Does anyone know what is going in on the lot south of the car wash?

Given the prospect of several hundred folks churning out for lunch every day, I can't really imagine it being anything but fast food....maybe a nicer restaurant will emerge. Who knows.

Yeah I agree.

We can only hope.

It looks like they have been moving dirt on the corner just south of the car wash but can't tell if just utility work or if something is going in there.

There's a permit under review for 10420 S I-44 Service Road: BLDC-2018-00990

Applicant:
Gary Emerson
Dev. Mgmt. Group
4209 Gallatin Pike
Nashville, TN, 37216
Phone:
6152275863
gemerson@dmgnashville.com


Application Information
BUILDING
Permission To: Erect
Number of Stories: 1
Overall Height: 24
Square Footage: 2555
Existing Use: Vacant
Proposed Use Code: Retail Sales
Land Use Code: 8300.63 Retail Sales and Services: General
Zoning: PUD; PUD/SPUD #: 831
Construction Type: 327 - Stores and Customer Services

On a slightly different note regarding Wal Mart. I noticed a couple of months ago when I stopped in to buy a few groceries in the early evening that the Del City Wal Mart has significantly increased the number of SELF checkouts, while simultaneously decreasing the manned checkouts. It looks like they are down to two "20 items or less lanes" at each end, and the tobacco lane in the center. . .one or two others. But they only only had one manned lane open. I left the cart with the door greeter/loss control person and explained that I was not going to wait 20 minutes to check out with groceries because they would not open an extra lane. I have not been back and switched to buying groceries to Winco.

I understand times are changing, and it is much more economical for them to go to automated systems, but the problems with self check outs are too many. Those of us who qualify for "old codgers" still have an expectation of the cashier checking me out.

It is a brave new world.

I saw some Walmarts are now offering grocery delivery. They are gunning for Amazon. Gotta love free marketplace competition.

I used to loathe self checkout, but it turns out I just hated the crappy execution of the idea. When Target added their self checkout counter I was thinking “Et tu, Scopi”, but after a few times using it I realized that I almost never got any kind of error message there. No “bag item now” message, no “unexpected item in bagging area” message, you can run your stuff over that scanner as fast as you want and it put your stuff in bags, back in your cart, your own baskets, Target doesn’t care. It scans and scans and then spits out your total. I still hate every time I have to use those machines at Walmart, but I look for them at Target and use them at least 75% of the times I’m there.

I used to loathe self checkout, but it turns out I just hated the crappy execution of the idea. When Target added their self checkout counter I was thinking “Et tu, Scopi”, but after a few times using it I realized that I almost never got any kind of error message there. No “bag item now” message, no “unexpected item in bagging area” message, you can run your stuff over that scanner as fast as you want and it put your stuff in bags, back in your cart, your own baskets, Target doesn’t care. It scans and scans and then spits out your total. I still hate every time I have to use those machines at Walmart, but I look for them at Target and use them at least 75% of the times I’m there.

Beware of Homeland's self-checkouts - slow and stupid like you describe above. I'll use anybody else's (not Walmart's since we don't shop there), but not Homeland's.

Beware of Homeland's self-checkouts - slow and stupid like you describe above. I'll use anybody else's (not Walmart's since we don't shop there), but not Homeland's.The “sensitivity” of the self checkouts is adjustable. We raised flack at the N Rockwell Homeland about the self checkout sensitivity. I don’t know if we were the reason but they adjusted it to a very acceptable level now.

^^^ We go there (Britton/May) infrequently enough so that it's not really a problem, we just don't use them there. But after the grand re-opening of the 18th/Classen store, we're going to try there to see if they have what we shop at Homeland for (some paper products our regular grocery store (Uptown) doesn't have), and if their self-checkouts are also slow and stupid, we'll see what they can do about them, thanks for the tip.

my $0.08 $99 calls looking pretty damn good this morning.

The online pickup 'building' that was on the NW Expy parking lot is being demolished. I think they started two weeks ago? At first I thought they were adding stuff to it, but it's definitely being torn down.

Remember first reading about it here two years ago, and am confused as to why they ever built it.
Also confusing is Walmart's pickup system in general. Ever since they started grocery pickup, it has made things weird. A few months ago I went to get an online order shipped to store, and thought the pickup parking on the left side of the building was for ALL pickup orders. Thankfully an employee still brought out my online order, but they really need to make that clearer.

And since they are still not done with updating the store, the online order pickup system inside the store is a mess. They moved it to the front of the store, but the kiosk wasn't even plugged in, and the waiting area was dirty.

^

That was a test for that new out-parcel pickup module.

I'd heard the conveyor system was problematic and there were security issues so they decided not to go forward with the plan.

I give Walmart credit... They try all types of things and sometimes they just don't pan out.

@Pete Thanks for the info. And yes I completely agree, the Walmart of today is definitely improved from when I was growing up. Trying new things (thanks to stiff competition) makes consumers happier :)

Walmart has been that way for a long time. I worked there from 2000 - 2009 and the new programs were always rolled out to a handful of test stores before implemented company-wide. Some ideas worked well, and others not so much. Like computer-generated shift scheduling.

Didn't they try Scan n' Go for a while?

System is awesome at Sam's Club but much more problematic at WM with tons more traffic and items.

Just saw that Walmart has filed a building permit with OKC to rebuild/remodel their I-240 SuperCenter to the tune of $1.25m.

$1.25m isn't very much for such a large space.

Interesting. I kept hearing that Wal-Mart wanted to close it after building the new one at 104 but the City had talked them into keeping it open for a year. It must be doing well still.

Never made sense to me that the one on 240 would close because of the 104th one. They serve 2 different areas, with mind you a little bit of lapse, but I shop at the one on 104th and I never shopped at the one on 240. Usually the one in Mustang, sometimes Moore. So makes sense to me that both would stay open.

Theft had become a huge problem at 1240 one.

Last year, the WalMart at I-240 and Santa fe, was the most visited site in OKC by the OKC PD.

I don't go near that place.

I used to have a coworker that lived near SW 89th & May. Years ago, she told me that she would rather drive to the store at I-40 & MacArthur than the I-240 store. It was that bad.

i used to go to that store all the time and never had any trouble.

The "story" I heard was that WM did, in fact, intend to close I-240 when I-44 & SW 104 opened; however, that prospect piqued concerns of those in the area and supposedly an informal delegation of folks asked WM to keep it open. They reluctantly agreed, but not indefinitely. Looks like they're in that spot for the long haul now.

Also heard rumors that Lowe's wanted to build a new store by/across from that new WM, but nothing ever came off it. At least so far.

I used to have a coworker that lived near SW 89th & May. Years ago, she told me that she would rather drive to the store at I-40 & MacArthur than the I-240 store. It was that bad.

We went when the store first opened but it was not long until we began driving to Moore and then to Newcastle, until this one on 104th opened.

The I=240 store averaged three police calls per day in 2018.

$1.25m isn't very much for such a large space.

Think the updates they'll probably add will suit this store well

My guess Wal-Mart is updating all their older super centers.The older one in Stillwater just got threw removing all the floor tiles, leaving brightly polished concrete. It doesn't look any better than before in my opinion.

Would not be surprised it they are putting in something related to anti theft.

Would not be surprised it they are putting in something related to anti theft.

They did install anti theft gate at Memorial and Penn. This could be related to that or related to eye glasses. Not a whole lot of money for a whole remodel.

At the Belle Isle Wal-Mart, they recently installed anti-theft gates and tore out a bunch of checkout lanes and replaced them with a lot of additional self-checkout stations. I suspect this remodel will probably be something similar.

It's good that they are making a commitment to keeping this store open though, I think it is probably the grocery store of choice for a lot of southside OKC. (Would love to see WinCo open a store somewhere along SW 44th or SW 59th at some point.)

I hate going in this one, but i dont recall the last time i was in there, if they had a PickUP area.

At the Belle Isle Wal-Mart, they recently installed anti-theft gates and tore out a bunch of checkout lanes and replaced them with a lot of additional self-checkout stations. I suspect this remodel will probably be something similar.

It's good that they are making a commitment to keeping this store open though, I think it is probably the grocery store of choice for a lot of southside OKC. (Would love to see WinCo open a store somewhere along SW 44th or SW 59th at some point.)

Not for this southsider. Lived in SW OKC all my life and never used this WM for groceries. Rarely went (and rarely go) north of 89th for groceries. Our primary haunts these days are Crest primarily, and sometimes WM on 104th or 134th because Crest has cut back it's selection so much to accommodate liquor sales.

I live close to this Walmart, and a refresh will be most welcome. I don't like shopping there - the new Walmart on 104th and I-44 is WAY nicer and the produce quality is far better - but out of necessity I do stop there somewhat often and have noticed they've already begun making some changes. Within the last month they replaced almost all of the open coolers with new units that have doors on them, as well as the freezer cases too. They already have large self-checkout areas at both ends, so unless they intend to rip out more checkstands I don't think they'll expand self-check much. They also already offer Scan-and-Go and Pickup too.

As far as permits go, looks like they pulled two building permits: BLDC-2019-02364 on May 01 2019 (still marked "In Review"), and BLDC-2019-06394 on October 21 2019 (Marked as "Accepted"). Both still have fees pending and haven't been issued so neither permits have any construction plans attached and publicly available yet. Will be interesting to see what their plans are for this store.

This would be a cool site to have something like Penn Central/OAK development with an urban Walmart as an anchor.

This would be a cool site to have something like Penn Central/OAK development with an urban Walmart as an anchor.

The idea is neat, for sure, but I don't think that's a good location for something like that, unfortunately. Pedestrian access totally sucks, and vehicle access isn't much better. But if someone did want to build a development like that there, I'd personally much rather see it on the collection of parcels just north of that Walmart, bounded by S Santa Fe to the west, I-240 to the south, S Shields to the east, and Webster Middle School to the north. Even if they built around the old Shields Plaza, there'd still be plenty of room for a nice development like that.

The southside has so much raw, undeveloped land... I'd rather see infill on vacant lots first.

Give me that and a Homeland or a Crest where the old Riviera Drive-In used to be, on the SE corner of 59th and Santa Fe, and it'd go a long way toward revitalizing this area.

I also think for a development like that the city or state needs to invest in the I-240 corridor. I believe MAPS 4 will have money for this but I’m skeptical that it will make real improvements. Of course anything is good at this point.

My family has businesses at I-240 and Shields area and I’m frequently in this part of town when I’m visiting. Though the interchange project isn’t done, the section they just did already has cracked curbed, pedestrians signals that are virtually non functioning, and a damaged light pole that took out the pedestrian signal and OkDOT couldn’t be bothered to replace it.

Not for this southsider. Lived in SW OKC all my life and never used this WM for groceries. Rarely went (and rarely go) north of 89th for groceries. Our primary haunts these days are Crest primarily, and sometimes WM on 104th or 134th because Crest has cut back it's selection so much to accommodate liquor sales.

Was thinking more about southside OKC north of I-240, where there are not many true "Super-Center" style grocery stores. Sorry, should have specified in my original post.

Was thinking more about southside OKC north of I-240, where there are not many true "Super-Center" style grocery stores. Sorry, should have specified in my original post.

Yeah, inner-city Southside doesn't have a whole lot of good options for traditional full-line grocery stores. The only ones that really fit that bill are the two Walmart Neighborhood Markets at SW 44th and Western, and at SW 59th and Penn - and of course the I-240 and Santa Fe Walmart Supercenter, right on the edge. Other non-full-line options within the boundaries of I-44/I-40/I-35/I-240 are three SuperMercado Buy For Less locations, two Cost Plus gimmick stores (one Cash Saver and one Smart Saver), and a Supermercados Morelos. We desperately need more traditional full-line grocery options!

Anyone know whats being built in the parking lot at the Del City Walmart on Sooner?

I heard it was a Starbucks but that's from a weak source.

I thought it maybe looks like a Wendy's?

I was thinking it looks like a Wendy's as well.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/this-popular-fast-food-chain-just-announced-dozens-of-new-locations-in-walmart/ar-BB1fOJws?ocid=msedgntp

Walmart has filed a $2.8 million building permit to remodel the supercenter at Belle Isle Station.

I believe this is part of a program they announced last year to redo hundreds of their largest stores.

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HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/walmart091321b.jpg


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Walmart is overhauling 200 of its stores into an airport-inspired theme expected to perfectly blend the online and in-store shopping experience (https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-redesigning-stores-janey-whiteside-airports-2020-9)

It looks like Walmart is going to build Amazon style fulfillment facilities.

https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-new-fulfillment-centers-amazon-joliet-illinois-2022-6

^

It goes to show how much Amazon has been killing everyone.

Their fulfillment and logistics operations have to be unrivaled by anything across the globe.

If anyone can pull something relative in size off from scratch I guess it’d be Walmart.

That sounds good.

I pretty much loathe going into a Wallymart super center, it's such an endeavor and circus and just in general a pain in the .... elbow.

I do go into the Wallymart neighborhood market stores, they're much easier and thus tolerable. In fact, I spent $135 bucks in one last evening.

The problem with ordering delivery or curbside pickup from Wallymart is you *think* you're getting everything you order, and even though you specify substitutions are ok, you don't get it, and you don't know much in advance.

Lately I've thought that Wallymart should take one of their buildings, or build one centrally, that is NOT open to the public, is a fulfillment place only, and you've got a much better chance of getting what you want delivered or curbside pickup.

And I agree, amazon has their stuff together, quite admirably in fact, and I've had no issues that they've not taken care of immediately, without hassle, and to my complete satisfaction.
.

Lately I've thought that Wallymart should take one of their buildings, or build one centrally, that is NOT open to the public, is a fulfillment place only, and you've got a much better chance of getting what you want delivered or curbside pickup.

And I agree, amazon has their stuff together, quite admirably in fact, and I've had no issues that they've not taken care of immediately, without hassle, and to my complete satisfaction.
.

I like this idea and there are plenty of vacant buildings around (Crossroads Mall?).

That sounds good.

I pretty much loathe going into a Wallymart super center, it's such an endeavor and circus and just in general a pain in the .... elbow.

I do go into the Wallymart neighborhood market stores, they're much easier and thus tolerable. In fact, I spent $135 bucks in one last evening.

The problem with ordering delivery or curbside pickup from Wallymart is you *think* you're getting everything you order, and even though you specify substitutions are ok, you don't get it, and you don't know much in advance.

Lately I've thought that Wallymart should take one of their buildings, or build one centrally, that is NOT open to the public, is a fulfillment place only, and you've got a much better chance of getting what you want delivered or curbside pickup.

And I agree, amazon has their stuff together, quite admirably in fact, and I've had no issues that they've not taken care of immediately, without hassle, and to my complete satisfaction.
.

I see it differently. I never get enough exercise, since I don't like to do it, but walking is about the only exercise I kind of enjoy, so I don't mind much having to walk from one side of Walmart to the other to get what I want. If I don't need much, I'll likely walk to Wal-Mart, since I live near a super one. The walk to the neighborhood market is too far, though.

Charley's Cheesesteaks and Wings is now open within the Belle Isle Wal-Mart in the space that was formerly occupied by McDonald's.

Oh wow that sounds like an improvement

It's weird to no longer have the standard McDonald's breakfast option when doing early morning grocery runs.

It's weird to no longer have the standard McDonald's breakfast option when doing early morning grocery runs.

You can always visit the one just around the corner on Blackwelder and NW Expressway. :)

You can always visit the one just around the corner on Blackwelder and NW Expressway. :)

True, and more convenient than going to Penn Square Mall next door for the other local Charley's.

I mean, Walmart buying 4500 cars, the Walton-funded private highschool.... there is a link.. haha

Yeah, that town is hilarious. Even the gas stations are Walmart brand.

Yeah, that town is hilarious. Even the gas stations are Walmart brand.

They have them in OKC too...

They are all over. Murphy Gas and Sam's Gas

They are all over. Murphy Gas and Sam's Gas

Neither one of those are "Walmart brand."

Walmart terminated its relationship with Murphy USA almost a decade ago.

Walmart operates their own branded, owned and operated gas stations now.