Arvest Remodeling, Planning Local Branch

Lisa Ray, executive vice president of Arvest Bank-Bentonville, said her bank plans to follow its 2003 remodeling effort with the opening of a new branch in 2004.

The bank, one of the largest in the Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank Group Inc. chain, is adding 17,000 SF to its location on the downtown Bentonville square. Details about the project’s cost are not available, but it does include both landscape and interior work.

Ray said the lobby, asset management, loan departments and private banking sections are being expanded to meet customer demands. The project, she said, will add second-floor space and shows the bank’s commitment to Bentonville’s downtown merchants.

A more than 4,000-SF retail banking office is planned for an out-lot in front of the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at 3510 S.E. 14th St., across from the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. Additional details about the project’s cost and the lot’s footprint are not yet available.

Ray said the site near NWACC and the Rogers Industrial Park seems perfect.

“We saw that location was available and felt like with the way traffic is moving and the population is growing that we wanted to have it,” Ray said. “We thought it would be convenient for our customers.”