Photo from last week of backside of building facing Kelly Ave.
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2453/uptowne.jpg

I was in Costco Sunday after the Bronco's game, I don't recall seeing any beer in the store and they have similar laws to Oklahoma in regards to 3.2 beer, high point beer, wine and liquor, although liquor stores here can refrigerate beer/wine. There is no Costco liquor store around the Aurora location that I could find but it was nuts around there after the game and before the impending snow storm early Monday so I didn't look too hard.

Like I have stated before, the Costco liquor stores in Austin are merely leased space to independent operators as a licensee can only hold a license for up to five stores in the state. You do not need a Costco card to buy in there and there is no access from the store. Specs does the family pool of licenses to open up stores under the same brand but each store is licensed to a particular individual.

Anyone hear rumors of them opening up next week? Heard from two different people that it is the 21st, but nothing that can be verified.

They have had jobs posted for about three weeks now, so they must be getting close.

I drove by there over the weekend, and it doesn't look like it's that close to opening. Maybe I just didn't get a good look at it though.

While this all can't be blamed on the silly liquor laws, we know for a fact that these establishments make a lot of money in most their stores through items that would not be allowed in OK. There is absolutely no way that doesn't factor into their expansion plans.

Perhaps if they allowed Native-American Absentee Tribe Controlled OTB and slot machines in the deli, the rest of the dominos would fall into place? I would certainly hope so. Maybe some of the local tribes could even link all this to some form of "Authentic Bottled Water" franchise without having to involve a herd of lawyers? =)

Anyone hear rumors of them opening up next week? Heard from two different people that it is the 21st, but nothing that can be verified.

I heard that they will open in February.

Drove by the place today and Feb. looks totally within reason. By the way, the building looks great. It has a look that is classic and will stand the test of time. Wish more retail in the area would make efforts in this area of design...architectural design longevity...so key.

Uptown looks great. With Sunflower Market opening soon in downtown Edmond, mixed-use housing is just around the corner!

The Uptown Grocersin far north Edmond is looking sharp.

Is this a local company?

Yes aka Buy For Less

I drove by yesterday. It will open in late February.

Photo from 1/12/12.

Facebook page says opening Feb. 29th.

http://uptowngroceryco.com/

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/uptown1.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/uptowngrocery11212.jpg

I hope that this is very successful and that Buy-For-Less opens more stores of this concept throughout the metro.

If it is at least reasonably well executed, I predict a homerun.

So much need for this and so few good options. The area could easily support several more of these.

Absolutely. This is the type of look/feel we need for an urban grocer. Ironically this is located on the most extreme Northern edge of the metro.

I'm really excited about this store coming. I'm looking forward to having options other than Homeland or Walmart. I know there's a Crest on the other side of Edmond, and I go there occasionally, but really for me, it doesn't but a couple of minutes longer to drive all the way to Whole Foods. Uptown Grocery is pretty close to my house so I'm happy to have a new option.

The logo on the building looks like Bricktown design/theme... I like it.

Some new photos of Uptown Grocery Co. courtesy of the Oklahoman:

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-fc25b82bd4995c711e204892b7144397.jpg

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-6a66a436782aebcbbf095a1f874d81f4.jpg

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-ced20ea288f0b6e1ba9f7205c6967b71.jpg

Best looking grocery in the metro IMO

Best looking grocery in the metro IMO Agree. This looks like a very urban development and love the vintage, nostalgic architecture. Great job considering it is in Edmond which tends to have very suburban buildings. Great addition for the community!

Best looking grocery in the metro IMO

One of these would look great in downtown OKC......once population and demand would support it of course.

Wow that store looks awesome! Can't wait to check it out in person!

It's funny how this development happens in North Edmond and not Bricktown, while House of Bedlam happens in Bricktown and not North Edmond.

Agree. This looks like a very urban development and love the vintage, nostalgic architecture. Great job considering it is in Edmond which tends to have very suburban buildings. Great addition for the community!
Not just Edmond but far far North Edmond, location wise it's as far suburban as you can be.

I hope this company plans to wipe out Homeland. We need quality looking grocery stores in small town America again. I am forwarding these images to municipal folks all over Oklahoma.
Sid, this is Buy For Less, doubt they plan to redo their existing dumpy stores, but I could see them using this concept for any new stores.

One of these would look great in downtown OKC......once population and demand would support it of course.

I was just thinking the same thing. Would look great in Bricktown, Deep Deuce or Midtown....

http://newsok.com/new-edmond-grocery-stores-opening/multimedia/video/1441354348001

Video footage of the Uptown Grocery and Sunflower Market opening soon in Edmond.

Not just Edmond but far far North Edmond, location wise it's as far suburban as you can be.

This isn't "as suburban as you can be", this is the borderline between suburban and rural really. But this is Edmond and it should only take a year or so for sprawling mcMansion neighborhoods surround this grocery as far as the eye can see.

This isn't "as suburban as you can be", this is the borderline between suburban and rural really. But this is Edmond and it should only take a year or so for sprawling mcMansion neighborhoods surround this grocery as far as the eye can see.

I don't see how it could be more suburban in location. It's on the edge of metro development. As you stated if you go any further right now, it's rural. I never was talking about the design if that's what you meant.

The Epicurean's Pantry on Santa Fe and Danforth (CVS/Buffalo Wild center) has excellent cheeses, local food, olive oils/vinegar, and high quality spices and baking items. The cooking classes are fun too!

Did a drive by over the weekend to see the new Uptown Grocery Co. location. I don't get up to Edmond very often but just wanted to give all the non locals a heads up that the roadways around Kelley and Covell are under construction and should cause the perfect traffic nightmare come opening day.

I did notice a TV commercial for Uptown Grocery Co. the other day. I am a bit concerned because the commercial featured a food dish (I can't remember what it was) that is prepared by the staff of UGC. The dish looked like the same quality of the prepared food dishes found at the Buy for Le$$ at NW Expressway and Portland store. I just hope I am wrong and that the prepared food dishes are of a much higher quality than what was shown on the TV commercial or that can be had at some of the Buy for Le$$ locations.

I did run across a link to the Uptown Grocery Co (http://www.uptowngroceryco.com/) webpage.

Brett, you do realize Buy For Less IS UGC? UGC is just a fancier shell and will have more gourmet items.

Brett, you do realize Buy For Less IS UGC? UGC is just a fancier shell and will have more gourmet items.


I know the relationship between Buy for Le$$ and Uptown Grocery Co. but I will stop short of saying they are identical until I am able to visit Uptown Grocery Co. when it officially opens. My concern is that if Uptown Grocery Co. is just a fancier Buy For Le$$ then it will come as a big disappointment to many and I would probably not return to shop there. The owners are taking a huge financial risk by buying prime real estate and erecting an architecturally unique building just to have a mediocre grocery occupy the space. I just hope that I am dazzled and amazed by the new Uptown Grocery Co.

. . . i SO wish them well, but have my concerns as well. Before Sunflower Market/Whole Foods opened, I spoke with the manager of the NW Expwy store and asked him if they would look into stocking Boar's Head deli meats (not to re-open this discussion, it may not be Katz's, but I thinks it's good stuff!) and he told me that they has asked but they refused to sell to them. Not sure whether it's the B4L name or what. Maybe that is why they did a "name change" for the new store. Perhaps the success of SM and WF will have grocery retailers taking a new look at the OKC metro. . . .hope so!! Central Market/HEB, Ralph's, Trader Joe's. . .??

At the very least, this new store will be much nicer inside and that goes a long way.

I'm sure they will carry some different items and have more prepared foods.


They've done a great job with the outside the store so I'm optimistic.

They had a soft opening today. I'm told by a local news personality that it is better than Whole Foods and Sunflower and has more prepared and organic foods, plus the stuff of a regular grocery store. Keep in mind Buy For Less is one of their advertisers. I have my doubts as no one has topped WF for quality of produce IMO, as well as they get rarer produce. I'm thinking it will be like a glorified Homeland on Britton or the NWX BFL. I guess we will see soon enough.

..

They had a soft opening today. I'm told by a local news personality that it is better than Whole Foods and Sunflower and has more prepared and organic foods, plus the stuff of a regular grocery store. Keep in mind Buy For Less is one of their advertisers. I have my doubts as no one has topped WF for quality of produce IMO, as well as they get rarer produce. I'm thinking it will be like a glorified Homeland on Britton or the NWX BFL. I guess we will see soon enough.

Talked to a friend of mine that went to the soft opening yesterday. She specifically mentioned the fresh produce. According to her, they had lots of unusual produce, like what you would find in WH. She said it was very nice and that she liked it much better than Sunflower.

I went and checked out Uptown Grocery today. Why I chose to go today, I do not know. Just bored I guess. It was a zoo. A very nice zoo, but a zoo none the less.

The bakery and fresh food area is quite extensive. They've got a nice floral department just as you come in the door. I was disappointed that the deli does not carry Boars Head, but hey, I can get it at The Meat House. I was just hoping to not have to make a special trip for it. I thought the fresh meat/cheese deli was rather small. I actually almost missed it. It's kind located at the end of an area where all the fresh salads and sides are, and there is no sign designating it as the deli counter. What I especially did not like about it was that they have their meats presliced in piles like Crest does. I want them to slice it fresh for me. I always think that presliced stuff is the junk that's about to expire. The butcher shop area looked very good, although I could never really get up to the counter to check it out closely. The regular meat counter was your basic meat counter. Nothing special. It appears to be all prepackaged. Not nearly as extensive as Crest. The produce looked nice, although I thought the department was kind of small. I was hoping for a big produce department more like Crest. To be fair I didn't get a chance to really check it all out since it was crowded with people just standing around talking, which was really a problem all over the store. I expected this from customers, but not from the management/vendors.

All in all, it's okay and I will go back, but I probably won't shop their on a regular basis. I there were lots of items I needed to buy, that they didn't have. They don't carry all the brands/variety of things I like. The problem I see is they are trying to be a little of everything. They are trying to get the organic crowd, the regular shoppers and people that are just wanting premade takeout. The premade area takes up a huge portion of the store. The rest of the store is just not big enough to do either the organic or the regular grocery thing really well. They've got a little of everything, but not a lot of anything.

We went and checked out Uptown Grocery yesterday. And the verdict is what some have elluded too: it's a giant, fancy Buy for Less.

I had such high hopes for the place after hearing about the New York style architecture, the HEB Grocery references (HEB's in Texas are the mecca of grocery stores to me), the prepared foods and sit down eating section, etc. I was hoping they'd have a lot of brands you could only find in Texas or at a Whole Foods or something like that. But no...it's your run of the mill Crest/Homeland brands for the most part. As someone mentioned the deli section is really small. No cured meats or anything like that. Cheese section was fine...about the size of Whole Foods. The hot food section was ok, but it has chicken wings, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, everyday food items. No gourmet type stuff.

Two positives: the floral section was great. You can get a lot of exotic single stem flowers. And the bakery/dessert bar looked pretty big, although I'm not a bread or sweets type of person.

But honestly...it's a slightly bigger NW Expressway Buy for Less with a fancier shell on it. It's pretty close to my house so I'll shop there every now and then. Just wish it was a little better.

Beer singles?

Talked to a friend of mine that went to the soft opening yesterday. She specifically mentioned the fresh produce. According to her, they had lots of unusual produce, like what you would find in WH. She said it was very nice and that she liked it much better than Sunflower.

Yeah after going to Sunflower a couple dozen times, I am really underwhelmed. Glad they are here, but the quality for the price is just not there. Some stuff they are higher than Whole Foods, but the quality and selection isn't even close. SF is nice when I am in a hurry and don't want to fight the disaster that is Belle Isle Walmart, not to mention the store is actually clean.

I was pleased by what I saw. I went in not expecting it to be Whole Foods, and it's not. It's a very nice grocery store with organic substitutes, lots of gluten free options etc. The store is designed well in my opinion but don't expect the isles to be anything like some Super Grocery store like a target.

When you walk there are TONS of flower options, lots of exotic single stem type of flowers. The bread/deli/hot food section to order dinner from is on your left when you walk in. There is a nice checkout counter on that side of the building which is a nice touch. The amount of bread they have is very nice, the counter to order sandwiches had a nice variety though I liked WF selection more. I was really underwhelmed by the hot foods section. They had a couple of gourmet type dishes such as a salmon, asparagus fettechini which was excellent but some of the other stuff was just 'fried chicken, macaroni and cheese" and some other very basic types of hot foods.

The meat area was precut stuff though some of it looked very well cut, for the price though on the meat I would probably goto the Meathouse right down the road at Sante Fe and Danforth.

I love the grocery area. It had a very nice mix of having Organic type foods, but then also regular every day items you would find at a grocery store. It was nice that I could get something that was rather hard to find, organic crackers, or some blue corn chips, and right next to it could get some Baked Lays.

I will definitely be returning often.

I was disappointed that they didn't offer a soup island where you can pick from a large variety of different to-go soups. Instead, you have to wait in line and have someone serve it to you. We waited ten minutes just to get one cup of soup to-go. Sunflower Market and Whole Foods lets the customers serve their own soups and they both have a bigger selection. Really was hoping Uptown had the same.

No cart return in the parking lot? Seriously? Didn't see one and people were having to take their shopping carts all the way back inside the store. (groan)

Prices seemed higher too. Didn't seem competitive to Crest Foods at all.

Went by this weekend and thought it was good to very good.

It is not intended to be a competitor to Crest. You won't do the bulk of your shopping here and they don't expect you to....take a look at the size of their shopping carts they are much smaller than normal carts.

Uptown's focus is on high margin grocery items: meats, floral, bakery, organic and prepared meals. That's why more than half of their square footage is just for these items. The rest of the items are there just because you may need something else while you are in the store. Don't go to the store thinking this is Wal-Mart and you're going to do you're bi-weekly shopping here at a low price. No doubt, you're going to pay higher prices.

Uptown is going to be for you when you want to prepare a very nice meal for your family or friends and oh, while you're here, you need a box of cereal and Dr. Pepper. Or if you want to grill better quality steaks and serve nice already made side dishes and oh, while you're here, you need face wash and bananas. It will be packed on Mother's Day with dads that need flowers and steaks. It will be packed on Father's day with dads that need a 6-pack and steaks. It will be packed around Thanksgiving with worried matriarchs buying last minute prepared sides and fancy bread to go with their turkey.

The only downer I saw was no beer singles....but I guess that's Oklahoma.

Selling single beer is an option. They don't like to, but if you take one out of a six pack chances are they will sell it along with the rest of your items. I did it for years since it kept me from drinking too many on a weeknight. My trouble with beer is that if it's in the refrigerator, I will drink it. By the way, most convenience stores sell singles.
C. T.

Drove by today a little before noon and the parking lot was absolutely packed, didn't look like there was an open spot.

Went in this afternoon with the family and we loved it. I was actually anticipating being disappointed after reading many of the posts here, but I thought it was amazing...more for look and feel if anything else. I loved the architecture/design (soaring ceilings with lots of natural light in the north end of the store in the prepared food area) of the store and thought the finishes throughout were first class. The product mix was nice with lots of mainstream grocery items mixed in with more specialty products. The floral and bakery areas seemed unlike anything else I have seen in OKC. The deli, cheese, and meat depts were similar to Whole Foods or Sunflower. The staff was very friendly as well; let's hope that's just not opening week kissing up to the new customers. I just wish the Metro could have a few more of these stores. Go take a look, I think you will be impressed.

Here are some photos from The Oklahoman:

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-14b2d222a8ef9c4b8cf10c4beed68e47.jpg

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-80693eb8fbc60e98c48e8d1a43adfc0a.jpg

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-b65d16690d5556ef719c48c5613c12f8.jpg

http://photos3.newsok.com/cache/r960-033a185d7bdfb5961b70ef2c113584d3.jpg

More photos:

http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net/archive/x1875170928/g000258000000000000be710b3ca5476de2e20dc31e1afa325 8997a4778.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_7X1UnLQDUY/T06eybLgKHI/AAAAAAAACKY/hQzkWyY6VAQ/s1600/uptown+3.jpg

http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net/archive/x1875170926/g000258000000000000bb4e526fc1edae573cf1810a23f6488 0705b0e65.jpg

http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net/archive/x2118805906/g0002580000000000006e08e055175a19e3b9ae933cc72510e 0edb2ba25.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zSNKg6xkmaw/T0-0hjUlOgI/AAAAAAAACuU/t3BhRZDAX4c/s1600/IMG_0165.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_r-LFfYnCws/T0-1TEalBYI/AAAAAAAACu0/dOo0Ahbp6DU/s1600/IMG_0169.JPG

I live in coffee creek and was really excited about this store, but after going a few times, have been pretty underwhelmed. They have a really nice cheese selection, but their prices are ridiculous. All I the cheeses my wife and I buy have been 40-60% more per lb than Whole Foods. I'll probably only go there when I need to just get a couple items, but our main grocery shopping will still be done at WF and meats/eggs/prepared foods will be at the Meat House.

No wonder their prices are too high ... too much overhead!

Beautiful store!! Wow! The sushi selection looks huge.

Looks like a home-run!

Looks to me like a great store and much needed in the OKC metro. Not everything has to or needs to be Walmart cheap. I am glad that when I return to the city my food choices are now more comparable to what I have in Northern Virginia

The Edmond Sunflower/Sprouts opens in April, right?

The Edmond Sunflower/Sprouts opens in April, right?

Last I heard was March 28.

Cheese at the Epicurean's Pantry is better quality and price! Just across the street from the Meat House!

Epicurean's Pantry in Edmond is not a supermarket but has a good selection of "clean" natural foods and the real deal cheese selection.