Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. is taking its big-box fun bar to Little Rock, likely to the Outlets of Little Rock, which is under construction at the intersections of Interstates 30 and 430, two independent sources confirmed Tuesday.
The state Senate passed a bill Monday that would make it easier for Dave & Buster's to come to Arkansas by changing the monetary limit on gaming arcade prizes from $12.50 to $500. Senate Bill 745 appears to target Dave & Buster's by upping the prize limit for facilities larger than 25,000 square feetat places that offer a full-service menu during operating hours and are in counties with a population of 350,000 or more adjacent to a navigable river. Such a place would also have to have at least 100 amusement devices.
Only Pulaski County fits the bill in Arkansas.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
The I-30/I-430 interchange is used by more than 100,000 travelers each day and is within a 90-minute drive of about 1.1 million residents. Tommy Hodges, who developed the Gateway project where the outlets are located, said in December that the Gateway also is being pitched for nightlife, such as restaurants and other kinds of entertainment.
"We're taking the tack that this is a unique destination unlike really any other in the state," Hodges has said.
State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, said Tuesday that he has been told that the gaming arcade would go near the Outlets of Little Rock, though he has not spoken directly with the company. Several attempts to confirm information with the arcade-restaurant chain's headquarters in Dallas were unsuccessful.
Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. owns and operates 70 locations in North America, offering the opportunity to "eat, drink, play and watch" all in one. Each facility features a full restaurant and bar, live sports viewing and the Midway -- home to an assortment of redemption and simulator games, according to a research note from investment banking firm Jefferies, which began covering Dave & Buster's in November.
The company is traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "Play."
"Dave & Buster's combines upscale casual dining fare with an exciting beverage program, best-in-class sports viewing facility and a modern-day arcade for adults, setting it apart from typical casual dining experiences," said Jefferies analyst Andy Barish.
Rumors that Dave & Buster's was going to Little Rock date back to as early as 2003. Founders Buster Corley and the late Dave Corriveau ran two bars side-by-side at Union Station in Little Rock in the late 1970s, according to the company's website.
The "two very different establishments enjoyed a brisk trade," with Corley's known as a favorite watering hole and Corriveau's dubbed Slick Willy's World of Entertainment, the site said. The two men became friends and partners and took their concept for Dave & Buster's to Dallas, where they opened their first shop in 1982. They felt Little Rock didn't have the population they needed for the venture back then.
Corriveau, who was from Arkansas, died last month at age 63. He had stepped down as president and director of Dave & Buster's in March 2007, after the company was purchased by an affiliate of Wellspring Capital Management LLC, a private-equity firm in New York, according to a recent article in Nation's Restaurant News.
Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. returned to the public market last year in a $94.1 million offering and is poised for growth, according to Barish's note. He predicted that the company would expand three times its current size in the U.S. and expand overseas.
"Management has put the systems in place to support new unit and sales growth," Barish said.
Business on 03/25/2015