It'll be a shame if it falls through. Tried them out in a mall in Texas and thought they were pretty good.

Maybe this will push Penn Square to remodel and improve to stay competitive

Maybe this will push Penn Square to remodel and improve to stay competitive

I think if they could build out an psudeo outdoor area in the parking lots between the main building and the Penn&NWE intersection with residential on top then this would be shopping mecca. I would go on to say that PSM could add a big box retailer or grocer to the mix in order to have all types of shopping in one corner. But with Walmart on the other side of Belle Isle and Target down on May this is pie in the sky. But still, it would be cool to see a full fledge grocer and residential, as well as some more entertainment places added to PSM and those back lots could all be structured parking.

Maybe this will push Penn Square to remodel and improve to stay competitive

penn sq is one of the most successful malls in the united states

penn sq is one of the most successful malls in the united states

Did you mean in the state of OK?

Did you mean in the state of OK?

And how do you define success?

Penn Square is nearly full and is getting ready to add a big new Urban Outfitters.

I live nearby and the are always tons of cars in their lots.

By any measure, they are in much better shape than most malls.

Did you mean in the state of OK?

No. I would guess that by most measures of success for malls (standardized for size), it probably does rank pretty highly nationally.

No. I would guess that by most measures of success for malls (standardized for size), it probably does rank pretty highly nationally.

that is what I was trying to find but can't seem to although it does rank number 1 in the state which is why I asked

I have no doubt it is very successful I drive by Penn most weekdays

bouldersooner is correct that - at least as of a few years ago - Penn Square was one of the best-performing enclosed shopping malls in the U.S. on a per square foot sales basis. My own theory on this - apart from an excellent central location and easy access from all points - is that OKC was a major-city outlier in being slow to embrace lifestyle centers. The fact of the matter is that in most cities a different type of brick and mortar shopping largely replaced enclosed shopping malls, and we mostly missed that trend. Nevertheless, PSM has enviable performance among the remaining malls of that type.

And it must be said that Quail Springs has done a nice job of rallying.

They brought in a new-to-market department store, which in hindsight was miraculous. Then took out a dead anchor to make way for the huge fitness center.

Have also brought in H&M and Round 1.

Considering all the economic forces, changing shopping dynamics and the pandemic, both those malls are doing pretty darn well.

bouldersooner is correct that - at least as of a few years ago - Penn Square was one of the best-performing enclosed shopping malls in the U.S. on a per square foot sales basis. My own theory on this - apart from an excellent central location and easy access from all points - is that OKC was a major-city outlier in being slow to embrace lifestyle centers. The fact of the matter is that in most cities a different type of brick and mortar shopping largely replaced enclosed shopping malls, and we mostly missed that trend. Nevertheless, PSM has enviable performance among the remaining malls of that type.

Maybe our extreme weather has something to do with that. 100 degrees, humidity and 20 mph winds tends to drive people indoor.

Maybe our extreme weather has something to do with that. 100 degrees, humidity and 20 mph winds tends to drive people indoor.

As does wild storms, sleet, ice storms and near-zero temps.

I know it's only been a little more than 6 weeks, but... any update on this? I see they're still listed as "coming soon" on Penn Square Mall's site, but last time I was in PSM a couple of weeks ago, the storefront in the food court was still boarded up like you observed. Also noticed that OKC is not listed as coming soon on Oh K-Dog's website.

I am wondering about this too. I had Korean corndogs like this at a place in Seattle a few months ago and it was really good. I was in Penn Square last week and still didn't see any signs or info about this place opening. I also tried messaging them on social media about it, but never got back to me.

bouldersooner is correct that - at least as of a few years ago - Penn Square was one of the best-performing enclosed shopping malls in the U.S. on a per square foot sales basis. My own theory on this - apart from an excellent central location and easy access from all points - is that OKC was a major-city outlier in being slow to embrace lifestyle centers. The fact of the matter is that in most cities a different type of brick and mortar shopping largely replaced enclosed shopping malls, and we mostly missed that trend. Nevertheless, PSM has enviable performance among the remaining malls of that type.

OKC is not alone with regard to major cities with a lack or slow adoption of lifestyle centers. We have malls in the Seattle area too (in addition to ONE lifestyle center - University Village (https://uvillage.com/) which itself was long standing but refurbished in the 2010s), most if not all of our 4 regional malls - however- have added lifestyle components to them where they expanded the footprint putting the trendy anchor shops on the outside of the existing mall footprint. The end result is the "mall" is physically hidden behind the trendy stores giving the look and feel of a modern lifestyle center while also retaining the traditional mall. See Northgate Mall (http://www.mynorthgatemall.com/) as our latest example of this.

I'd like Penn Square to adopt this strategy; Tyson's Corner (https://www.tysonscornercenter.com/) adopts this strategy very well while also incorporating structured parking surrounding the traditional mall. It's all about staying relevant, and up until the last few years Penn Square didn't have any competition other than Tulsa's aging Utica Square; therefore there was no initiative for PSM to refurbish itself. However, as others have indicated - I too believe the time is coming for PSM to catch-up with the 'lifestyle mall' trend or risk being significantly marginalized by the competition that Oak and Classen Curve, Nichols Hills Plaza, Chisholm Creek, and eventually downtown's Park Avenue will/have give(n) them.

Penn square being the nicest mall in the state really says a lot. If you’ve ever been to a true upscale shopping mall you’d know just how dated PS is. It in need of an upgrade and hopefully once OAK opens the owners will be motivated to do just that.

Penn square being the nicest mall in the state really says a lot. If you’ve ever been to a true upscale shopping mall you’d know just how dated PS is. It in need of an upgrade and hopefully once OAK opens the owners will be motivated to do just that.

As far as design goes, I really think Quail Springs beats out Penn Square.

OKC is not alone with regard to major cities with a lack or slow adoption of lifestyle centers. We have malls in the Seattle area too (in addition to ONE lifestyle center - University Village (https://uvillage.com/) which itself was long standing but refurbished in the 2010s), most if not all of our 4 regional malls - however- have added lifestyle components to them where they expanded the footprint putting the trendy anchor shops on the outside of the existing mall footprint. The end result is the "mall" is physically hidden behind the trendy stores giving the look and feel of a modern lifestyle center while also retaining the traditional mall. See Northgate Mall (http://www.mynorthgatemall.com/) as our latest example of this.

I'd like Penn Square to adopt this strategy; Tyson's Corner (https://www.tysonscornercenter.com/) adopts this strategy very well while also incorporating structured parking surrounding the traditional mall. It's all about staying relevant, and up until the last few years Penn Square didn't have any competition other than Tulsa's aging Utica Square; therefore there was no initiative for PSM to refurbish itself. However, as others have indicated - I too believe the time is coming for PSM to catch-up with the 'lifestyle mall' trend or risk being significantly marginalized by the competition that Oak and Classen Curve, Nichols Hills Plaza, Chisholm Creek, and eventually downtown's Park Avenue will/have give(n) them.

I wouldn’t say Utica Square is relevant to any competition conversation with PSM. That’s essentially a mini lifestyle center vs an indoor mall and kind of an apples to oranges comparison. Also I’m not sure how Utica “aging” is relevant either, they’ve constantly been adding to it and keeping it up.

Woodland Hills in Tulsa would be a better comparison and for the most part it has for a long time been a larger/nicer mall than PSM is currently (it’s the largest mall in the state). Woodland Hills of course benefits from lack of indoor mall competition in its own market (it won against the Promenade, Eastgate and others) where as Penn has Quail, Sooner in Norman and the outlet mall to a lesser extent. However all of that said, I don’t really think anything Tulsa does from a mall shopping perspective drives much competition between OKC and Tulsa anymore. The options may be a bit more spread out in OKC but it’s largely surpassed Tulsa in shopping over the last decade, other than a few random stores like Sacs and restoration hardware that OKC doesn’t have yet.

Penn square being the nicest mall in the state really says a lot. If you’ve ever been to a true upscale shopping mall you’d know just how dated PS is. It in need of an upgrade and hopefully once OAK opens the owners will be motivated to do just that.

Can’t speak for sales number comparisons but as far as quality of the facility and quantity/quality of stores/restaurants, i would put Woodland Hills in Tulsa over PSM. It’s basically what you’d have if you combined quail and PSM (at least from a store offering perspective).

Can’t speak for sales number comparisons but as far as quality of the facility and quantity/quality of stores/restaurants, i would put Woodland Hills in Tulsa over PSM. It’s basically what you’d have if you combined quail and PSM (at least from a store offering perspective).
I need to check out Woodland Hills mall next I’m up that way. Never been there.

I need to check out Woodland Hills mall next I’m up that way. Never been there.

After taking another look, it actually isn’t the largest mall in the state sq footage-wise and isn’t much larger than PSM but does have the most stores of any mall in the state. Not sure why I thought that but it does seem quite a bit bigger. Square footage wise, Quail and Crossroads are larger (at least quail used to be before losing an anchor and crossroads will hopefully make a comeback but is currently empty), but Woodland Hills has more stores. It doesn’t have anything as nice as Von Maur but the Macy’s seems more upscale than okc’s and both Dillard’s are pretty close to the same in quality and size. It’s obviously subjective but the mall itself just seems more upscale than PSM.

After taking another look, it actually isn’t the largest mall in the state sq footage-wise and isn’t much larger than PSM but does have the most stores of any mall in the state. Not sure why I thought that but it does seem quite a bit bigger. Square footage wise, Quail and Crossroads are larger (at least quail used to be before losing an anchor and crossroads will hopefully make a comeback but is currently empty), but Woodland Hills has more stores. It doesn’t have anything as nice as Von Maur but the Macy’s seems more upscale than okc’s and both Dillard’s are pretty close to the same in quality and size. It’s obviously subjective but the mall itself just seems more upscale than PSM.

The PSM Dillard's is the most upscale department store in the state. I think it's better than the Saks in Tulsa. They have Creed cologne, and no other Dillard's has it in the country. Same with True Religion amd 7 for all Mankind jeans. No other Dillard's has those brands in the state. Saks doesn't have them in Tulsa. The Dillard's at Penn is amazing! I recommend you check it out. They get all the new brands the same time as the flagship stores, which is rare.

Penn Square Mall, 1,083,937 sq ft ---- Woodland HIlls Mall 1,091,888 sq ft (just 8k more sq ft. (not exactly Quail Springs and PSM put together)

The PSM Dillard's is the most upscale department store in the state. I think it's better than the Saks in Tulsa. They have Creed cologne, and no other Dillard's has it in the country. Same with True Religion amd 7 for all Mankind jeans. No other Dillard's has those brands in the state. Saks doesn't have them in Tulsa. The Dillard's at Penn is amazing! I recommend you check it out. They get all the new brands the same time as the flagship stores, which is rare.

I’ve been going to the Dillard’s at PSM for 20+ years, it is very nice. I haven’t done a ton of brand comparisons between it and the one in Woodland Hills but so far they seem very similar.

Penn Square Mall, 1,083,937 sq ft ---- Woodland HIlls Mall 1,091,888 sq ft (just 8k more sq ft. (not exactly Quail Springs and PSM put together)

Yes, which is exactly why I said this in my follow up post 20 minutes later:


After taking another look, it actually isn’t the largest mall in the state sq footage-wise and isn’t much larger than PSM but does have the most stores of any mall in the state. Not sure why I thought that but it does seem quite a bit bigger. Square footage wise, Quail and Crossroads are larger (at least quail used to be before losing an anchor and crossroads will hopefully make a comeback but is currently empty), but Woodland Hills has more stores. It doesn’t have anything as nice as Von Maur but the Macy’s seems more upscale than okc’s and both Dillard’s are pretty close to the same in quality and size. It’s obviously subjective but the mall itself just seems more upscale than PSM.

Also the first post said from “a store offering perspective” when I referred to Quail being combined with PSM. There is a bunch of overlap between the two and Woodland Hills has a lot of what those would if they were combined. For example it has a high quality Dillard’s, Macy’s, and H&M in the same mall.

i mentioned Utica because it is Oklahoma's original lifestyle center. And, I mentioned that I've observed here malls are wrapping themselves with trendy lifestyle components. Compared to Oklahoma's newest lifestyle center, Chisholm Creek or even Classen Curve - Utica is aging and given the local density there's not much they can do.

Anyway - I think Penn would do very well adopting such a strategic lifestyle component wrapping the mall, possibly also wrapping structured parking. They'd keep the regional mall but move up significantly in the use category and prestigue if they could land upscale trendy tenants in the lifestyle portion. And it would be far better than anything in the state until possibly if Woodland did the same.

The PSM Dillard's is the most upscale department store in the state. I think it's better than the Saks in Tulsa. They have Creed cologne, and no other Dillard's has it in the country. Same with True Religion amd 7 for all Mankind jeans. No other Dillard's has those brands in the state. Saks doesn't have them in Tulsa. The Dillard's at Penn is amazing! I recommend you check it out. They get all the new brands the same time as the flagship stores, which is rare.
Von Maur at QSM is probably the best, at least the equal of Saks and Dillards PS.

As far as design goes, I really think Quail Springs beats out Penn Square.

Quail Springs Mall (along with Woodland Hills Mall) were designed as large enclosed shopping malls. Woodland Hills was built in the mid-late 70's in Tulsa, and Quail Springs the early 80's. Memorial Road in OKC and 71st Street in Tulsa have very similar offerings with many big box stores and chain sit down dining options next to the malls. It's your carbon copy urban mall sprawl.

Penn Square Mall (along with Promenade Mall) were never originally designed as enclosed shopping centers. Both were open-air, and were converted to enclosed malls, hence the odd layout compared to the racetrack design of Woodland Hills and Quail Springs. Both are in "older" areas of town. Penn obviously has faired much better than the few stores left at Promenade.

Simon Malls operates Penn Square and Woodland Hills, and given Simon's strategy, they tend to have a better selection of retail offerings.

Quail is fortunate that it is in a still very active and growing part of town, they have repositioned themselves as an entertainment venue with the updates to AMC, addition of Round One and Blue Zoo, and Lifestyle fitness replacing Macy's.

On a related note, Eastland Mall in Tulsa was built on the edge of east Tulsa and the growth east stopped. The mall is now an office park/call center. It's nice to see Crossroads Mall in OKC trying something new with the space.

Von Maur at QSM is probably the best, at least the equal of Saks and Dillards PS.
I really like Von Maur, but I imagine they would do/would have done a lot better at Penn Square.

H&M is another one I feel would’ve benefitted more by being at PS instead of QSM. It seems like it does decently anyways if for no other reason it’s the only location in central Oklahoma, there’s usually a sizable number of people when I’m there.

Malls like PS and QS need to go or or innovate into indoor outdoor malls like the rim and forum in San Antonio and every other big city that has been doing the indoor/outdoor style for a couple decades

OKC and Tulsa have nothing like those

I really like Von Maur, but I imagine they would do/would have done a lot better at Penn Square.

Maybe, but there is lots of wealth closer to QS than PSM also.

I really like Von Maur, but I imagine they would do/would have done a lot better at Penn Square.

At the time, Quail Springs Mall had an anchor vacancy, Penn Square did not.

Sears at Quail Springs closed right around Christmas/New years 2012-2013. Von Maur opened basically in a brand new, from the ground up, anchor in October 2014 at QSM. Von Maur also received 2 million or so in tax incentives over a ten year period.

Altar'd States is moving to a new, larger and more elaborate space, roughly to where Banana Republic once was and extending all the way north to the GAP.

Their new store designs are beautiful and each is unique. Will be a big step up from the temporary Rally House that has been in that key corner location.



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I don’t know anything about Altar’d State, I’m just happy to see something more aesthetically appealing than Rally House take that space. It gives me 2003 Oklahoma City vibes every time I walk past it.

Will this also take the old Godiva space as well?

Wow this is awesome!! More of this please!!

The dressing room is very nice, the rest, not so much

Y'all. Sabarro Pizza is coming to Penn Square! And 2 other local restaurants opening in the food court. I was listing to KFOR in my car during lunch hour. Sorry I can't remember the other two.
https://www.simon.com/mall/penn-square-mall/stores/sbarro

They are adding Sbarro (first photo), Edie's Grill (2nd photo), and Spunkies Soul Food (3rd photo).

Edie's is in The Collective:
https://www.ediesgrillsubsaharan.com/

Spunkies is presently a food truck:
https://www.facebook.com/spunkiessoulfoodtruck/

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Does this mean that the Korean Hotdog place is not coming?

Does this mean that the Korean Hotdog place is not coming?

It would go in that other blank spot on the right side of the 2nd photo.

They are adding Sbarro (first photo), Edie's Grill (2nd photo), and Spunkies Soul Food (3rd photo).
...

Is Edie's going to be moving out of The Collective or is it a second location? Haven't tried them yet and if they're moving, we need to hit them up before they do.

Is Edie's going to be moving out of The Collective or is it a second location? Haven't tried them yet and if they're moving, we need to hit them up before they do.

2nd location

Are you even a real mall if you don't have a Sbarro Pizza, glad to see Penn Square is joining the big leagues.

Only half joking, I grew up eating at the Sbarro in Crossroads so I'm definitely happy to see them move into another OKC mall after closing there and up at Quail Springs.

Sbarro is odd. Didn't realize they were in a position to open new locations.

Hope those other places do well and the K Dog place happens.

Are you even a real mall if you don't have a Sbarro Pizza, glad to see Penn Square is joining the big leagues.

Only half joking, I grew up eating at the Sbarro in Crossroads so I'm definitely happy to see them move into another OKC mall after closing there and up at Quail Springs.

I ate a lot of Sbarro in the Union at OU. Is that still there?

Sbarro is always good, glad to see they are coming back. Everybody likes a good slice of pizza. Spunkie's is really good also, we ate at there food truck a few time.

Sbarro is always good, glad to see they are coming back. Everybody likes a good slice of pizza. Spunkie's is really good also, we ate at there food truck a few time.
We have very different opinions on good slices of pizza.

We have very different opinions on good slices of pizza.

Yeah, I was gonna say... I'm not sure I've ever had food I would describe as "good" or even "okay" from a Sbarro. They're one of my least favorite fast food chains.

Yeah, I was gonna say... I'm not sure I've ever had food I would describe as "good" or even "okay" from a Sbarro. They're one of my least favorite fast food chains.

Haha, different strokes. Pizza is one of those weird things for me. I really like a lot of cheap pizza places. Little Caesar's, CiCi's, Sbarro, all hits with me. I don't know why.

I was disappointed when Sbarro closed in Quail, as it was one of my favorite things about going to the mall. It makes no sense considering I usually am pretty picky about food when I dine out.

Mall pizza gets judged on a different scale than if I am getting pizza while not in a mall.

At OU, the scale of the need of quick pizza overrides taste.

Haha, different strokes. Pizza is one of those weird things for me. I really like a lot of cheap pizza places. Little Caesar's, CiCi's, Sbarro, all hits with me. I don't know why.

I was disappointed when Sbarro closed in Quail, as it was one of my favorite things about going to the mall. It makes no sense considering I usually am pretty picky about food when I dine out.

I'm also a cheap pizza person. But I guess part of it is because I'm not a huge fan, so when I get it I want it to be cheap and fast.

When my wife gave birth to our youngest, all she wanted was Sbarro. She couldn't say why. I'll never forget ordering a full pie, leaving the hospital and walking through Quail with it. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts. But the momma gets what the momma wants...

I thought Sbarro declared bankruptcy and stopped existing.

I thought Sbarro declared bankruptcy and stopped existing.

Reports of its death were greatly exaggerated.

Sbarro is not really great but I would eat it over Little Caesars, Marco, and Papa John’s pizza

I ate a lot of Sbarro in the Union at OU. Is that still there?

No, it closed years ago

Strangely, Hollister has filed a building permit to renovate and occupy their old space next to Express on the west end of the upper level.