Arkansas Business

The Motley Fool, above, asking which department store company is the better investment, Dillard's Inc. of Little Rock or Macy's Inc. of Cincinnati.

The answer might surprise you. But at the end of the day, the Fool considers both to be worth a hard look, as pessimism about shopping center space depresses share prices for each. You can literally get a bargain on both companies.

To Dillard's advantage -- its shares (NYSE: DDS) are up 80 percent (!) this year. And the Fool makes an interesting point: Dillard's stores are in areas where the population is older and thus still engaged in shopping centers and malls.

Meanwhile, here's word on a $1 million renovation of a Dillard's store in the Santa Rosa Mall at Fort Walton Beach. The store, which originally opened as Gayfers in 1977, was purchased by Dillard's in 1998, part of its $2.9 billion buyout of Gayfers' parent company, Mercantile Stores.