Seriously? . . I tried it once and the selection was just too poor. . .

Check it out again Jbrown . . . they've added a lot of nice produce and dairy items to their selection.

I will. thanks

I may have a slight (emphasize slight) ray of hope on the downtown grocery front. I visited Forward Foods Forward Foods (http://www.forwardfoods.com/) and Native Roots Market Native Roots Market - Home (http://www.nativerootsmarket.com/) in downtown Norman this weekend. Both are nice unique boutique grocers. I spoke with owners/employees of both stores and suggested to open a downtown or urban OKC location. Both stores seemed interested and suggested they have looked into it as well as other locations, but definitely an OKC location. They mentioned it may be 1-1.5 years out. If you frequent these stores (or email them) to encourage them to open a downtown OKC location.

I received this in an email Friday:

I learned today that Sprouts Farmers Market is going to open 3 locations in central Oklahoma - Norman , Edmond and 63rd and May (Comp USA space). No leases signed yet. They are a scaled down version of Whole Foods grocery store - really big into the natural, organic, health food market. 25,000 sf. Currently have stores in TX. CA. AZ. CO.
Several locations in Dallas suburbs so I guess they can compete with the City Market and Whole Foods.

www.sprouts.com (http://sprouts.com/home.php)

I've never been to a Sprouts, but their website looks pretty good. (That link is broken btw, it's www.sprouts.com.) Also, someone mentioned the building for sale on Walker across from St. Anthony's. I totally agree with you! I drive by there almost everyday and I think that would be a great place for a little market downtown. As far as Central Market goes, I think they're great but I doubt they will open up on here since they're only located in major metro areas of Texas. But we can always hope!

interesting that they are going in so close to Akins.

I hope this is true, it will be interesting to see how it does across the street from the severely outdated Akins. I looked on their website and they don't mention Oklahoma as coming soon locations and so far they have them up to Summer 2009. Hopefully this is true and we will be added soon.

interesting that they are going in so close to Akins.

I thought the same.


As far as Central Market goes, I think they're great but I doubt they will open up on here since they're only located in major metro areas of Texas. But we can always hope!

They are in Ft. Worth. We're just as much a major city as Ft. Worth.

I [B]love[B] Central Market! Anyone know if all of their Texas locations are in "wet" counties?? If so, the ability to sell liquor/wine might be more of a corporate issue than with Whole Foods. But I'd GLADLY welcome either or both (dream on. . .)

I [B]love[B] Central Market! Anyone know if all of their Texas locations are in "wet" counties?? If so, the ability to sell liquor/wine might be more of a corporate issue than with Whole Foods. But I'd GLADLY welcome either or both (dream on. . .)

I live in Dallas and the Central Market on Greenville and Lovers Lane is a wet area. The CM in Plano off of Coit and George Bush is also a wet area. There is a CM that just opened in "Southlake" in Tarrant County and I do believe that it is also a wet area. It seems the "demographics" for a CM store is being located in/or around an affluent area.

Oh, to only have a Trader Joe's...

Just got an email from H-E-B/Central Market.

"...we have no plans to expand outside Texas at this time".

Boo!

I think a Walgreens would be great.

I expected to hear that Central Market had no plans to expand in this market now. As part of HEB, they have the extensive logistics support throughout Texas needed to operate a chain of stores. Central Market piggy-backs off this system. In order for them to operate efficiently in OKC, they'll need to open several stores; perhaps 5 or 6. They'll also have to beef up their distribution facilities in Dallas to serve this area. We're too far away from the central core of their business. Lastly, I wouldn't expect to see more than one Central Market for the entire metro. They require a relatively large population base when compared to conventional grocery stores.

Whole Foods is somewhat more likely to locate here. They already have a store in Tulsa, and their business model is such that single stores can operate more independently.

My dream would be to have a local store establish a significant, Whole Foods-like store in the downtown area. Crescent Market is my choice. But I also think Health Food Center, Native Roots, or others could do it. Perhaps someone with local money could get behind one of these stores to create a truly unique grocery store to serve our downtown area?

A number of students that I talk to around the OU-HSC complex would like to see a grocery store that is downtown. It would save the pain of driving.

While we wait for a new downtown grocery store to open, may I suggest shopping at the one we already have . . . Homeland . . . located between Western and Classen on NW 18th...

I have to tell you all, I went into Homeland to do my bi-monthly grocery shopping, and was pleasantly surprised. They have a very respectable cheese selection. Decent produce, and the cuts of meat they had out were pretty good, and well priced. It may be outside of a "downtown" grocery store, but it certainly will do until we get one in the CBD. I recommend to anyone stop by and take an objective look at it.

There are a lot of small grocery stores in downtown Norman that would be great in bricktown. Maybe one of them could open a store.

Temporary Fix, have Crate Grocer deliver your groceries to your downtown place:

Welcome to Crate Grocer, the Great Grocer (http://www.crategrocer.com/)

This might have been mentioned before but I wouldnt mind seeing a city market store in downtown/bricktown. They're all over the place in Colorado, all sizes and styles. I dont know if they'd ever expand here but it wouldnt hurt to try. We always go while in Colorado and its like stepping back in time customer service wise. Good selection and great health food sections. Heres a link to what Burlington Vermont did to get a downtown grocery, (co-op) and a pic of it..... I think one like this would work well in bricktown/downtown

Home | City Market / Onion River Co-op (http://www.citymarket.coop/)

http://solofriendly.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/citymarket.jpg

We already have an awesome local food co-op (OklahomaFood.Coop). Now, all we need are a few more members and a few sizeable donations to buildout that nice store and to expand the product line.