TEXARKANA, Texas - Hopkins Icehouse fans brace for change as the Texas-side establishment at Gibson Lane will undergo a change when a new seafood restaurant moves into the location.
"We will still own the property, but a new restaurant business will be taking over this location," said Hopkins owner David Jones.
A new entity made contact with Jones about a month ago and a deal was closed, brokered by Reynolds Realty.
"Taking the long view of the finances, we decided this would be the best option," Jones said. "This will scale back some of my day-to-day responsibilities. This has nothing to do with COVID and business remains good at both Hopkins locations. I just decided a scale-back at this time made sense."
The current crew at the Gibson Lane Hopkins will remain in place for the new establishment.
"The new operators are renting the entire building," he said. "There will be some redesign to fit the new restaurant and some new equipment will be moved in. The Texas-side Hopkins will continue serving our customers until about mid-September. The new operators will be lining up licenses and permits during that time. They should open the new place about a month after that."
Jones says all this will have no affect on the original downtown Texarkana location on the Arkansas side as it will continue operations as usual.
"I see the downtown location as an institution and continuing to operate for some years yet," Jones said.