Upscale Liquor Store Opens in Bellafont

The Bottle Wine & Spirits opened March 4 in the Bellafont retail center off Joyce Boulevard in Fayetteville.

Jay Gillespie, the store’s owner and general manager, said he closed Westside Liquor in Fayetteville and moved its license to the new location, where there is less competition and a larger customer base for the store’s high-end selection of wines, liquors and craft beers.

The store features original oil paintings by Jane Wier, and iron and glass shelving by her husband, David Davidian. Gillespie said the staff of seven has a combined 50 years experience in the liquor business.

The 5,000-SF store, at 1364 E. Augustine Lane, is a couple of doors down from Firehouse Subs. The 1,600-SF space in between will be “another business that will complement The Bottle,” Gillespie said cryptically. “We hope to have something going by the fall.”

Bellafont was originally a project of former Northwest Arkansas developer Brandon Barber. One of its financing banks, Enterprise Bank & Trust of Clayton, Mo., was listed in Barber’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition filed in July 2009 as holding a secured claim for $15.85 million.

The bank now owns Bellafont and has it up for sale, Colliers International broker Alan Cole said. He wouldn’t disclose the asking price.

Barber’s petition also listed a $1.8 million claim from Mason Hiba, who sued Barber in 2007 for failing to have the 10,000-SF Bellafont building that houses Masons Boutique completed on time.

Mellow Mushroom moved into a third building of the development in 2008.

Two of Bellafont’s five buildings are vacant. Cole said space is listed at $20 per square foot.

Bellafont will soon get a fifth tenant, however. Cole said a health and nutrition store recently signed a lease, but he couldn’t give any details about the transaction.