Gateway Town Center, located at the intersection of I-30 and I-430 in Little Rock, will open a new outlet mall in July of this year.
According to Tommy Hodges, the owner of the site, The Outlets at Little Rock plans to bring 80 fashion retailers on 30 acres only 12 minutes outside of Little Rock. Currently, an exit is being added to the freeway to minimize traffic build up.
Little Rock native, junior Grace Crall, is excited to see what stores will be opened at the 325,000 square foot outlet center.
“I will definitely go visit the mall when it opens,” Crall said. “Little Rock doesn’t have the best shopping, so when I heard about the outlet mall I was pretty excited. Shopping is something my mom and I do together and the new place is close to where she works, so we will definitely have some fun when the place is done.”
Gateway Town Center is also allowing businesses to come purchase space next to the mall for economic improvement purposes. Apart from the shopping center, the Gateway Town Center will be adding a few new restaurants on the available 170 acres.
Senior Natalie Heyen is living in Searcy over the summer and said she hopes to visit the new eating establishments. Heyen said she hopes that the mall will be a great place to visit for a girls’ day.
The Outlets at Little Rock will be built just a little under an hour out from Searcy, located next to the Bass Pro Shop that opened in November of 2013. For more information and upcoming dates visit www.gatewaytowncenter.com.
Another shopping venue that will soon be closer to Searcy is Ikea. Famous for their modern and inexpensive furniture, a store is scheduled to be open in Memphis, Tenn. in early 2016. Before the construction of this store, the closest Ikea was located in Atlanta, Ga. According to the Memphis Daily News, the Swedish furniture store will also be fitted with a restaurant.
