After more than 50 years of operating in the Riverdale area, the last vestiges of Alltel, the former Little Rock communications company gobbled up by Verizon, are moving out west.
About 225 Verizon employees, many of them remaining since the sale of Alltel a decade ago, have found a new home in the former Transamerica building that is part of the sprawling complex of office facilities in the area bounded by South Shackleford, South Bowman and Kanis roads.
The size of the workforce and space they're occupying at 1400 Centerview Drive -- about 33,000 square feet -- is about one-third of the work space Alltel moved into when it opened the first office building at the Riverdale campus in 1982.
Alltel migrated to Riverdale in the mid-1960s, occupying about 6,000 square feet in the Mart Building at what is now the corner of Cantrell and Cedar Hill roads. Alltel purchased the building in 1970 but needed more space a decade later.
The company moved its headquarters about half a mile away, starting the campus on Riverfront Drive and creating a new access road: One Allied Way. The initial facility -- Building 1 -- was nearly 94,000 square feet.
Over the next two decades, Alltel put up five large office buildings, totaling about 725,000 square feet, all occupied by company employees. At the end, the campus was home to about 2,000 employees when Verizon came calling.
Today, it's a campus divided by different tenants and known as Riverfront Plaza.
In February, the Arkansas Development Finance Authority bought Building 4 for about $26 million. More than 700 employees of agencies within the Arkansas Commerce Department finished moving into the building this month, in what officials said was the largest relocation of state employees in 25 years.
Other state agencies scheduled to move into the building include the Bank Department, Development Finance Authority and Office of Skills Development.
Buildings 1, 2, 3 and 5 are managed by Colliers International, which also has its Arkansas headquarters on site. The two largest tenants are Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Novasys Healthcare.
CLOSING THE GAP
Our holiday greetings this year have not been so bright -- with central Arkansas experiencing closings of national retailers, Sears and The Gap.
Brick-and-mortar stores turning out the lights has been a major trend this year. Coresight Research reports that closures this year have exceeded 2018, with estimates that total shutdowns could reach 12,000 by the end of 2019. By comparison, just under 6,000 major retail closings were announced in 2018.
In November, Sears announced that it will close its last store in Arkansas next spring. The North Little Rock store has been an anchor for McCain Mall since its opening in 1973.
Also in November, Gap closed its store in Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers. Then last week the company announced that it would shut down its last specialty store in the state, in Little Rock's Park Plaza mall, in January. Gap Factory remains open at the city's outlet mall.
The San Francisco international apparel chain said it will close about 230 Gap specialty stores over the next two years. Likewise, the Sears store in North Little Rock is one of 50 the retailer announced that it was closing.
The retail fashion industry was stunned when Barney's announced its closing earlier this year. Other nationally known large general merchandise and fashion retailers have not been immune to reducing operations: Nordstrom said it would close six stores this year and Macy's announced that it had plans to close four stores.
The numbers for retail closings in 2019 have been alarming: Payless ShoeSource closed more than 2,000 stores; Family Dollar shut nearly 400 outlets; Forever 21 closed about 175 stores; LifeWay Christian Stores shut down its entire chain of 170 stores in 30 states; Pier 1 closed more than 140 stores.
That movement keeps marching ahead with no sign of reversal. Coresight Research noted that even more national retail chains plan to shutter stores in the coming year.
Women's clothing retailer Chico's said it will close up to 250 stores; Bed Bath & Beyond announced up to 60 closings; Kmart will turn off the Blue Light Special at 45 stores in 2020.
Little Rock has seen its share of changes with high-end apparel stores. Greenhaw's Fine Men's Wear closed this summer after 45 years in business; Barbara/Jean, Bauman's Fine Men's Clothing and Mr. Wick's Men's Clothing all changed ownership.
Online shopping has replaced the retail experience. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that February was the first month in history when online U.S. retail sales were higher than general merchandise sales.
Indeed, many shoppers walk into retail stores today merely to put eyeballs on clothing -- or take a quick trip to the fitting room to see if a piece is sized right -- and then go back home and buy the same outfit online.
"The impact of online shopping was devastating to our business," Greenhaw's owner Greg Herr said at the time of closing. "I can't tell you how many people came in just to look at clothes so they could buy them online. It was amazing and it wasn't going to change anytime soon."
ENERGIZING THE HALL OF FAME
Entergy Corp. is being recognized for empowering communities with efforts that go beyond the daily work of lighting up homes.
The company, which operates the largest electric utility in Arkansas with 700,000 customers, has been selected to be in the inaugural class of the Corporate Citizenship Hall of Fame, which documents the history of corporate philanthropy and social responsibility.
The hall of fame is being established as part of the 20th Annual Citizens Awards. The hall commemorates companies and their leaders, employees and business partners for contributing to improve society. The Citizens Awards recognize public-sector organizations each year for their efforts to improve the communities they serve.
Entergy, based in New Orleans, is being recognized by the hall of fame for its "legacy of creating and sustaining strong, healthy and vibrant communities." Collectively, the company's shareholders donate nearly $18 million to more than 2,000 organizations.
In Arkansas, Entergy contributed $1.8 million in 2018 to programs that helped support tax preparation for individuals and an effort that helps low-income customers pay their utility bills. The company's retirees and employees logged 26,074 volunteer hours in 2018 for an economic impact of $643,767. The company has about 2,800 employees in the state.
Companywide, Entergy employees dedicate more than 100,000 volunteer hours every year. In 2018, they contributed 112,000 hours of service, translating into a $3.5 million economic impact to communities.
In addition to Entergy, Cisco, DSM North America, GSK, Merck and UPS were inducted in the inaugural class.
Column ideas or recommendations? Thoughts or musings that need pursuing? Contact me at [email protected] or at 501-378-3567.
SundayMonday Business on 12/22/2019