Moore Plans Second Firehouse Subs Shop

Austin Moore plans to open his second Firehouse Subs restaurant in early June in Fayetteville’s University Square shopping center at 2612 W. Sixth St. In mid-April, construction began to renovate the existing space.

After that, Moore said he will be looking for a location in Bentonville or Springdale and plans to open that restaurant “just as soon as we can.” He said it takes about 50 days to build a Firehouse Subs location. His father, Jerry Moore of Blytheville, is his business partner.

Moore opened his first Firehouse Subs on Feb. 14, 2002, in Fayetteville’s Kantz Center at the intersection of Arkansas Highways 265 and 45 (Mission Boulevard and Crossover Road).

According to Fayetteville’s hotel-motel-restaurant collections, Firehouse Subs brought in about $351,110 during the 10 months it was open in 2002.

Moore said that restaurant has been grossing about $1,200 per day, which amounts to about 240 sandwiches a day. That’s slightly below average for a Firehouse Subs, he said. In 2000, the average Firehouse Subs store had revenue of $529,000 per year.

Part of the problem could be location, Moore said. Kantz Center is on Fayetteville’s eastern edge. Moore believes Sixth Street will be a more convenient location for many people. A Hampton Inn is currently under construction near the site.

The chain is operated by Firehouse Restaurant Group Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla.

With more than 40 stores in four Southeastern states, Firehouse Restaurant Group hopes to open 300 more within five years.

RMG To Open Eatery in Fort Smith Mall

Restaurant Management Group plans to open a new cobranded eatery on April 28 in the food court at Fort Smith’s Central Mall.

The new restaurant will be cobranded MarketPlace Express and SnackPlace, which is a new concept for the Springdale company.

RMG has a MarketPlace Express in the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville. The company also owns MarketPlace Grill restaurants in Springdale, Fort Smith, Conway and Joplin, Mo., and Brioso Brazil in Bentonville.

MarketPlace Express is a quick-service version of the MarketPlace Grill and serves a selection of items from the MarketPlace Grill menu.

SnackPlace will feature “fresh snacks made fast,” the company said. Anticipated menu items include donuts, chicken wings, cut fries and nachos. Although diners can have a complete meal at the conventional meal times, SnackPlace will target the early morning and late afternoon snack periods as its core business.

The SnackPlace in Fort Smith will be open from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from noon-6 p.m. on Sundays.

Copeland’s Partners Open Pizza Pro

Two couples who own part of Copeland’s of New Orleans in Rogers have taken over the rights to the Pizza Pro franchise in Northwest Arkansas and opened a store in Bella Vista on April 14.

Joe and Jackie Muha and Joe and Jane Lisuzzo have named their new franchise company Laughing Cow LLC.

Joe Lisuzzo said the Pizza Pro currently offers the only pizza delivery service in Bella Vista. It also delivers to the northern portions of Bentonville, including Hanover, Stonehenge and most of the Hidden Creeks subdivisions.

Lisuzzo said the store has been taking anywhere from 160 to more than 240 orders a day.

“We plan on opening several more in the near few years,” he said.

Pizza Pro began in Jacksonville with one store. After opening stores in central Arkansas and west central Texas, founder Scott Stevens began franchising the Pizza Pro concept in 1992. Now, the company has 480 stores in 18 states.

In addition to pizza, the menu also includes stromboli, chicken wings, chicken tenders, hot sandwiches, cheese bread, bread sticks and cinnamon sticks.

Laughing Cow plans to open several more Pizza Pro locations in Northwest Arkansas within the next couple of years.

Scarpino Opens Off Dickson Street

Gina Berquist opened Gelateria Scarpino on April 22 in the building at 329 West Ave. in Fayetteville that also houses Berquist Photography, her husband’s business.

The store specializes in gelato, which is Italian ice cream. Berquist said she also serves various sorbet desserts for customers who want fat-free sweets or are trying to avoid dairy products. Gelateria Scarpino also offers spumoni cakes, gelato truffles and coffee.

Berquist said she opened the business in honor of her father and grandparents. Her maiden name was Scarpino, and her family is from Italy.

The store is open from noon-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, noon-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1-6 p.m. on Sunday.