heard they are opening a location in edmond and 2 in tulsa next.

I don't think there was a point to metro's comment except to name drop Whole Foods and remind us that every time he's in Tulsa or Dallas (must be Parklane flagship location) he shops at Whole Foods. :rolleyes:

:dizzy:RR, your right, but I just COULDN'T resist. . . .I'm delighted we are going to have both Sunflower and WF. . .a trifecta would be to add a Central Market or Trader Joe's!!

I went at about 4:05 this afternoon, but unlike foodiefan I did find a parking space without difficulty (although the lot was generally full). A very talented small (3 member, I think) band was singing outside but at 105 degrees only a few were gathered around listening. I paused for about 30 seconds or so before entering the store.

Inside, the ambiance of the store was rather delightful and "fresh" feeling and a fairly good view of most of the store can be seen upon entry. Unlike the new Crest in south Okc with its huge shopping baskets, Sunflower's baskets were a little smaller than usual, which was good since the place was so crowded.

My $45.05 was spent on the following (and I may have forgotten something): a pair of huge beets with large fresh tops (my wife loves beets); a beautiful bunch of large fresh radishes; 4 huge ears of white corn (as was said, the special offering was 8 for $1 but I didn't want that many); 2 very pretty large sweet yellow onions -- the kind with a label on each onion; 2 large tomatoes (I wasn't as impressed with them as I am when buying at the Pinata Store near Reno & 3 blocks west of Western, but I thought I'd give them a try); a large piece (1 1/2 pounds) of slab-fileted fresh (I think) salmon for $11.05, very pretty; about 1 1/2 pounds of 93% lean ground beef; 1/2 gallon skim milk for my wife (Highland); 2 frozen dinners, one with low sodium, again, for my wife, and one for me without regard to sodium content -- they carry several frozen food dinner brands that I'd not seen before and several are low sodium; I wanted to try one of their breads but I was looking for pumpernickel and I couldn't find any; 4 peaches -- not yet ripe but they looked good and should ripen if not refrigerated right away; a group of organically grown bananas for my wife; a couple of large organic chicken breast fillets for my wife; a regular sized bottle of Simply Orange orange juice; and probably a few things that I do not presently recall. It looked like they had a good cheese selection but I didn't look closely as I passed by.

There were lots of friendly people on the floor to help out, and, for the smallness of the space, quite a lot of content. This is a wild guess, but I'd suppose that a typical Homeland is about double the space. That means that the isles are narrow and it was hard navigating around shoppers with so many in the store, but shoppers were in friendly moods and it wasn't a problem. At checkout, I was surprised that I'd not spent more than $45.05, particularly since the salmon was almost 1/4 of the amount at $11.05. At checkout, customers were given one free (but smaller than normal) fabric grocery-type tote bag.

I'm anxious to see if the tomatoes are highly acidic (i.e., "good") or are bland like the hot house type ("bad") ... the signs didn't give a usable description.

It was a good experience and I'm sure we'll be going there on a regular basis.

:ohno:who copied it from. . . .well, don't know for certain, but (much as I love me some WF), I'm pretty sure it wasn't "invented" by WF!
The Wheatsville Co-op (http://wheatsville.coop/index.html) opened in 1976, two years before Mackey opened up SaferWay Foods (1978). They merged with the Clarksville Natural Grocery in 1980 which they renamed Whole Foods. Form what many of the long time residents here have told me that many of the ideas for Whole Foods came directly from the Wheatsville Co-op.

The Wheatsville Co-op (http://wheatsville.coop/index.html) opened in 1976, two years before Mackey opened up SaferWay Foods (1978). They merged with the Clarksville Natural Grocery in 1980 which they renamed Whole Foods. Form what many of the long time residents here have told me that many of the ideas for Whole Foods came directly from the Wheatsville Co-op.

Blue. . .as much as my Texas heritage would love the thought that "in-house grind your own peanut/nut butter" was first offered at WF. . . in Texas. . .(or the Wheatville Coop), I'm going to have to do a little research. . .it just doesn't ring true to me that this wasn't offered somewhere in the US of A. . . east coast?? California??. . . before Austin TX in the mid 70s.

I'm sure it probably came from elsewhere, just stating that most of Mackey's early ideas probably originated from Wheatsville. It sounds a lot to me like an idea that could originate in Vermont or New Hampshire.

Also, I claim absolutely no Texas heritage, I will NEVER claim to be a Texan. I've only been down here for 10 of my 47 years (91-93 in Dallas and in Austin since 2003), the other 37 were spent in Oklahoma, my first six months in Altus and the remainder in OKC.

They have been grinding fresh peanut butter for as long as I can remember at Cresent Market. Not sure if they invented it but pretty sure thats how peanut butter is made.

I never said WF invented it, but they are probably the first chain to do so in store.

Went with the wife and daughter last night and we loved the place! Got lots of Hatch chilies and spent a ton of money on random stuff. My daughter enjoyed filling the plastic (recycled) honey bear with fresh Oklahoma honey (which we tried and is delish). She also enjoyed grinding her own peanut butter.

We're going to become crackheads of this place.

Someone who gladly spends a ton of money on random stuff, every business owners dream customer...LOL

not a slam, I have done the same before.

Someone who gladly spends a ton of money on random stuff, every business owners dream customer...LOL

not a slam, I have done the same before.

The traffic in and out of this new place is just unbelievable. They have got to be ecstatic over their first couple of days business.

So what is the deal with the "dont shop Sunflower" protesters out by the street?

Pretty sure it must be a labor union thing.

Think the "protest" was about buying local (like Oklahoma owned & operated Buy 4 Less)...does Oklahoma have any union grocery stores??

...does Oklahoma have any union grocery stores??

Far as I know, Homeland workers are still represented by UFCW Local 1000.

Think the "protest" was about buying local (like Oklahoma owned & operated Buy 4 Less)...does Oklahoma have any union grocery stores??

The irony is that Whole Foods and maybe even Sunflower Market will have more local products than Buy 4 Less or Homeland, which get most of theirs from Associated Grocers (I believe out of Kansas City).

Went again today... Holy crap was it busy. If it stays this busy, they might need to open another store... *fingers crossed*

We went yesterday at 2PM and the place was packed - circled the lot 3x trying to find a park spot, ended up having to park on a neighborhood street. I knew this place was going to do well, but I have to imagine they are surprised at how well it is doing. I heard some of the employees talking about restocking the shelves and one of them said 'no one will care as long as we do $100k today." I didn't hear the whole conversation - but could they really be doing $100k/daily? That seems high.

On a side note, after I left I stopped by Half Price. I was a little disappointed that none of the SFM business is carrying over to HPB. Place was dead.

You know, my comment about spending money was that we weren't paying attention. I've since gone back and purchased what I believed to be a large volume of high quality food and I couldn't believe how reasonably priced everything was.

It will die down some after the newness wears off, it did here but we also already had Whole Foods (although not on this end of town), Central Market and Sun Harvest, Sprouts opened up a couple of months later. Sunflower still has a good amount of business but not like it was in the first few months.

I stopped in there this morning just to get 8 ears of corn for a dollar. I thought even if the corn wasn't wonderful that was a great deal. It was so busy I didn't take time to even look at anything else. I'll go back to browse when it slows down.
While I was there getting the corn I saw something that astounded me. They have the corn in a very large bin towards the rear of the store. There was a woman who was also getting corn who was standing there completely shucking the corn before putting it in her bag and throwing all of the husks back on top of the pile of corn. Is it just me or is that a strange thing to do? I just stared at her but she didn't seem to notice. I'm sure other people may have done the same thing, but I waited until I got my corn home before shucking it instead of covering up the unpurchased corn which makes people have to dig under the husks to find corn.

Strange and rude. Not only is she leaving a mess for the next customer and the store, she is covering up the product. If I worked there, I would have lit into that woman. There needs to be a trash can nearby.

BTW, the corn is amazing! We grilled some before the OU/Tulsa game. Delicious!

Was it for sale by weight? If so was trying to reduce the weight so she could pays less but I think most of the time they are sold by number of ears, which makes her look even more stupid.

Was it for sale by weight? If so was trying to reduce the weight so she could pays less but I think most of the time they are sold by number of ears, which makes her look even more stupid.

No, it wasn't by weight. It was 8 ears for a dollar. They didn't weigh it at the check stand. They were so busy that the person at the check stand didn't even take time to count the number of ears I had. She just asked me if it was 8 and charged me a dollar plus tax.

That is odd, only thing I can think of is she thought it was by weight. People do weird things. Interesting to note, they had store personnel pre-shucking the corn while I was in there. Not completely of course but enough to display the corn itself.

That is odd, only thing I can think of is she thought it was by weight. People do weird things. Interesting to note, they had store personnel pre-shucking the corn while I was in there. Not completely of course but enough to display the corn itself.

She may have thought it was by weight but it didn't strike me as being the reason and she definitely was not a store employee. The only thing I could think of was that she wanted to look at the kernals before she bought it or she just wanted the store to clean up the mess instead of her when she got home. It would still be a crass way to act and showed no consideration for either the store or other customers. I wonder if she peels her bananas at the store before she checks out.

Been several times since its opened and love it. Whole Foods lite but much cheaper. Was talking to one of the managers and he said they have signed a lease for a location in Edmond and are looking for a location in Norman. Didn't say where in Edmond, didn't ask. Also said they do more in three days than in a week at their Santa Fe store.

Just got back from my 2nd visit at 3:00 Saturday. Completely packed. Spent quite a bit more money this time ($211.65 with tax) but we got a whole lot more items, too. This was my wife's 1st trip. Woulda been $19.98 less but I decided that a pair of generously sized lobster tails was too good not to have. If you make your own bleu cheese dressing, 0.625 lb (10 oz) bleu cheese crumbles was $4.99. At Homeland, 1/2 that amount (5 oz) is over $5.

I don't know if I mentioned this in this thread or not, but I just went over to a neighbors place and while I was there, looked again at the parking lot. It's complete madness and he says it hasn't hardly let up since they opened. He's got a great view from his side of Founders Tower. They should really do well.

I was by there the other day and was talking to the UFCW people who were there. One of them was angry that they aren't a union shop. The irony is that I have heard from a couple of people who say this new place is paying far more money than Homeland whose workers are represented by UFCW. Go figure.

Unions really don't care about how much the rank and file get paid, all they care about are union dues from those people. I knew someone who worked at Homeland 20 years ago, her union dues were three times greater than her uncle who worked for AT&T who was a CWA member, she also got paid a third of what he did. When I worked at Skaggs in high school on average we got paid more than the union members at Humpty Dumpty across the street. For the most part unions are nothing more than another corporation who acts as a middleman and makes their money off the same workers they claim to protect. They had their time and place and could still if they changed their methods but they hold onto the old union mentality which just doesn't work for most nowadays. The sad thing is there are still people who believe that the leadership really cares about them, they care about the rank and file about as much as their corporate bosses do.

Unions really don't care about how much the rank and file get paid, all they care about are union dues from those people. I knew someone who worked at Homeland 20 years ago, her union dues were three times greater than her uncle who worked for AT&T who was a CWA member, she also got paid a third of what he did. When I worked at Skaggs in high school on average we got paid more than the union members at Humpty Dumpty across the street. For the most part unions are nothing more than another corporation who acts as a middleman and makes their money off the same workers they claim to protect. They had their time and place and could still if they changed their methods but they hold onto the old union mentality which just doesn't work for most nowadays. The sad thing is there are still people who believe that the leadership really cares about them, they care about the rank and file about as much as their corporate bosses do.

The only people unions help are those who have little education and very few marketable work skills. Your average union workplace is full of dead weight not to mention the work conditions can stressful from constant driving from managers and supervisors. I have been working since 1992. Every place I worked at was a non union workplace. I was always well paid and well liked by almost all my bosses over the years. Just simply because I show up everyday. If I am running late, I call well before I am scheduled to start work. I rarely complain. When I do, I find a tactful way to take it to my boss. I always made it a point to be a good employee. When things got to the point to where the job was not fun anymore, I found another one and left on good terms. You can be well paid in almost any job out there. You just have to make the effort to prove your worth.

Anyway... Back to the topic.

I really like how Sunflower chose an existing big box to fill instead of building another one. I have a feeling Sunflower will have it's own loyal following for years to come. I just hope they continue to perform well and stay in business for years to come in that location.

I stopped by there today just because I was in the area and figured I would check it out. I really didnt need anything but thought if I found something at a good price I would get it. I was a little overwhelmed with all the people and orderly chaos that it was... I quickly turned back and exited without a purchase. I did like that setup and seemed to be a nice addition to the city. I am sure that once it slows down I will check it out again. I noticed in the circular that the advertised savings overlap on wednesdays. Nice to know for any frugal people like myself. I hope they have good coupon policies.

Went today, and yes, it was crazy. That was to be expected. After a couple of loops around the lot, we got a great parking space and headed into the "ordered chaos," as another person put it, inside. I found my cheap tangelos (2lbs for $1? Are you kidding me?), onions, bell peppers, and I got two blocks of cheese for only $9 total. I wanted to get some shrimp since it was so cheap, but the seafood area was a bit crowded and since I'm not using it this week, I didn't feel inclined to wait for it.

Check out was quite speedy. Had a good laugh with the checker and bagger about the boycotters (all two of them). I said I wanted to roll down my window and tell them to go protest Wal-Mart. The checker said they were likely from Homeland. The boycotters had signs about keeping business in Oklahoma. If they are from Homeland, I find that funny, since it's not an Oklahoma company, either. Oh well. I was happy with the prices and will likely go back at a more non-peak time by myself so I don't torture Mid by meandering through the aisles looking for deals.

Went again today and got a week's worth of groceries for $160. I wasn't even trying to be thrifty. I had to ask the clerk if these prices were super discounted for the opening but he said the sales going on in OKC are the same ones in all of their stores. It's amazing how much better the food quality and variety is from the status quo in OKC and yet how reasonably priced everything is. Does anyone else wonder if this has anything to do with Whole Foods suddenly announcing its opening date last week?

Went today, and yes, it was crazy. That was to be expected. After a couple of loops around the lot, we got a great parking space and headed into the "ordered chaos," as another person put it, inside. I found my cheap tangelos (2lbs for $1? Are you kidding me?), onions, bell peppers, and I got two blocks of cheese for only $9 total. I wanted to get some shrimp since it was so cheap, but the seafood area was a bit crowded and since I'm not using it this week, I didn't feel inclined to wait for it.

Check out was quite speedy. Had a good laugh with the checker and bagger about the boycotters (all two of them). I said I wanted to roll down my window and tell them to go protest Wal-Mart. The checker said they were likely from Homeland. The boycotters had signs about keeping business in Oklahoma. If they are from Homeland, I find that funny, since it's not an Oklahoma company, either. Oh well. I was happy with the prices and will likely go back at a more non-peak time by myself so I don't torture Mid by meandering through the aisles looking for deals.

Actually the new "Homeland"...after all the dust settled is...in fact, a local company - run out of a P.O. Box in Edmond. They are union but pay their workers even less than Sunflower. I love the Homeland at May & Britton, especially the pharmacy which we've used for years - but yes, it is a local company.

Actually the new "Homeland" after all the dust settles is, in fact, a local company - run out of a P.O. Box in Edmond. They are union but pay their workers even less than Sunflower. I love the Homeland at May & Britton, especially the pharmacy which we've used for years - but yes, it is a local company.

I stand corrected! However, we did shop at Homeland for other items on our list that either Sunflower likely wouldn't have, or I didn't have the patience to wait for this time around. I don't mind spreading my dollar around if necessary. Last weekend we got most of our groceries at Target because it was cheaper. Why is Homeland so much more expensive on basic things? There are also a few things they don't carry that I need to request. Otherwise I'll just keep buying them at Sam's or Target.

I stand corrected! However, we did shop at Homeland for other items on our list that either Sunflower likely wouldn't have, or I didn't have the patience to wait for this time around. I don't mind spreading my dollar around if necessary. Last weekend we got most of our groceries at Target because it was cheaper. Why is Homeland so much more expensive on basic things? There are also a few things they don't carry that I need to request. Otherwise I'll just keep buying them at Sam's or Target.

I mentioned this in a thread not too long ago and you are so right. If you can be disciplined enough to buy only the advertised bargains, which are frequently very good, you'll get good deals at Homeland. But regular priced items? I go to Buy4Less on NWX. I mentioned the pharmacy, they are the same pharmacists who have been there for years - even when it was another company across the street. One of them from when it was Skaggs! They are all very nice in that pharmacy and inexpensive too. They will match or beat any other price and they always do. Much easier to get in and out of than a Walgreens and far more personal.

I do shop their ads as much as possible, and try to use in-season produce when I can, but 10 for $10 on Hamburger Helper or Kraft Mac isn't really that awesome to me :P One of these days, we'll have a big freezer and I can stock up on meat when they do those sales, but I can only do so much now before the freezer is packed!

I shopped the ad at Sunflower, and got cheap bell peppers, onions, and tangelos. I needed them, and they were on sale. I plan on following their online ads as much as the others.

I mentioned the pharmacy, they are the same pharmacists who have been there for years - even when it was another company across the street. One of them from when it was Skaggs! They are all very nice in that pharmacy and inexpensive too. They will match or beat any other price and they always do. Much easier to get in and out of than a Walgreens and far more personal.
Like most of large retail, the pharmacy in probably 99% of all grocery stores or places like Wal-Mart and Target are not employees of the store they are located in, it is a separate operating company that leases the space inside the store. The same company operates the pharmacy in many different stores, a friend is a pharmacist in a K-Mart in Meridian, Mississippi and she worked in a Wal-Mart pharmacy prior that was operated by the same company.

It is pretty common for most of those type operations, Steve's Rib in Edmond started out as the BBQ stand inside the Safeway/Homeland at Edmond Road & Santa Fe. He was an architect by trade and started the BBQ business as a supplement to his income after the economic downturn in industry in the early 80's. I knew him from coming into Triangle A&E when I worked there. The shoe departments in places like Dillard's are that way as well.

I went there this weekend...feels like a smaller scale Whole Foods to me, but much cheaper. Great produce though!

And a couple picketers with their stupid "keep taxes in the state" or whatever. OK, someone please tell me how this little store is a threat but they don't have people out in front of the 1000+ Wal-Marts that we all shop at and send all of our money to AR every day? Or when we had Williams and Albertson's and they went even further away.

If you're going to pick a "corporate" fight folks, why don't you make sure you pick the right company next time. And by the way, if you read any of the signs inside, you'd see that a lot of the produce is local, so money is going to the local farmer. Heck, even Wal-Mart is doing some of that these days. And the next time you buy a tomato or lettuce or really any fruit/veggie product at all in December, you can thank the out-of-state stuff for it. Ugh folks.

Deleted a bunch of posts about unions.

Please stick to discussing this store. Thanks.

This isn't a slam against them per se as I will shop there from time to time when in the area and especialy if they have a good sale ad (this weeks ad looks even better than the grand opening week). Hard to price-compare exactly since they don't carry a lot of the same national brands that regular stores do, but overall it seemed pricey to me. now when Whole Foods opens, I might see it differently. One example that stuck out was small 5 oz bottle of A-1 steak sauce (the only size they carry), Sunflower was significantly higher:

A-1 steak sauce (small 5 oz bottle)
Sunflower = $4.49 (only size they carry)
Buy 4 Less = $ 2.99 (10 oz = $3.99, on sale for $2.49; 15 oz = 4.99)
Wal-mart = $2.50 (10 oz = $3.16, on sale $2.48; 15 oz $4.48)

I didn't stop and read EVERY produce sign inside Sunflower, but those that I noticed were just like every other grocery store, mostly out of state/out of country origins. I can't really say I noticed any "local" produce at all. Certainly not what one would expect to a place that has "farmer's market" as part of their name.

Larry your always the odd duck. Comparing A1 steak sauce? This is more of a natural/organic grocer and not generic Walmart junk foods on average. If you want to compare, compare their produce quality, or selection on anything fresh,or compare Amy's organic frozen meal prices if you want to compare prices. Sunflower and WF aren't the type of markets people price shop. Your probably better off at Walmart or Homeland for that type of shopping.

A-1 Steak Sauce is the kind of **** you'll want to buy at Crest. If you want good prices at Sunflower, buy their house brands. We sprung for some of their house brand Teriyaki sauce and salad dressing. Both were excellent and very reasonably priced. Neither contained crap like corn syrup and all sorts of weird preservatives in them.

You can find oddball products that are priced high at Wal-Mart, too, but it's not about being the cheapest. It's about value. I would rather buy high-quality food that is better for me in smaller portions than load up the cart with a bunch of **** like people do at Wal-Mart.

In the end, I paid about the same I would for groceries at Crest, but got much better food.

Seriously, though, I have to laugh that you're using A-1 Steak Sauce as any kind of comparative pricing gauge. News Flash: Don't buy stuff like A-1 and Ziploc Bags at Sunflower (hint hint)!

Just don't buy A-1 sauce. Blech.

No one is going to Sunflower Farmers Market to buy A-1 freaking steak sauce. If they are, they're better off elsewhere. As a general rule, this is not the sort of place you want to purchase non-specialty prepared items like the sort of canned and jarred crap you can buy at rock bottom at Wal-Mart. This is a specialty grocer, not Sam's Club.

or compare Amy's organic frozen meal prices if you want to compare prices.

Their Amy's were on par with Akins', which are about $1 to $1.50 higher per meal than Crest or Target. Their Kashi prices were almost $5 per meal, which is pushing $2 higher than either Crest or Target.

I think where they have great strengths in some areas (OK-made bakery products, fresh meat selection, fabulous produce) - which they do have at "silly" prices for the quality, they have to somehow account for in other areas, by having higher prices for those items.

Their yogurt prices were on par with Akins, espeically for the Wallaby Brand (Chocolate Thunder Down Under, ohhhh myyyy). In fact, I think the Wallaby was a bit lower than at Akins.

Hopefully next time I go, I'll have more time to look around. As it was, I went on a quick curiosity trip, and due to the crowds, didn't explore as much as I would have liked.

Larry your always the odd duck. Comparing A1 steak sauce? This is more of a natural/organic grocer and not generic Walmart junk foods on average. If you want to compare, compare their produce quality, or selection on anything fresh,or compare Amy's organic frozen meal prices if you want to compare prices. Sunflower and WF aren't the type of markets people price shop. Your probably better off at Walmart or Homeland for that type of shopping.
Sorry if it seems odd to you & others. FritterGirl seems to be seeing what i am saying. As I stated before, I agree, it is hard to comparison shop because they aren't a typical grocery store. The price comparisons will be easier when Whole Foods opens. No argument there. I only used A-1 as an example because it was one of the very few national brands that I noticed that they DO carry and a direct price comparison can be made. They are also higher on Lofthouse cookies and Stubbs BBQ sauce. It also stuck out in my mind at how high the price seemed...at direct odds to their advertising about "silly prices". Then on the other hand, that can apply both directions, the prices can be silly low or silly high. As far as produce quality, I didn't see much difference between what was there and what was available elsewhere (esp since most of what I saw prob came from the same places). If you or anyone else has money to throw away like that, by all means do so. Selection is one thing that they do have places like Buy 4 Less beat, in particular, while both carry the Amy's organic frozen items, it looks like Sunflower may contain the whole line as opposed to B4L. Tell you what, next time I am in both I will cost compare that for you and report back, but since you mentioned Amy's you may already know the answer to it and can do so.

I stand corrected! However, we did shop at Homeland for other items on our list that either Sunflower likely wouldn't have, or I didn't have the patience to wait for this time around. I don't mind spreading my dollar around if necessary. Last weekend we got most of our groceries at Target because it was cheaper. Why is Homeland so much more expensive on basic things? There are also a few things they don't carry that I need to request. Otherwise I'll just keep buying them at Sam's or Target.

I don't know about the P.O. Box in Edmond, but it's actually a subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers, the HQ of which is over on South Council in OKC. Looking over the corporate history of Homeland is interesting. It split off from Safeway in 1987 in a leveraged buyout, and was technically owned by the buyout vehicle, namely SWO Acquisitions Corp., then it glommed up just about every grocery store which came to town, i.e., Food Lion, Albertsons, etc., then in 2002, was bought out of what I guess was a Chapter 11 by Associated Wholesale Grocers, which is fortunately based right here in OKC, and is a big 'ol food selling conglomerate claiming to own or have an interest in 1,900 stores.

I don't know about the P.O. Box in Edmond, but it's actually a subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers, the HQ of which is over on South Council in OKC. Looking over the corporate history of Homeland is interesting. It split off from Safeway in 1987 in a leveraged buyout, and was technically owned by the buyout vehicle, namely SWO Acquisitions Corp., then it glommed up just about every grocery store which came to town, i.e., Food Lion, Albertsons, etc., then in 2002, was bought out of what I guess was a Chapter 11 by Associated Wholesale Grocers, which is fortunately based right here in OKC, and is a big 'ol food selling conglomerate claiming to own or have an interest in 1,900 stores.

Homeland is owned by HAC, Inc. which is based in Edmond. Technically, you're right, it's an independent subsidiary of AWG - which is based in Kansas City, not OKC. They have a distribution center here, I think on 50th street maybe? It's a convoluted relationship as I understand it. As a lawyer, you probably know a lot better than I about these kinds of arrangements.

AWG owns the former Safeway/Homeland properties in NE 36th & Lincoln area. I know they were based in KC, the group that owns Homeland may be a shell corporation for the Oklahoma Homeland stores, that makes it easier to sell off or close up shop without affecting operations in other states.

Homeland is owned by HAC, Inc. which is based in Edmond. Technically, you're right, it's an independent subsidiary of AWG - which is based in Kansas City, not OKC. They have a distribution center here, I think on 50th street maybe? It's a convoluted relationship as I understand it. As a lawyer, you probably know a lot better than I about these kinds of arrangements.

I looked at the Secretary of State filings and Homeland's M&A history.

As for AWG, you're right, I checked their site and must've seen the distribution center or something.

As far as an independent subsidiary relationship goes, well, that independence-ness is going to vary quite a bit from organization to organization. Ultimately, if AWG has a controlling interest, they pretty much call the shots. It sounds like they have a controlling interest, btw.

AWG owns the former Safeway/Homeland properties in NE 36th & Lincoln area. I know they were based in KC, the group that owns Homeland may be a shell corporation for the Oklahoma Homeland stores, that makes it easier to sell off or close up shop without affecting operations in other states.

Homeland Office's there and they may uses a small portion of the Safeway/AWG Distribution Center at 36th and Lincoln. AWG moved all of their OKC operations to Airport Road/HWY 152 and Council.

I think may have to go check them out. I have been disappointed with the quality of the produce I have bought lately. I can remember a time when I would buy produce and it would last a few days. Anymore when I buy it, I have to use it with in a few days or it spoils.

The Homeland store at 33rd and Broadway in Edmond has a single door off to the side and there is signage that says Homeland Corporate Offices. The property at 36th and Lincoln last I saw had very little activity as the distribution operation has moved to South Council. I think portions of the old are leased out to smaller companies, one looks like a produce company.

As for Sunflower, I went back in Sunday and got some super cheap ears of corn that were delish! I got a nice sized steak and the price on that was very reasonable. I also had to try the Almond butter machine. I have to say, I may never buy peanut butter again.

I also had to try the Almond butter machine. I have to say, I may never buy peanut butter again.

what part of the store is that located? didn't have time to search for it when i visited sunflower last saturday. -M

I went to the new Sunflower Market yesterday and looked around. It was still pretty well crowded and the parking lot was full. I was impressed with the meat section as well as the produce. It's not a real big place but they have a lot of stuff in there and lots of organic foods. I picked up some hamburger alone with some fruits and veggies. Prices wern't all that bad and I'll go back.

the peanut butter press is near the bulk bins, maybe the coffee.

I love the bulk bins but they need more room in the store! the bulk bins are closest to the registers, so if you have more than 3 people in line, they are now crowding in the bulk coffee/nuts/grains areas.

I do love the all natural meats - I only wish they would tell us where they get it. I used to shop at Crest for Premium Natural Beef from Hinton? or Hobart, OK. When crest stopped carrying it, I thought I read that Sunflower would -- but they don't advertise it as such. I would prefer to know. They also have a difference between "Natural" and "All Natural" that is confusing and they need to be more open about that.

I love the prices on the Organic fruits & vegs - beats Akins or Forward Foods by alot!

the peanut butter press is near the bulk bins, maybe the coffee.

thanks! i thought it should be around there but must have just missed it.


I used to shop at Crest for Premium Natural Beef from Hinton? or Hobart, OK.

if it was sandy springs farms, that's out of hinton.

-M

thanks! i thought it should be around there but must have just missed it.



if it was sandy springs farms, that's out of hinton.

-M

No. It was Premium Natural Beef from Hobart. I visited the ranch myself and met the owner. I was told by Crest (probable lie) that Premium "couldn't meet demand" at Crest stores and that's why they stopped carrying it. Not sure what they use now. No matter, I've pretty much quit buying beef from them.

what part of the store is that located? didn't have time to search for it when i visited sunflower last saturday. -M

If you saw where the "fill your own honey" station was, its around the corner to the left right at the end. Red machine if I remember right. I didn't see the Peanut butter one but someone said there was one. It has a gritty texture to it but nothing terrible. The freshness and taste supersedes the texture.