Does anybody know if there are public incentives planned for this, or are they coming without incentives?

Does anybody know if there are public incentives planned for this, or are they coming without incentives?

Almost certainly, there will be public incentives.

Almost certainly, there will be public incentives.

Ugh...

Seems to be a case where I cant really see why incentives are necessary. If Moore wanted it more than OKC, fine. I dont see Costco being so unique and drawing such big crowds that you wouldnt want your city to lose them. Its not an IKEA.

Ugh...

Seems to be a case where I cant really see why incentives are necessary. If Moore wanted it more than OKC, fine. I dont see Costco being so unique and drawing such big crowds that you wouldnt want your city to lose them. Its not an IKEA.

OKC gave incentives to Cabela's, right across the street.

We create these big economic development slush funds and businesses know it and ask for it and almost always get it.

BTW, the next general obligation bond includes millions more for this purpose.

I'm mixed on it. It does bring people to OKC, but some of then will be people shifting from Sams Club to Costco. That means it will be a net loss for the city for everyone leaving an OKC Sams for this store, but a gain for everybody leaving the Edmond Sams.

I'll bet Edmond wishes it had incentives that it could have used to put together the Creamery deal together.

I'll bet Edmond wishes it had incentives that it could have used to put together the Creamery deal together.

They do have economic development funds. So does Moore, MIdwest City, etc.

And this is one of the reasons OKC 'has' to pay companies to locate within our city limits rather than Edmond or Moore.

These retailers basically pit communities against each other.

Yeah, recently for example ShowBiz Cinema got a 4.8 Million dollar incentive from Edmond. I think it was worth it though, rather than see that Edmond sales tax revenue constantly cross to the other side of Memorial Rd. I know I'll be switching to Costco from Sams and that means shifting my shopping from Edmond to OKC.

They do have economic development funds. So does Moore, MIdwest City, etc.

And this is one of the reasons OKC 'has' to pay companies to locate within our city limits rather than Edmond or Moore.

These retailers basically pit communities against each other.

But maybe not TIF..? I mean, just guessing I don't really know about Edmond. But point is if they had a better program they surely would have used it to put that deal together. That cluster of buildings is an albatross that certainly isn't generating significant tax revenue for them as it sits.

TIF woudn't be used by Costco. Can only be used within the boundaries of a particular TIF district.

The incentives OKC pays retailers usually comes from the fund created by the general obligations bonds. It's also what they use to pay existing companies like Continental when they create a certain amount of jobs.

^^^^^^
Yes, I get that. What I am saying is that there lately has been a general scorn for incentives on this site. The case I was making is that they can be very useful when applied correctly.

^^^^^^
Yes, I get that. What I am saying is that there lately has been a general scorn for incentives on this site. The case I was making is that they can be very useful when applied correctly.

There should be scorn and skepticism.

These 'economic development' funds are being spent at the expense of education and other big needs in this city and state.

And there is exactly zero proof that they are needed or work.

Very limited self-funding applications like FNC and Wheeler are the exception but there are hundreds of other gifts to generally wealthy people and corporations which are highly dubious.

But maybe not TIF..? I mean, just guessing I don't really know about Edmond. But point is if they had a better program they surely would have used it to put that deal together. That cluster of buildings is an albatross that certainly isn't generating significant tax revenue for them as it sits.

Edmond has the an Economic Incentive program ran by the EEDA, as well as a community block grant program designed to help create and sustain jobs for lower income workers. The Economic Incentive plans prioritize for certain areas (underutilized areas, areas in danger of becoming blighted, and areas where there is a demonstrated need to commercial development). I know this includes Broadway from 15th to 2nd, the I-35 Corridor, and a few other areas.

There should be scorn and skepticism.

These 'economic development' funds are being spent at the expense of education and other big needs in this city and state.

And there is exactly zero proof that they are needed or work.

Very limited self-funding applications like FNC and Wheeler are the exception but there are hundreds of other gifts to generally wealthy people and corporations which are highly dubious.

It makes one wonder how any business was built or created in the 20th century, sans these so called "economic incentives".

It makes no sense to have incentives for a high value empty plot of land anyway. I don't even know how much incentives plays a part in these company's decision matrix when building a location. The long term viability of a location is what's most important.

It makes one wonder how any business was built or created in the 20th century, sans these so called "economic incentives".

It's a tiger by the tail scenario. Once it started, how can it end, unless every city in a metro decides at the same time not to play this game. It's like the taxpayer funded stadium bs.

As long as we have individual taxing entities competing we will have tax strategies employed to try to gain long term growth or advantage.

And as long as we keep giving them out, everyone will come to town with their hands out.

I happen to know in the case of Costco they have never seriously considered anywhere else other than this Memorial / Western intersection. Yet, they tell the city otherwise and since the money is already set aside, it's just forked over.

As long as we have individual taxing entities competing we will have tax strategies employed to try to gain long term growth or advantage.

Yep. Costco may not have considered anywhere else, but it's likely because they already knew they would get those incentives. Take them away and the long-term sales tax revenue could easily instead go to Edmond, or Midwest City, or Norman. It's not a question of not coming here at all; it's a question of which metro entity benefits. The City is buying the sales tax revenue.

Saw in the Retail Chat today, that a question was submitted to the Daily Jokelahoman, that Costco has no plans currently to come to OKC? Jack Money stated talks have been with the OKC Economic Authority and the OKC Chamber of Commerce no such deal?? It seems the newspaper is downplaying this because OKC Talk is way more reliable source!

Here's what he said:



Jack Money replied:
This is what I can tell you. Brent Bryant, OKC's economic developments manager, has confirmed that Oklahoma City, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and The Alliance for Economic Development have engaged in sporadic talks with Costco over the past years. But recently, he told my good friend Steve Lackmeyer that no deal has resulted from such talks, nor has there been any new indication of a deal in the works or any application for incentives by the retailer. Beyond that, I don't know what the company's plans are, for certain.

The city is not going to comment on any on-going deals, nor is the retailer.

I can tell you for a fact Costco has one property under contract at Memorial & Western and is actively working to nail down a deal on the remainder of the property needed.

Until they have the land locked down, there would be no deal for incentives with the city. But believe me, they will come as this has already been discussed in detail in the past so Costco already knows what they can expect to receive.

BTW, these areas are way outside the purview of Steve Lackmeyer yet he always weighs in and seems to be obsessed with discrediting our information.

I completely stand by our record as we were the first to correctly report on scores of retailers like Trader Joe's, Winco, Cabela's, H&M, Container Store, iFLY, TopGolf, Main Event and many others.

And now, despite constantly trying to flog us over Costco, they admit the city has been actively working with them for some time.

This tweet speaks for itself:

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

Man, that Tweet is four years old -- you can't criticize him for that....

Man, that Tweet is four years old -- you can't criticize him for that....
Actually, I think it's absolutely fair criticism as it shows a pattern of poorly informed and/or unreliable sources that he uses to rebut/debunk others who have better and/or more reliable sources. His ego/arrogance often gets in the way of admitting that someone else has better information.

Man, that Tweet is four years old -- you can't criticize him for that....

That tweet was in direct response to a report we had made just prior that all those retailers were coming to OKC.

And right before all but Costco made official announcements.

That tweet was in direct response to a report we had made just prior that all those retailers were coming to OKC.

And right before all but Costco made official announcements.

I don't know how many people I talked to after reading about Trader Joe's coming to OKC on this very site who told me it would never happen, and since the Oklahoman isn't reporting it, it isn't true. I think that's really poor taste by Steve, to just write it all off, when, in fact, had he done any investigation on his own, he could have gotten some of the same indicators Pete got, I would guess.

It reminds me of the Oklahoman (newsok.com) running AP stories when there is Thunder breaking news. How does the AP have the story when the Oklahoman beat writers don't have it? Shouldn't our OKC reporters be the ones breaking news? Does anyone even investigate anything anymore?

I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole but the point here is that the Oklahoman generally has no clue about future retailers where we have a long track record of breaking almost all these big new-to-market stories.

I don't know how many people I talked to after reading about Trader Joe's coming to OKC on this very site who told me it would never happen, and since the Oklahoman isn't reporting it, it isn't true. I think that's really poor taste by Steve, to just write it all off, when, in fact, had he done any investigation on his own, he could have gotten some of the same indicators Pete got, I would guess.

It reminds me of the Oklahoman (newsok.com) running AP stories when there is Thunder breaking news. How does the AP have the story when the Oklahoman beat writers don't have it? Shouldn't our OKC reporters be the ones breaking news? Does anyone even investigate anything anymore?

In fairness to Steve, his beat is downtown Okc. So, unless Costco is in the mix for a downtown location, you might want to give him a break. I'm pretty sure that no one thought that Trader Joe's was contemplating a downtown location, but I stand to be corrected.

And, as he evidently tweeted beyond his realm of expertise, he might give pause before doing that, as well.

Man, that Tweet is four years old -- you can't criticize him for that....

That was for the St Anthony's site I believe, which Costco wanted but lost out on. This is a different deal I believe.

That was for the St Anthony's site I believe, which Costco wanted but lost out on. This is a different deal I believe.


Has anyone heard anything recently about Costco coming to OKC? I think there is a big market for them here. We need a choice away from Sam's. I'm getting tired of waiting for Costco and In N Out to come here.

Has anyone heard anything recently about Costco coming to OKC? I think there is a big market for them here. We need a choice away from Sam's. I'm getting tired of waiting for Costco and In N Out to come here.

I think a Costco could do well here but I'm meh on an In N Out here. We have better or at least comparable options. It's like the realization so many hipsters went through when they finally tried (uhg!) Fat Tire beer.

The Costco at Memorial and Western is still moving forward.

The Costco at Memorial and Western is still moving forward.

There has been quite a bit of utility marking and site survey activity going on in the past week or so...

Wouldn't be surprised if dirt started moving soon.

There has been quite a bit of utility marking and site survey activity going on in the past week or so...

Wouldn't be surprised if dirt started moving soon.

They are doing their construction cost analysis including the required utility infrastructure.

Still have not closed on the land or filed building permits. We still have a ways to go but things continue to move forward.

They are doing their construction cost analysis including the required utility infrastructure.

Still have not closed on the land or filed building permits. We still have a ways to go but things continue to move forward.

Wrong. We have to wait for Steve Lackmeyer to say it is happening.

Wrong. We have to wait for Steve Lackmeyer to say it is happening.

No, we have to wait for him to definitely say despite other reports to the contrary, it is absolutely not happening.

Then it'll open the next day.

Hey Pete, about a mile from this spot at 122nd and western on the Nw corner they have been doing some dirt work and I was curious if it's anything exciting? There is so much open space in that whole area that it's ready to explode as Chisholm creek fills out and Costco moves in.

Hey Pete, about a mile from this spot at 122nd and western on the Nw corner they have been doing some dirt work and I was curious if it's anything exciting? There is so much open space in that whole area that it's ready to explode as Chisholm creek fills out and Costco moves in.

It's an assisted living facility:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/122ndwestern.PDF

Is there any concrete info they will build in okc?

Is there any concrete info they will build in okc?

They intend to pending final due diligence on site engineering.

They have the property under contract but it's a tricky site due to a creek and drainage issue.

I expect them to close and build there but nothing is done until it's done.

Seems to be a long drawn out scenario? From the time it was first announced and then they decided to go to Tulsa first, then going back and forth deciding what location etc. Hopefully OKC metro area residents will embrace Costco and realize that their is more than Sam's. I really enjoy Costco! They opened up a new central Dallas store off of I635 and Coit Road. This is their first central location in the city.

I was talking to a Tulsa Costco employee today and he said they were wanting to open the OKC store in April. If we have a warm winter and the dirt work does not take more than a month they might be able to open it then.

Maybe April of 2019?

Yeah, they still haven't even closed on the land yet.

However, I understand things are still moving forward.

Until yesterday, I didn't realize you could buy some Kirkland (Costco store brand) items on Amazon.

After moving here and having to substitute Sam's Club for items such as pet food and staples, I've not missed Costco much. Especially because the Sam's at 39th & May is only a mile away, never super crowded (Costco was always an ordeal) and has both Scan & Go and self-checkout.

One item I had not been able to replace satisfactorily was Kirkland Sleep Aid. It's OTC but always worked great for me when about every other month I desperately needed to catch up on sleep and would just take one of those pills and be guaranteed of a solid 8 hours, even if that meant being a little groggy first thing the next morning.

After doing some research I found that that product is particularly highly rated AND I could buy it on-line through Amazon, which I did.

Pretty sure I paid a bit of a premium at $10.99 (believe it was more like $8 at Costco) but it was also free shipping and no sales tax.

A search revealed they had a quite a few other Kirkland products for sale.

I was at the Cosco in Wichita this last weekend and was told multiple times that Costco would be here in OKC very shortly. Everyone at the store there thinks its is a done deal.

A friend was in the Costco in Tulsa the other day, and overheard a conversation regarding Costco in OKC. He then went to the management and was told the planned date for Costco opening in OKC is October 2018 despite the lack of announcement, which the management said would be coming soon.

I'm wondering what the planned date for the second OKC location might be. I understand there are people in town that think the Memorial corridor is THE place to be, but a large number of town residents and a larger number of suburbs residents don't necessarily agree.

For most of these retail operations, demographics rule..... income, shopper profile, density, traffic patterns... That might logically suggest something in the Norman/Moore area off I-35. I haven't heard any developers talking about a second store though. Have you Pete?

I'm wondering what the planned date for the second OKC location might be. I understand there are people in town that think the Memorial corridor is THE place to be, but a large number of town residents and a larger number of suburbs residents don't necessarily agree.

I wouldn't expect a 2nd location any time soon. And if and when it does come, seems like Norman might be the next spot.

A friend was in the Costco in Tulsa the other day, and overheard a conversation regarding Costco in OKC. He then went to the management and was told the planned date for Costco opening in OKC is October 2018 despite the lack of announcement, which the management said would be coming soon.

Doesn't that seem like a pretty quick turnaround considering they haven't yet broken ground (that I know of)?

Doesn't that seem like a pretty quick turnaround considering they haven't yet broken ground (that I know of)?

That's the beauty of a 'warehouse' style store!

(It does seem like they'll have to be going at a steady clip, though...)

That's the beauty of a 'warehouse' style store!

(It does seem like they'll have to be going at a steady clip, though...)

WinCo is similar though and it's taken them years.

Costco set to open first OKC store (http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=464-Costco-set-to-open-first-OKC-store)

As OKCTalk reported by in June of 2017, Costco has been under contract on property at the Kilpatrick Turnpike and N. Western pending site engineering and negotiations with the city.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/costcofeb1b.jpg


Now, the wholesale giant has reached a tentative agreement with Oklahoma City for up to $3 million in sales tax rebates and the store is set to move forward.

Tulsa provided Costco $2 million in incentives but the Washington-based company argued that the site of their choosing in Oklahoma City necessitates an off-set due to drainage and engineering issues. OKC provided Cabela's with $3.5 million in sales tax incentives for their store just on the other side of Western Avenue.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/costcofeb3.jpg


The property is owned by Dahr Properties Memorial Springs LLC, which tracks back to local physician A.S. Dahr.

Similar to Sam's Club, the membership-only retailer differentiates itself with a wide array of store-branded items under the Kirkland name which are generally reviewed as being of very high quality and good value. Costco offers items under the Kirkland label from wine to hardware to pet food to clothing and beyond. It is estimated that Kirkland items account for more than 25% of all Costco sales.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/costcofeb4a.jpg


Another key Costco difference is that of employee pay. Nationally, the company averages $21 per hour and also offers a robust health plan. Costco prides itself on superior customer service.

The Tulsa store opened in April 2016 and has seen very healthy business. Many OKC residents hold Costco membership cards and drive to Tulsa or the Dallas area or shop on-line.

Costco had previously negotiated with the Chisholm Creek development directly west of the new proposed site and had signed a letter of intent before the company walked away, then ultimately approached Dr. Dahr.

The incentives must first be approved by the OKC Economic Development Trust, which will likely vote on the package in its February 20th meeting. Then, city council would need to provide final approval, which is usually sought the following week. In reviewing dozens of similar proposals, OKCTalk could not find any examples of rejection; in other words, approval at this stage seems to be a foregone conclusion.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/costcofeb1a.jpg


Assuming the official ratification of sales tax rebates and the subsequent property purchase, the new Costco would open in late 2018 or early 2019 and would coincide with Oklahoma's new liquor laws which go into effect in October 1st of this year. Under the new statutes, Costco would be able to sell wine which is a significant revenue generator for the company and a big draw to its stores. Grocers such as Costco will also be allowed to sell strong beer when the law changes.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/costcofeb2.jpg


Costco is a publicly traded company with over 700 warehouses in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Spain, France and Iceland. Revenue in 2017 was $129 billion.

Watch our news partner KFOR at 6PM for a complete on-air report.

I'm super excited to see this but I'll believe it when I can walk in the building lol!

Excellent news! Having just gone to Sam's earlier this week, I can confidently say I am looking forward to the first Costco in OKC. That said the SW 5th location seems to be improving in their service considerably, so kudos for that.

Also, I want to say again the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced the "Phase II" of the Market at Czech Village really should be considered for another location. It has immediate access to I-40 East, and ready access to I-40 West as well. It's one exit west of the turnpike which provides easy access to/from the north, and in a couple years the south. I know, I know, SOP for this area says it's going to be Norman next but I just can't get over how perfect a location it is for a 'destination store'.

https://i.imgur.com/W8BTD3J.gif

Makes sense they would wait for the new liquor laws to come into effect.

The new laws only allow for wine and beer not hard liquor, right?

Makes sense they would wait for the new liquor laws to come into effect.

The new laws only allow for wine and beer not hard liquor, right?

Correct. Wine and beer up to 8% ABV I believe. That's pretty similar to most states. Few states have as liberal liquor laws as Missouri.

Hopefully OKC can get a Total Wine and Cost Plus World Market as well with the new laws going into effect.

California of course allowed Costco to sell liquor and their Kirkland brand vodka, tequila and other spirits were excellent and about half the price you'd pay at a liquor store for something similar.

I used them for all by bigger parties.