The news that a Big Whiskey’s franchise is opening in Bentonville left the owners of the Big Whiskey’s in Little Rock with heartburn.
Big Whiskey’s of Little Rock LLC said it had the franchise rights to Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar in Arkansas.
That’s according to a four-page complaint filed last month in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
The Little Rock franchisee didn’t find out until after the fact that Whiskey Holdings LLC, owned by Shane Miller of Bentonville, had secured the rights to a location in Bentonville.
The northwest Arkansas Big Whiskey’s is expected to open until early next year.
In a LinkedIn profile, Miller said that he has “plans for several more locations in Northwest Arkansas over the next few years.”
The Little Rock Big Whiskey’s, though, said it had the right of first refusal for any Big Whiskey’s in Arkansas, according to the lawsuit filed by John Keeling Baker of the Mitchell Williams law firm in Little Rock.
The Little Rock Big Whiskey’s wants the judge to award the franchise rights to it and prevent the northwest Big Whiskey’s from operating the franchise.
The northwest Big Whiskey’s had not filed its answer in the case as of Thursday.
We didn’t hear back from the corporate Big Whiskey’s of Springfield, Missouri.