Out With Furniture, In With Another Starbucks
Last updated Saturday, September 29, 2007 8:45 PM CDT in Business
By Anita French
THE MORNING NEWS
Businesses closing, consolidating or opening -- and another literally rising from the ashes -- are making the news this week.
Two furniture stores are folding up their tables, so to speak, and moving on. Abetica, the modern furniture store opened just last year by Dan Stiel in downtown Rogers, is closing next month "due to too many other business distractions and demands," Stiel said in a news release. He did not return a phone message seeking further comment.
Stiel opened Abetica in the 2,500-square-foot former Union Block building, built in 1897 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Stiel said at the time he spent about $65,000 to remodel the space and around $250,000 on inventory. He started out with three full-time employees with hopes of hiring more, he had said.
"We have made the difficult decision to close the Abetica store, effective sometime in October," Stiel said in the news release.
Items can still be ordered on the Internet at www.abetica.net.
ABIDE CLOSING
Over in neighboring Bentonville, Abide Furniture and Interiors has sold its store on South Walton Boulevard and will close at the end of its $3 million store-consolidation sale that began Friday.
The furniture and interiors store will relocate to its Springdale location at 4176 Thompson St., according to a news release. President George Abide declined to offer any further details.
"We will release information when we want to," he said in a phone interview.
Abide said in his news release that he was consolidating the stores to continue the company's tradition of serving customers in both cities and "insure our longevity."
The Lynch Sales Co. of Michigan is coordinating the sale.
The Bentonville store opened in September 2003, according to the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce and reportedly has around 10 employees. The Springdale store opened in 1995 and employs around 20 people, according to manta.com, a Web site that profiles companies.
INN RESTORATION
On the good news side, a historic inn that burned down in Eureka Springs last summer is coming back. Construction is set to begin next month on the All Seasons Inn on Spring Street, and architect Larry Troillett said it should be completed in six to seven months. The 3,700-square-foot inn was located in a former church building bought by owner Pat Fitzsimmons, who lovingly restored the historic structure with Victorian design.
"It's probably the most important thing I've ever done (and) it was devastating what happened," she said about the inn and the fire that destroyed most of it.
Fitzsimmons said it took her 10 years to get the project completed initially. The church's old parsonage was reopened two weeks ago and construction will soon start on the former Sunday school, she said. The sanctuary was the only portion that didn't burn in the fire.
Design of the new building will be basically the same as the old one, said Troillett of Johnson Troillett Architecture in Eureka Springs. The inn will have the same colonnade but two dormers will be added, he said.
WE ALL SCREAM ...
The former Noodles restaurant building on College Avenue in Fayetteville has a new tenant. MaggieMoo's ice cream is opening Thursday in the remodeled building and taking up between 1,400 and 1,500 square feet, said Tracy Hoskins, whose wife, Celeste, is the owner.
The store will have around 50 employees eventually, Hoskins said. It is the first MaggieMoo's in this section of the country, and he and his wife have plans to open more in Northwest Arkansas and the region, Hoskins said.
MaggieMoo's is a franchise brand of NexCen Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: NEXC). The company owns, licenses, franchises and markets a growing portfolio of consumer and franchise brands including The Athlete's Foot, Bill Blass, MaggieMoo's, Marble Slab Creamery and Waverly.
ANOTHER STARBUCKS
Meanwhile, Fayetteville also is getting another Starbucks, along with some office and retail space. Crafton, Tull, Sparks and Associates submitted plans for a 9,075-square-foot development near Kantz Center at Citizens Drive and Crossover Road. The commercial development includes 1,750 square feet for a Starbucks coffee shop, along with spaces for offices, retail and a restaurant.
Construction is set to begin by the end of the year, said Scott Rogerson of Lindsey Management, which is managing the property. No tenants other than the Starbucks have been selected, and Rogerson couldn't provide a construction cost figure or completion date.
BEEBE BOOK
Finally, since we mentioned Poor Richard's Art Gallery last week it's worth noting that Arkansas first lady Ginger Beebe will visit that downtown Rogers store from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Monday to sign copies of her 2008 Arkansas Artists Engagement Calendar Book. The stop in Rogers is part of the 20-city book-signing tour.
The engagement calendar contains 88 works of Arkansas art selected from 270 submissions. All proceeds from the calendar will benefit the Arkansas Governor's Mansion Association. The calendar can be purchased at Poor Richard's or The Rabbit's Lair next door.
Anita French is a business reporter with The Morning News. If you have new business or development news, please e-mail: afrench@nwaonline.net.
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