Back in March, we learned that Kosmos Greekafe would be opening a new location on College Avenue, in the former Arby’s building at 2136 N. College Avenue.
Kosmos is moving
Geno’s is moving
Signs at the new location
At the time, restaurant owner Michael Theodore told us he hadn’t decided whether the new restaurant would be a second location, or if he would be moving his business altogether. That question appears to have been answered, according to a sign posted next to the cash register at the restaurant.
“We’re moving July 2011,” reads the sign, which also touts ample parking at the new location, more dining space, and an expanded menu.
Just a few doors down from Kosmos on Dickson Street, Geno’s Pizza By The Slice also announced its intentions to move via a sign posted at the restaurant.
“Last Day June 12th,” is printed in red letters on one side of the door. “New location on 6th/MLK.”
Signs for Geno’s Pizza have been in place on the sides of the new building at 2920 W Martin Luther King Blvd. for a few months, and we noticed workers presumably remodeling the building over Memorial Day weekend.
An update posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page also touted free parking as one of the benefits of the new location.
From the restaurant’s Facebook page:
Genos is moving to a new location in Fayetteville. We will close the Dickson Street store on June 12th. The new store should be up and running soon after. Our new location is on Martin Luther King Blvd, directly across the street from Wal Mart and right next door to Walgreens. We will have sit down dining, drive thru and FREE parking.
Thanks alot Mayor. Dickson is slowly dying :(
I will miss Kosmos, but I hardly think Dickson Street is dying.
If you’re going to point fingers, point it at that WhACky thing getting $289k in fees from the city.
This is just a bad move for Kosmos in my opinion. They get foot traffic at their current location from both students and nearby professionals. They would have a different clientele at the new location. I have been told that they are month-to-month on their lease at the Dickson location, so they should give two locations a try and see how it goes. Now, people will have to go out of their way to go to Kosmos Midtown. I think they could have easily sustained both locations. Oh well. Will it be Starbucks or McDonald’s in the space next?
No offense, but I’ll trust that the folks running Kosmos probably have more insight into whether they can sustain two locations than do the anonymous pundits of the Internet. If the Dickson Street location was profitable, why would they close it and move to College Avenue?
No kidding. I scratch my head when the archair business owners come a calling with their free advice. I imagine Michael at Kosmos did virtually nothing for months but try to sort out what the best path was for him, his family and his business.
Wow. There will be trolls. It’s just my opinion, as I stated in my initial comment. That’s kind the point of comment sections. No one is trying to be an “archar” business owner, simply a surprised observer.
I’m a regular. It sure sounded like you were spending his money to me. If you’re going to quote a misspelling, at least spell the misspelling accurately.
Midtown already supports some good local restaurants. A drive-thru wouldn’t hurt them, IMO. Perhaps the real benefit of paid parking will be a revitalized College Avenue.
Too bad about Geno’s.
Are there any other by-the-slice pizza joints near Dickson?
Rogue, I think. Or maybe Pizza Hut will just move in?
haha pizza hut on dickson. hmmm do you have the inside info?? sounds about right the way dickson is headed.
Sucks to lose Kosmos, but I’m concerned about their ability to handle a drivethru. Maybe they plan on being busy enough to have food pre-prepped, but I usually get a Kosmos Burger and am waiting an absolute bare minimum of 20 minutes. That won’t fly on College. Not to mention they service Mt. Dew.
Speaking of 1 of only 3 places on Dickson that serves Mt Dew, Geno’s leaving is kind of the same deal. Their hours were super sketchy as they were often closed during their posted hours of operation. It was also typical to stop in for a slice only to find that they didn’t have any ready. Again, they were happy to throw one in the oven if you didn’t mind waiting 15 to 20 minutes. I finally stopped going for pizza just because it was always such a disappointment. Long story short….WE’RE LOSING ALL THE GOD DAMN MT DEW!!!!! Guess I’ll have to strike up a deal with Tokyo Sushi to let me refill my gas station cup.
Thank you for making us aware of the Mt. Dew situation. This kind of information is why I read the Flyer.
Paid parking has been such a wonderful success story!!! What are all you folks whining about? Paid parking had NOTHING to do with this. What do you mean Dickson St. is dying? McChipotle just moved in! Who needs all that mom and pop unique local business! City Gov’t is always right! Who are you yahoos anyway? I think Pizza Hut should move into Geno’s and another burrito place should move into Kosmos! Viva Fayettevegas! (pre-emptive apology…so perturbed I only have sarcasm left).
IN: Waffle House, Chipotle, “Ice Cream Shop That Cant Make Up Its Mind But Its Alright Cuz I Cant Afford It Nor Can My Waist Line”
OUT: Kosmos and Genos…. 2 out of about 5 eating places on Dickson I have ever cared about (JJ’s, Qdoba, Feltner – are the others).
$$$: Going somewhere else.
Winners: “U of Pay” & Waltons buyout the entertainment district.
Geno’s is moving across from Wal-Mart on 6th St? King Pizza is near there, too… kiss Geno good-bye
I really hope that one of these 2 restaurants is replaced by a burrito joint- that’d be the tops!
haha!
paid parking is the reason I haven’t gone to Kosmos as often. Just sayin’. going to a spendier restaurant or spending several hours at a bar drinking, the cost of parking doesn’t seem as taxing, but it is not sustainable to those smaller, quick food establishments to bear the brunt of consumers paying more for what used to be an affordable bite of food on dickson.
I’m happy to take my business patronage to college ave., where it is good to see a bit of revitalization going on, finally.
Another burrito joint would add a certain something to the burrito barrio, but I really would like to see something different, something FUNKY, if you will. Maybe a Fazoli’s? Isn’t it about time we had a legit Italian place in the entertainment district?
It’s your move Crown Pub!!!
Haha :) Toured both. Neither made sense for us. I was however shocked at the actual size of Kosmos. That place has a huge finished out basement.
Who did you contact to look at the Kosmos location? I haven’t been able to track anyone down and the employees don’t seen to have a clue.
Invariably, when politicians consider tax policy they assume static or minimal responses to changes in that policy. But the fact is people are very sensitive to changes in tax policy. We have entire industries built around minimizing and avoiding taxes. The federal CPA lobby is huge, and believe me they like the tax code complicated. Local politicians and their utopian defenders will claim “What’s another 75 cents for a dinner or night out on Dickson?” Well, we have seen on this pages and in real life plenty of people for whom that is a decision-changer. Just last week some friends refused to meet me for dinner at Chipotle simply because they didn’t want to pay to park. They were in town, but decided to eat somewhere in Rogers.
As a wise commentator says, “If you want less of something, tax it.” Isn’t that the rationale behind sin taxes on products like cigarettes and liquor? Well, at the margin paid parking means fewer cars parked, along with all the attendant implications for businesses in the district.
There is a limited amount of parking around Dickson and a good deal of demand for it, paid parking is a way to manage supply and demand. It’s a good problem to have, and all the complaining about it is rather odd–cars getting a smidge less subsidy is a non-problem.
That line of thinking worked before the adverse impact on businesses started showing up.
I doubt the real estate on Dickson will stay vacant long, but paid parking is definitely going to alter the character of the street over time. Turnover is going to be more frequent, which isn’t a good thing, IMO.
What’s done is done, and the total fall-out remains to be seen. Give it 3-5 years, when everybody’s lease has come up once for renewal. We’ll see how well those non-property-owning businesses fare. Most probably won’t default on their lease before the term is up, but some will think twice about re-upping.
That line of thinking still works.
Perhaps the area businesses should not emulate the local chamber, and not depend on subsidies from the public. Whether they own or rent.
So free municipal parking lots constitute an unwarranted subsidy in your view. Gotcha.
Ryan –
That line of thinking never worked. With the exceptions of game days and BBBBBBBBQ, there is plenty of parking on and around Dickson Street to meet the demand.
Your smug portrayal of on-street parking as some type of sop for business owners is such a stretch as to be laughable, especially considering that a third of the estimated parking revenue each year will go directly to one entity. Talk about subsidies!
Do you think the majority of people who live in Fayetteville use the trails? Or what about people who don’t have kids but still have to pay property taxes to fund public schools? Everyone subsidizes schools and trails regardless of whether they use them, and that’s fine, because they improve the overall quality of life in the city. Just like a downtown full of thriving, ideally local businesses improves quality of life, even if they receive the nominal subsidy of their customers parking for free on the street.
This paid parking system was poorly thought out and its implementation was even worse. It’s an expensive inconvenience for drivers. And like it or not, most people get around Fayetteville via car. Make parking in one part of town an expensive, inconvenient ordeal and people will go elsewhere. It’s already happening.
Yes this is off topic a bit BUT any word on what is going on at the former Boston Mountain Grill location on College?
They will do fine anywhere they go soooo good
Zaxby’s is going in the old Boston Mountain Grill site.
I just can’t wait for the new Kosmo’s to open! I love their gyros with feta but have been discouraged enough about the Dickson parking situation that I just stopped going there. I live just up the road from the new place so I’m pumped.
Is Three Spoons Yogurt already gone off of the Garland?
@Ann Yes. They closed around the end of the semester.
I’m SOOOO pumped about McDickson! It’s happening right before our eyes! Wow, now all those silly little mom and pop places are moving to College Ave.. Poor bicyclists, I’ll try not to run you over on College Ave as you pedal to all your fave places that have had to flee McDickson. What’s that? Gonna hafta give up bicycling and start using your car again just to get to the businesses you want to support? Well, I think that’s a great step forward as a way to Keep Fayetteville Funky…er, I mean Insipid.
This. Actually, frick bikers, so this may be the only upside to me. Just picture watching those hippie-ass hipster bikers, spilling their starbucks on their tight euro-pee-in shorts as they try to cross College Ave. GLORIOUS!
I’m with the emoticon and the acronym: clearly this has something to do with bicyclists!
It’s actually pretty boring riding down College. The key to it being boring is riding in the middle of the lane. Everyone sees you 3/4 of a mile back and changes lanes to pass. A group of cars goes by and you got the road to yourself for 45 seconds before the next group shows up.
Most annoying parts are the hills.
While I am not for pay parking, if supporting the local businesses you enjoy rests on one extra dollar (assuming you would only be in Kosmos or Geno’s an hour), then’s that’s lame.
Again, in a utopian, academic world a dollar one way or another should not factor into these decisions. It doesn’t stop me from dining on Dickson multiple times per week. But in the real world it clearly is limiting a lot of people, and whether that is “lame” or misguided or legitimate doesn’t change that fact. Business has slowed and restaurants are moving away, and all cite paid parking among the reasons.
If we and our administration are just indifferent about downtown/Dickson, by all means remove the subsidy. But most everyone feels that this part of town should protect its character. That means that every restaurant can’t have 50 private parking spots without tearing out half the street. So we as a community used to subsidize parking. The conclusion from current policy is the adminstration and council have now become indifferent.
This may be the most well-constructed argument I have seen on here in a while.
You probably didn’t go to the U of A. XD.
Thanks, ! With a name like ! it’s hard to write that sentence and make it look grammatically correct.
You and your crystal ball are very perceptive. I did go to college out of state, but I grew up in Northwest Arkansas and now live near and work on Dickson Street. The unique character of this part of Fayetteville is very important to me and I hope it remains more or less unchanged for generations to come.
In the restaurant business, one dollar (+ a bit of inconvience) means a lot. Think about how enticing 10% off at a restaurant is… considering it is actually saving you less than a buck for one person typically. The problem is that as much as I love Kosmos; I have plenty of other choices that I also love so it doesn’t take much to push me away from Dickson. Now that they’ll have a location closer to where I live and parking is a breeze, I will indeed eat there much more often. That isn’t lame; that’s the free market.
change happens…restaurants have been coming and going on dickson street for the 40 years i’ve been around…not sure why people want to place blame.
we don’t have enough parking downtown. i see it firsthand, living on dickson street half a mile east. this is a way to get a parking deck. restaurants not on dickson have had to provide their own parking from the start. they’ve never complained about that. dickson street has gotten a free ride until recently, and it still does every day until 2.
Yes, change does happen, and over the years, many Dickson Street/downtown restaurants have closed for any number of reasons. But I’m not buying the notion that there’s this incredible parking shortage downtown, just like I’m not buying the idea that on-street parking is some kind of unfair subsidy these businesses are receiving.
Curious to those who have the “parking isn’t that expensive, pay up” mentality. Businesses are leaving Dickson Street. That’s a fact. When they’re all gone, where are you going to go? That’s right, you’re going to go to other areas of town. Which means even less business traffic on Dickson. People are so short-sighted. Think of the big picture. This erosion will catch up to you, eventually. The city isn’t able to give more than a quarter of a million to the WAC, give subsidies to things like BSBBBBQ etc and maintain viability.
Having lived in a very large metropolis where free parking is rare and parking spots are at a premium, I do understand the need for paid parking. However, I’ve lived within a block of Dickson for the past 5 years and this isn’t the case here. There is plenty of available parking to satisfy demand, except for the busiest days ex. Blue Man Group at the WAC or Hogs home games.
Since paid parking has been imposed, I’ve seen a few things. For one, rows of empty parking spaces, empty lots and empty streets. For all you Dickson supporters out there, it’s damn hard to make a business work on Dickson. Think of all the failed ventures, the revolving door on the train depot, the location that is now Hammontree’s and the former Sunrise Cafe. There is also a former retail space near Willy D’s that has been empty for years. Successful non-bar businesses are actually few and far between.
The argument that $1 shouldn’t make a difference is just ridiculous. If I’m going to Kosmos for a meal that will cost me $8, adding a $1 for parking is adding a 12.5% tax. When even the owners of Doe’s hate the parking situation, it IS a problem.
People resent having to pay for parking when they are looking at rows of empty parking spaces. In fact, they resent the parking fees so much that they park in front of businesses that DO offer free parking and ruin THEIR business. Feltner Brothers used to have their parking spaces poached by people going to Dickson to such an extent that it started to affect their business. They teamed up with the other businesses in their building to share free parking and monitor the use.
Paid parking and the city’s asinine policies are killing Dickson.
Sometimes supporting the things that are important to you means paying more and putting up with some inconvenience. If free parking means more to you than supporting a specific business, disregard my comments. I bet they do sound ridiculous.
The blame for businesses failing on Dickson should not be shifted to “petty consumers” or people not as idealistic as yourself. If Dickson suffers because of paid parking, the blame falls with the city administration too smug to listen to public opinion.
Hear hear!
clearly supporting these small businesses has made Dickson such a terrible place that it now has paid parking?
the plan and government should be concerned with supporting small businesses that have put Dickson where it is rather than trying to get rid of them (mission accomplished it seems).
let chipotle and waffle house reap the benefits of a successful entertainment district built by small businesses and the people who loved and supported them when Fayetteville was not as lucrative.
the people who REALLY care about these businesses will ENCOURAGE them to LEAVE DICKSON and follow with their money.
Burgerboy,
I don’t think patrons should be held solely responsible for any ill-effects. However, there has to be a more positive way to send a message to the city government besides withholding money from businesses you frequent. Is that too idealistic? I sure hope not. Otherwise, things are going to get sad out there.
That is absolutely too idealistic. If businesses were booming on Dickson it wouldn’t matter how much we protested city hall, colletected signatures, etc., the city would just point to to the fact that business is booming as justification for the paid parking system. Your optimism reminds me of the firefox guy that ran the Opal Fly music feelgood jamorama place into the ground. He seemed to believe the community would just rise up and help the place out and that it was the peoples’ fault they had to close. That just isn’t how business works.
That guy was trying to shirk his responsibility. I’m trying to claim mine as a consumer. If I stubbornly refuse to give my money to Dickson Street, I don’t feel like I have a right to complain when its character changes into something I don’t like. Plus, the idea of waiting for city hall to take the hint after businesses I like close just doesn’t appeal to me. Obviously, it appears that I am in the minority with this stance. I can accept that.
I understand what you are saying. I think that many people, self included, have gone out of our way to support local businesses. In many cases, people who read the Flyer are the people who make the conscious choice to support Fayetteville and all its unique businesses.
The anger on here is mostly because we see our local businesses community being hurt by poor choices made by city hall. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
I hate the attitude of “well, if a few bucks for parking makes some people stop going to Dickson Street, those people don’t deserve a thriving entertainment district in the first place.”
All of this needs to be factored in when the city asks us to pump more money into the WAC machine via A&P funds in the next election.
That’s really funny you’d mention Foxfire (aka foxy fly), dudes a nutjob and he really did expect the city to help him out when he didn’t pay taxes or hold up most of his responsibilities. Then he expected to be backed up by citizens when he said the city and other concert promoters were personally attacking him because he was “competition” he had one of the best venues in town awesome vibes and drinks and opal is an amazing musician but he refused to use those tools given along with failure to capitalize on free weekend parking on the square and ultimately DROVE HIMSELF out of town and into the woods along with the runaways he harbored. (btw it’s opal fly’s feel good lounge)
@ globallylocal
you said it all. it is a shame (and unnecessary) that that place failed…twice in a row! Great location, good atmosphere. I’d like to see more nightlife on the square.
Without a doubt it is the change to paid parking. Do you folks think that the proprietors are lying? And for what purpose? It is expensive to move and I am sure that none of them would do so, given the choice. People seem to be willing to go to extremes to argue against the obvious. I fear that this is the voice of developing machine politics in our city.
As a fairly new reader to the flyer, I have noticed a few things. One of them is that we all like to complain. Whether its paid parking, a new road through campus, or some concert hall going to be built, all we do is sit here and post our views as if they really mattered. I for one used to enjoy sitting here in heated discussions about how my idea on how things should work was so much better than everyone elses. However, honestly I am kind of tired of it. It doesn’t really change anything, all i found myself doing was at the end of the day was complaining. That being said, how about we DO something about these issues. We elected these guys…. we can get rid of them. If our community can get Chipotle to remove their sign, we can certainly take this city into our hands and remove the leaders that approved paid parking and all the other nonsense. I thinks its about time we organize and start picketing outside the mayors house, pass out flyers, basically form a guerrilla grassroots effort to change our elected representation.
Burgerboy, robertoncampus, are you going to do it? Or are you just going to sit here and whine about it and never actually attempt something radical, a revolution.
It’s easy to blog under a disguise, its harder to get out in the light and demand change.
First person to organize and start picketing dickson, or dump a pile of parking tickets in front of city hall gets my vote. This town needs more radicals, there is a small one hidden inside everyone, all we need is a leader….. and maybe a lawyer
Communicating through online forums of targeted local public discussion is about as grassroots as you can get. It’s essential to present counterpoints and continuous reinforcement of the toxicitiy of public decisions at every opportunity.
The silent majority that votes and spends may not be apt to visit any city hall or picket line, but they do read and form opinions daily. People reading the Flyer want to know more about their town, and they likely have an emotional stake in Fayetteville, no matter how they choose to get involved (voter, shopper, vocal citizen, etc.). Awareness of the current city council’s repeated failings can manifest itself productively in ways beyond a simple headcount at a city council meeting.
Use every tool at your disposal to make things better. A genuine boots-on-ground campaign ensnares a lot of time and money that working people can’t always spend. If you have the initiative and drive, lead the revolution.
Bill -
I no longer live in Fayetteville, so I won’t be organizing any protests or even voting in city council elections. But I love the town, I lived there for 10 years and I’ll probably move back someday. I have what OffCamber might call an emotional stake in Fayetteville.
So realistically, when I see a debacle like this paid parking situation unfolding, what better course of action do I have than trying to present well-reasoned arguments against it on a forum that’s pretty widely read by people who do live and vote in Fayetteville. Perhaps it could change someone’s mind on the issue. Maybe it won’t. Either way, I enjoy the conversation and I’m happy I can keep up with what’s happening in my old stomping grounds.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that referring to any political action taking place in Fayetteville as a “revolution” is a bit of an exaggeration, especially in light of the actual revolutions happening all over the middle east right now.
Bill–
I am choosing to spend my money elsewhere instead of supporting the city because when the tax revenues start to hurt, they might start listening. For example, I think the city allowing BBBBBBBBBBBBBQ to go on is a travesty. For five days, my home become unlivable because of the extreme noise (I live two blocks north of Dickson), the illegal parking all over my neighborhood, the dangerous driving conditions and the overall crassness of this t-shirt and food extravaganza. For the last two years, I have left the state of Arkansas during BBBBBBBBBBBQ, choosing to spend thousands of dollars elsewhere than to support this disgusting “festival”.
Likewise, if I can’t walk somewhere, get free parking, or park illegally for a few minutes to get food, I will not patronize a business.
I am putting my money where my mouth is.
In light of what seems to be happening, I’d prefer the A&P revenues go towards extending the pedestrian/aesthetic improvements on College Avenue up to Township. I remember that there was a plan for the same sidewalk/lighting/access scheme Rock to Maple to be put in place from School to North Street.
Bury those College Avenue powerlines like we’ve talking about doing for 20 years.
Spend the money there. Put sidewalks and plant trees along College Avenue instead of tying up the money for a “black box” theater that may or may not ever get built in Fayetteville.
Thanks, Burgerboy, for your appreciation for College Ave. improvements. The original plan was to go from MLK to North, just as you say. I was lucky to get Council approval for the stretch that got done. It needs to extend to Township. That’s the worst part of the street. I have been following the paid parking discussion. You are right. The system is much too complicated, inconvenient, and expensive and local businesses are suffering for it.
Re paid parking, the complication/inconvenience is the issue (plus, it IS too expensive). No one wants a hassle, a learning curve (in inclimate weather or limited free time) or inconsistent operational issues on the front end of going somewhere. You may deal with it once in a great while but in general, you’re going to say “no way”. Downtown has absolutely been strangled. I am down there every week (days and nights). It’s obvious. In nice weather, it should be packed. Hustle and bustle…people everywhere. It’s not. Serious misstep that needs correcting. I remember thinking that Dickson would always have the upperhand on any surrounding area’s attempts at nightlife. Sad times.
Paid Parking on Dickson Street was supported by business after business. After it was implemented some adjustments were made. This is a neccesity for the area. Geno’s pizza is terrible and was dying on Dickson Street, half the time they were closed anyway. Dickson Street will be here for a long time folks so get use to the paid parking and support the city lots. It is interesting to see the Coodster chiming in, looks like he wants to get back involved in local politics. Coody supported paid parking and actually started that snowball. Dan – do yourself a favor and save the embarassment and stay out of local politics. We can hardly take another season of you on the courthouse steps hawking everyone and you throwing city employees under the bus.
I’m a Dickson Street business owner who absolutely did not support paid parking. It was (and remains) horrible timing. Like a suffereing business deciding to double prices to survive. Not a good idea. It needs to be simplified, suspended or done away with.
“This is a neccesity for the area.”
Oh looky here…another condescending city hall clone.
At least Dan admits now that it isn’t working. City Hall isn’t even honest with themselves.
This is an example of the people who will insist you give $6 million more to the WAC this fall “because there isn’t another viable plan for the money”. They certainly won’t come up with any options for you.
How negative, whoever you are. Only people who you like can express an opinion? The parking plan I envisioned was very different than what got carried out.. Kinda like the difference between College Ave, and Block Ave. Both are enhancements, but one is straightforward and simple, the other, not so much. Do yourself a favor and lighten up. Life’s too short! Have the courage to sign your name when you dis someone.
That reply was to “Dickson Street Parking”.
Coody said ‘dis’…if this were facebook, i’d thumbs that up for sure!
PurpleSkittles likes this!