means going out of business.”
He said he has hired an architect and plans to have a rendering of a plan in a few weeks.
LaHarpe’s Landing’s street level tenants also include WillyD’s, Prost Pub, a KATV, Channel 7, branch studio and a psychic. Upstairs are office tenants, he said.
“Something’s going to happen. And it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Whether LaHarpe’s Office Furniture maintains a President Clinton Avenue address or somewhere else in the city, [it] will be somewhere.”
Nobody asked, so I’ll suggest a name for a nightclub that might be built there. How about LaHarpe’s. Not original, I grant you, but it has kind of a bluesy sound, don’t you think.Or maybe LaHarpe’s Rock.
In a long, late-night session Tuesday, the Little Rock Board of Directors approved the plan for the building of a Chipotle Mexican Grill at the corner of University Avenue and Markham Street.
It will be the second restaurant at the southwest corner of the intersection, the other being a “tribute” McDonald’s that looks as much like an early version of the stores in the chain as a spiffy Elvis impersonator looks like the King.
“We aren’t looking to start construction for six months and, because it’s that far out, don’t have a completion date or opening date yet. Best case, it’d be late Q3 [third quarter] or even into Q4 before it opens,” Chris Arnold, communications director for the Denver-based chain, said in an e-mail.
Ernie Peters, who was engineer for the McDonald’s project, says the 2,200-square-foot Chipotle restaurant will allow for some nice recasting of the land after the five-story Baker Building is razed. The BakerBuilding was a handsome building in its day, but it has taken on a mid-century gothic look.
Peters was instrumental in the redesigning of the intersection to address traffic concerns caused by the McDonald’s. Besides, he observed, Chipotle’s doesn’t do breakfast.
McDonald’s business model has shifted more toward breakfast, so, Peters avers, its new amigo at the intersection won’t add to morning traffic.
If you have a tip, call Jack Weatherly at (501) 378-3518 or e-mail him at
Business, Pages 67 on 02/24/2013