Rogers Has Myriad of Local Businesses

More than 2,100 businesses have a city license to operate in Rogers.

Most of those businesses are classified by the city as service industries, other than professional. The city has 687 service businesses registered.

The second-most common category is contractors, electricians and plumbers. The city has issued business licenses to 540 such businesses.

The next-largest category is sales. The city has registered 415 businesses that list sales as their primary business.

Professional services, such as accountants and medical clinics, compose the next-largest category with 224 business licenses.

The other categories include rental units, 92, restaurants, 73, manufacturing, 61, child-care facilities, 17, and catalog houses, zero.

The Rogers Area Chamber of Commerce provides a more detailed list of the business structure in the city based on its membership roster.

The Business Journal has compiled a list of those businesses including only those that are based in the city. A number of businesses based outside the city join the chamber but are excluded from the list.

The most common business, based on chamber membership, is restaurants and clubs. There are 46 restaurants and clubs that belong to the chamber, twice the number of any other business, and more seem to be opening all the time.

The second-most common business is real estate. There are 23 real estate agencies that belong to the chamber. Among those is the state’s largest agency, Harris McHaney Shearin Realtors, and the Rogers office of Lindsey & Associates Inc. of Fayetteville.

Close behind the real estate business is the insurance industry. Rogers has 22 insurance agencies that belong to the chamber.

The city has an equal number of dentists and gift shops. There are 16 of each registered as members of the chamber.

Another unusual combination is the equal number of churches, automobile repair and hotel/motel businesses that belong to the chamber. There are 15 of each in the city.

Construction companies and banquet/meeting room facilities also have an equal number in the city at 13.

Based on the chamber membership list, the Journal found there are 12 lawyers, medical clinics and financial services providers in the city. There are 11 banks and 10 used car dealers.

Women’s clothing stores is next on the list with nine. There are eight certified public accountants, bakeries, caterers, florists, grocery stores, moving and storage businesses and social service agencies in the city.

Next in line are architects, building material stores, engineers and printers. There are seven members of each business registered with the chamber.

Among the less common businesses, each with only three registered members, are antique dealers, boat dealers, chiropractors, cleaners and country clubs.

Businesses with only two members in the chamber are advertising agencies, appliance stores, barbers and funeral homes.

Even less common, each with only one registered member, are auctioneers, baby furniture stores, business and management consultants, coffee service, costume rental, educational supplies stores, engravers, import/export businesses, fire alarm companies, garden centers, nursing homes, public golf courses, gymnastics schools, limousine services, martial arts schools, orthodontists, pet grooming and boarding, psychologists, roller rinks, siding contractors, commercial trash hauling and weight control programs.

There is a category for but no registered member for senior services.

A similar survey of Springdale businesses last year illustrates some differences between the two cities.

Like Rogers, the most common business in Springdale is restaurants. There are 84 restaurants licensed to operate in Springdale, about 20 percent more than any other business.

The second-most common business is automobile repair. Automobile repair also ranked high in Rogers but substantially lower than the 60 businesses licensed in Springdale.

There are also significantly more beauty salons and related businesses in Springdale.

The businesses were the third-most common in Springdale with 49 while there are five beauty salons and two barber shops in Rogers.

Businesses that participate in and support the trucking industry and poultry industry are much more common in Springdale than Rogers.