Restaurants vital to Lowell growth and industry

Signs for several fast food restaurants stand next to the road Friday on South Bloomington Street near the intersection with West Monroe Avenue in Lowell.
Signs for several fast food restaurants stand next to the road Friday on South Bloomington Street near the intersection with West Monroe Avenue in Lowell.

Lowell's restaurant community continues to grow and the city looks to bring in more dining attractions.

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Signs for several fast food restaurants stand next to the roadway Friday on South Bloomington Street near the intersection with West Monroe Avenue in Lowell.

"We have a wide variety already," Mayor Eldon Long said. "A lot of fast food franchises, both corporate franchises and privately owned."

Lowell restaurants and eateries include:

• Acambaro

• Arby’s

• Day Light Donuts

• Dairy Queen

• Dicky’s Barbecue

• Domino’s Pizza

• Ellie’s Grille at Fast Lane Entertainment

• Evolve Paleo Chef

• Jim’s Razorback Pizza

• KFC

• Long John Silver’s

• La Carreta (food truck)

• La Taquiza

• McDonald’s

• Pizza Hut (carry out only)

• Sonic

• Subway

• Taco Bell

• Thai Ginger

• Shipley Donuts

• Tater’s Fresh Grill

Source: Staff report

There are 21 restaurants operating in Lowell, said Betsy Bennett, the city's finance clerk. Nearly all of the restaurants are national chains.

Springdale has licenses for 149 restaurants -- both fast-food and sit-down. There are approximately 200 sit-down and fast-food restaurants in Rogers. J.R. Shaw, executive director of Visit Rogers, says that estimate doesn't include several other restaurants that don't want to be categorized as either sit-down or fast-food. Bentonville has 138 fast-food and sit-down restaurants.

Two more chain restaurants are looking to open in Lowell, Long said.

"The Planning Commission has been working with Burger King and Wendy's," Long said. "As far as sit-down restaurants, we don't have anything on the plans as of yet, but we have had a lot of interest in the last year or two with those types of venues."

The commission approved plans for a Burger King at 121 N. Bloomington St. during a March meeting. The restaurant will be just south of Marvin's Food. A construction timeline announced at the meeting had work beginning by September.

Wendy's had to get a variance to build on the small lot at 104 S. Bloomington St. The 36,771-square-foot lot on the southwest corner of Bloomington Street and Monroe Avenue was a Kum & Go convenience store before that company built a larger site across the street. The old gas station has been demolished and the lot cleared in preparation for construction.

The commission has approved plans for both restaurants.

City leaders are in discussion with other restaurant developers, but Long said those talks are in the early stages and he won't yet reveal the name of those restaurants.

Tater's Fresh Grilled recently opened in the city. Long described the restaurant as a locally owned establishment that specializes in traditional cooking. Tater's is owned by Lace Henard. Henard's mother, Denise Smith, is the chef.

Tater's is at 109 S. Bloomington St. Smith said she and Henard have tried to acquire that location for the past two years, and that Scotty Turner, the owner of the building, was helpful and courteous.

"We wanted that location because most of Lowell is fast food, and we wanted a mom-and-pop's in that location," Smith said. "We have had three other family-owned restaurants, one for 16 years, and I've never had people treat us so well (as they have in Lowell)."

Restaurants are a major source of sales tax revenue for the city, Bennett said.

The state does not provide sales tax revenue breakdowns to show how much is brought into the city by restaurants, according to Jerry Hudlow, the city's finance director. Hudlow also said restaurants are a significant source of sales tax revenue.

Long described Lowell as the "hub" of Northwest Arkansas, perfectly located between Northwest Arkansas' four big cities. The location is ideal for motorists traveling between the counties to stop and eat. It is also an ideal lunch location for people who work in and around Lowell, with several restaurants located along Bloomington Street, he said. Bloomington is also U.S. 71 Business, one of the area's major north-south corridors.

"We're a city of 10,000, but (we become) a city of 30,000 during lunch time," Long said. "Those restaurants fill up very rapidly."

With J.B. Hunt Transport and Fed Ex building new facilities in Lowell that will bring in thousands of new jobs, the city will become an even more desirable location for prospective restaurants developers, Long said.

"We are uniquely positioned to continue to develop," Long said. "A lot of businesses are recognizing the quick access off of Interstate 49 and 71 Business, and they are bringing a lot of the service-related businesses to Lowell because of that aspect."

NW News on 08/29/2016

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