Concerns for downtown Jonesboro following restaurant closures

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - After three restaurants have closed in the past two weeks, people are wondering what is next for downtown Jonesboro.

Sunny’s on Main permanently closed on Saturday, July 23, Donburi in Huntington Square closed indefinitely on Tuesday, Aug. 2 and Eleanor’s announced its closure for Sunday, Aug. 7.

Even though many have shut their doors, Sarah Doss with the Downtown Jonesboro Alliance said this is not out of the ordinary.

“Businesses closing downtown is never an exciting thing, however, there is a lot of turnover with small businesses like that, so unfortunately that is something you have to expect,” she said.

The heart of any city is the downtown. Even though turnover may be normal, many think that the future is a little uncertain, but Doss urges people not to be too worried.

“It isn’t super uncommon to see some turnover and see business sell and owners decide to go in a new direction,” she said.

That is exactly what Eleanor’s is doing. While the downtown pizzeria announced they were closing, they later said on Tuesday, Aug. 9 they would be reopening as Uncle Taco.

“Thankfully in a lot of cases like Eleanor’s businesses owners will see the value of being downtown and staying downtown,” Doss said. “Although their mission or their whole business plan is changing they would want to stay downtown.”

The owners of Eleanor’s said they had one message they wanted to get across: “Downtown is not dead.”

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