Talk of Costco Wholesale Corp. circling the Little Rock market persists.
Some linked the company scouting a store location near the northwest corner of Interstate 430 and Col. Glenn Road plus dirt work on the property as an indication that a deal was done. However, we’re told the equation doesn’t add up to a Costco development.
The dirt work has nothing to do with Costco, which recorded sales of more than $118 billion at the end of its Sept. 30 fiscal year. The dirt work in west Little Rock is merely improving the property with free fill material hauled from the Lowe’s construction site at the northwest corner of Kanis and Bowman roads.
For now, Costco officials are in a Catch-22 with the Little Rock market, unable to match an acceptable price with an acceptable location.
They like the midtown location at the northwest corner of Interstate 630 and University Avenue, but the price for the old Sears site is too steep. They like the price of sites farther west but the locations aren’t ideal.