FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Northwest Arkansas Mall is recovering from the effects of the pandemic and is now revitalized thanks to its management and young entrepreneurs.
22-year-old Jack Goshert, the owner of NWA Hype, used to collect shoes as a hobby. He eventually began hosting events for resellers, and in 2021, he opened NWA Hype in the Fayetteville Mall.
"We pretty much took over the whole sneaker game around here," Goshert said. "A lot of clothing brands that are like popularized with fashion and entertainment industries, celebrities, rappers, athletes."
The store has grown in popularity among younger audiences in Northwest Arkansas. Its reputation precedes it as many athletes, musical artists, and fashion influencers visit the store while in the area. The young entrepreneur says opening his storefront in the NWA mall was very easy for him and has seen a lot of profit.
"You don't have to get someone to show up to a strip mall or you know, walk outside in the weather. So it's really easy to get that organic foot traffic, word of mouth, people learn about you when they come to the mall," Goshert said.
Starting in the middle of the pandemic, the NWA Hype owner noticed the impact of COVID-19.
"There was almost nobody in here and more people were moving out and moving in," Goshert said.
"There were restrictions at first, but I think what it was that brought everybody back in here was just the cabin fever," Ben Adams said.
Ben Adams has worked at the mall's Auntie Anne's since 2015 and became the owner in 2020.
"I'd say there's almost twice as many people on it on any given Saturday in here," the Auntie Anne’s owner said.
Adams attributes new management to the growth of local businesses in the mall. He says that business owners have also changed how they sign their lease contracts, as they used to be based on sales.
"Ever since COVID started, you can't, you can't really do that. Because it's really hard to project what sales will be," Adams said. "It has been the common perception for the last decade or maybe two decades or so that malls are dying. And I think that this place is a perfect example of that not being true."
The owner of the Auntie Anne's explained that many college students visit the mall daily and that it doesn't slow down during the summer. With their success in the NWA Mall, NWA Hype is looking to expand to downtown Bentonville.
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