I'm happy we finally landed an H&M and Cabela's but am surprised how many locations for these stores already exist. I thought OKC was sort unique in landing these. We were among the first to get an Apple Store. We had a very rare and unique Mont Blanc boutique, which no longer exists, but I was wondering if anyone can think of a retailer or business OKC has landed that few other states / cities already have where we were ahead of the curve; not behind.

Good question. I think OKC got its Microsoft store pretty quickly. Other than that, I am not sure.

Montblanc is still around, just not in OKC. I think they closed most of their boutiques in smaller markets during the 2008 recession.

Retail has historically been and remains one of OKC's biggest weak spots. Hopefully within the next few years the arrival of the Glimcher and Chisholm Creek shopping centers help improve things. So many other things about OKC are improving very fast and it would be nice to see shopping improve as well. In a city this size, shopping trips to Dallas and especially Tulsa (a smaller city) shouldn't be as necessary unless you are looking for something super high-end.

The first Sam's Club ever was in Midwest City.

Topgolf was only in 13 states when OKC opened our location.

Main Event opened here when they were only in about 8 other states.

Rye 51 is opening in Classen curve; first store outside of Texas.

There are only about 10 U.S. locations for iFly.

Only a handful of locations for 21c Hotels.

OKC is getting one of the first AC Hotels in the U.S.

Winco is only in 8 states.


I'll think about this more but those are off the top of my head.

Von Maur is only in 13 other states and the OKC store is the furthest west.

I think West Elm is still pretty unique. Curious about Barnes and Noble. Don't know how saturated it was elsewhere when it came in. Starbucks was everywhere when it finally opened a location.

Rock and Brews?

I feel like when BJs first opened, that was their first location this far north and east (they are based in CA).

I think West Elm is still pretty unique...

I say this only as the most good-natured of grammar nazis, but my freshman English teacher would tell you that there are no degrees of uniqueness; something is either one-of-kind or it is not.

Rock and Brews?

I feel like when BJs first opened, that was their first location this far north and east (they are based in CA).

Adaniel,
Don't know about North and East, but they were in Plano in 2007. I don't know when they opened, just know that I was there in 2007 and enjoyed their beer and a meal with my friend from London. She flew in and I picked her up at DFW and BJ's was the first decent looking place we stumbled on while we were going to our hotel in Plano.
C. T.

We're still one of the first 11 places getting a Canopy, right? Weren't we also an early location for Walmart Neighborhood Markets?

I think we were there 4th proton cancer treatment facility in the US.

The heart transplant center at Integris was one of the first in the US to do a human heart transplant.

First drive through McDonalds was here too wasn't it?

First shopping cart and first parking meter. :)

First shopping cart and first parking meter. :)

Pete,
Add the yield sign and voice mail. I don't know if I saw that on this thread or not, but I did see it somewhere.
C. T.

Credit goes to Tulsa in both cases though the second one is a stretch as the guy is from Tulsa and the company he formed was in Texas and there is dispute about him inventing it in the first place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_sign

In the United States, the first yield sign was installed in 1950 at First Street and Columbia Avenue Tulsa, Oklahoma, having been devised and designed (apparently independently) by Tulsa police officer Clinton Riggs. Riggs invented only the sign, not the rule, which was already in place. The sign as originally conceived by Officer Riggs was shaped like a keystone; later versions bore the shape of an inverted equilateral triangle in common use today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Matthews_(inventor)

VMX was arguably the first company to offer voicemail for sale commercially for corporate use.


While some claim that VMX and Gordon Matthews invented voicemail or that he was the "father of voicemail", this claim is not true. The first inventor of record was Stephen Boies of IBM in 1973, six years before Matthews filed his first patent.

We're still one of the first 11 places getting a Canopy, right? Weren't we also an early location for Walmart Neighborhood Markets?

I think the Wal Mart Neighborhood Market that was at 23rd and MacArthur was one of the first ones, if not the first one, outside the Bentonville area.

The heart transplant center at Integris was one of the first in the US to do a human heart transplant.

I believe it was still Baptist Hospital at that point, wasn't it?

Yes