The Target at SW 44 and S. Western is set to close for good in Aug.

Employees were notified in the last couple of days.

Too bad as that's pretty major retail for that area of town.

Employee I talked to blamed it on CVS taking over their pharmacy. No idea how accurate that is.

Aw, bummer!

I shop there quite a bit as it's actually the closest Target to downtown.

CVS bought all the Target pharmacies which gave Target a ton of money. Don't think that has anything to do with this.

That's a shame because I actually shopped there more than the May Ave Target ( which is quite hectic on weekends). I hope the Ace hardware attached isn't affected by the closing.

I shop there at least once a week. I've been going there so long a couple of employees give me a heads up via text when stuff I'm interested in goes on clearance - or is marked down even more.

What is the reason for closing? It is always busy.

I know the building was constructed in 1969...

Anyone remember if it was always Target?

I know the building was constructed in 1969...

Anyone remember if it was always Target?

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

If anyone finds out the reason for the closing please post it. As I recall this Target was remodeled not long ago, I wonder what will happen to the building? This all seems strange because there is not really another store of it's kind in this general area.

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

yep... this is correct. -M

if this location does go out, i really hope that something takes its place. my concern is that this isn't perceived as a prime area of the city and therefore the corner will sit vacant. -M

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

It might actually have been more into the 70's, but I won't swear to it. Big, splashy grand opening with someone like Debbie Reynolds or Carol Channing as I recall, believe it or not. Big names back in that era, obviously.

Just another death knell for retail in that area. Can't fathom how much longer Sears will remain open; fully expect it to either be spirited away in the night by felons or simply boarded up by the company and going unnoticed for weeks...

For a location that still seemed to be reasonably busy, makes me wonder if they got some sort of offer on the land itself that was too good to pass up. No idea if Target owns that property or leases it. The hospital has always been eager to grab land in that area as it becomes available to expand their own campus - they eventually gobbled up most of the long-gone Reding Shopping Center years ago, and I vaguely recall some rumor of them having first option on the Sears land across the street should it ever actually go.

BTW, that location is *not* a Super Target. Never has been.

Makes me wonder if there are plans for another Target store somewhere between that location and the one way the heck south in Moore....used to be lots of rumors about one going in around SW 104th and I-44, but with Walmart going in there it may change the equation on that...

if this location does go out, i really hope that something takes its place. my concern is that this isn't perceived as a prime area of the city and therefore the corner will sit vacant. -M

I don't drive this area much anymore since I moved to Moore several years ago.... Is that Sears across the street still operating?

I don't drive this area much anymore since I moved to Moore several years ago.... Is that Sears across the street still operating?

yes, as far as i know... i would've thought that it would go out before this target. -M

I have heard something undocumented as of yet, but supposedly the Wal-Mart at I-240 and Santa Fe will be closing and moving to the I-44 and 104th location. anyone else heard any rumors of this actually happening?

I have heard something undocumented as of yet, but supposedly the Wal-Mart at I-240 and Santa Fe will be closing and moving to the I-44 and 104th location. anyone else heard any rumors of this actually happening?

Last story I heard was that WalMart was going to close it, but some leaders in the SE part of OKC got wind of it and begged them to keep it open. Don't know if the city was involved (officially or behind closed doors), but supposedly something persuaded them to keep it open. Take that for what it's worth. Zero claim to the story's veracity offered! :)

...however...

That puts three big WalMart stores within just a few minutes of each other...I-240 and Santa Fe, I-44 and SW 104th, and the I-35 location in Moore...and, if you stretch things a bit, there's also one down I-44 about five minutes in Newcastle....which is why OKC was so happy to get a WM at that 104th location - keeping people in that area from driving to the Newcastle location and sending sales tax dollars down there instead of OKC....

More broadly, however, I'm sure WM has some sort of magic saturation/density distance numbers in their head that governs their store placement, but I'd have to think that kind of density in a relatively small area is bound to be hitting that limit.

I don't drive this area much anymore since I moved to Moore several years ago.... Is that Sears across the street still operating?

Yes, amazingly.

I can't believe that Sears is going to last much longer.

Monstrous parking lot that is virtually empty every time I go by.

It might actually have been more into the 70's, but I won't swear to it.

practically the 70's... i found an advert from 1969 (and maybe one from '68) that included the location. county assessor's site says that the location was built in '69. in the back of my mind, the place also did time as a 'dayton hudson' (same company) before it was branded as target but i may be wrong. -M

Yes, the Sears at SW 44th and S Western is still operating. I'm extremely sad that this Target is closing, as it's only about a mile and a half from the house and I shop here on a regular basis. And yes, they did just recently add the grocery side within the last year or two. They never seem to be as busy as Walmart but they have done consistently steady business as far as I'm aware.

As far as the Ace Hardware - they appear to be leasing that space from Target, who owns the entire building according to county assessor's records.

I'm not going to lie - I hope they knock that building down and build a new Target store - hopefully a Super Target. I don't know if the parcel is big enough for a ST and it's associated parking lot, though.

practically the 70's... i found an advert from 1969 (and maybe one from '68) that included the location. county assessor's site says that the location was built in '69. in the back of my mind, the place also did time as a 'dayton hudson' (same company) before it was branded as target but i may be wrong. -M

Nope - it transitioned from an Arlans directly to Target. As a kid I was fascinated (for unknown reasons) with that building and used to build scale models of it and tracked it as it transitioned...

Yes, the Sears at SW 44th and S Western is still operating. I'm extremely sad that this Target is closing, as it's only about a mile and a half from the house and I shop here on a regular basis. And yes, they did just recently add the grocery side within the last year or two. They never seem to be as busy as Walmart but they have done consistently steady business as far as I'm aware.

As far as the Ace Hardware - they appear to be leasing that space from Target, who owns the entire building according to county assessor's records.

I'm not going to lie - I hope they knock that building down and build a new Target store - hopefully a Super Target. I don't know if the parcel is big enough for a ST and it's associated parking lot, though.

That Ace space used to be a grocery store. When the Target first opened, it was a partitioned space, but it was the "Target Grocery Store" as I recall. I also think the old local "Humpty Dumpty" chain operated it for a while - and my fuzzy memory is recalling that it was Humpty Dumpty first, they "lost their lease," and then it became the "Target Grocery." Much later, they shuttered the space for some time and left it vacant, then the hardware store went in.

Since they own that building, I've got to believe they got some sort of mad offer for the land. I'd be really surprised if they razed the building just to put up a Super Target in the same spot. The key, it seems to me, would be if the Ace Hardware stays in business. If they suddenly go out, that would tell me the building was going to go. They have built some new retail outparcels there, with the bank and the cellphone store, so maybe there's some sort of long-term development plan at hand...

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

I thought that it opened up as a 'Trade Mart". We lived in a house (no longer there) at 48th and Western, my parents won a dishwasher in their grand opening drawing, huge noisy thing that you had to hook up to the kitchen faucet.

http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=294-Southside-Target-to-close

I thought that it opened up as a 'Trade Mart". We lived in a house (no longer there) at 48th and Western, my parents won a dishwasher in their grand opening drawing, huge noisy thing that you had to hook up to the kitchen faucet.

i believe that trade mart was at i-240 & shields. -M

I thought that it opened up as a 'Trade Mart". We lived in a house (no longer there) at 48th and Western, my parents won a dishwasher in their grand opening drawing, huge noisy thing that you had to hook up to the kitchen faucet.

Nope. TradeMart opened up over at what is now the Walnut Square Shopping Center along SW 74th on the west side of Penn. When TradeMart closed in the early 70's, Service Merchandise took its place and was there for the duration until that chain went bankrupt (sadly), and that space now holds BigLots...quite a departure from Service Merchandise :(

i believe that trade mart was at i-240 & shields. -M

Nope. That was Woolco.

"The South Target opened in the early 70's and in 2004 about a third of the 137,630 square feet were subdivided and leased to Westlake Hardware."

i'm pretty certain that westlake hardware was already split out in the 1980's... while not certain, i could believe that in 2004 that westlake partnered with ace.

-M

I can't believe that Sears is going to last much longer.

Monstrous parking lot that is virtually empty every time I go by.

That property is owned by Sears and has been paid for for a long time so there is no rent on the property or building

Nope. That was Woolco.

you're right... like you said, trade mart was where service merchandise was at i-240 and penn. -M

That property is owned by Sears and has been paid for for a long time so there is no rent on the property or building

Same with the Target we are discussing.

I can't believe that Sears is going to last much longer.

Monstrous parking lot that is virtually empty every time I go by.

What many here may not realize is that there was a time when that particular Sears was popular enough such that they *really needed* that big parking lot! As a kid, Sears was one of my family's routine haunts. They sold furniture, organs, pianos, carpet, hardware (good hardware), toys (especially at Christmas), clothes, lawn/garden equipment, and had a big shoe area - heck, they were WalMart without the requisite layer of "crappy." And they had the *huge* catalog sales business to boot - they were arguably Amazon before Amazon and the Internet.

That 44th Sears also had a coffee/snack shop, a candy counter (that included fresh roasted peanuts that made the place smell AWESOME the moment you walked in), always had a demo Craftsman garage door opener up and running along with a demo PONG video game available for the kids (like me) to play. Back in that era it was across the street from a thriving Reding Square center. Ahh, how times have changed.

^

Yes, just like the one that used to stand at 23rd & Penn, which was my family's go-to place for almost everything back in the late 60's and early 70's.

It was fun to go as a kid.

But of course, the one on 23rd was demolished some time ago.

"The South Target opened in the early 70's and in 2004 about a third of the 137,630 square feet were subdivided and leased to Westlake Hardware."

i'm pretty certain that westlake hardware was already split out in the 1980's... while not certain, i could believe that in 2004 that westlake partnered with ace.

-M

Absolutely correct. The space occupied by Westlake was *expanded* from the space Target used to operate as a grocery store waaay back in the 70's (details in an earlier post)

When I was growing up this was the only Target on the south side. You didn't have the one in Moore or the one in Norman, which was closer to where I lived at the time than SW 44th. It's sad to see it closing. My guess is Sears will be next. The south side between I-240 and I-40 has lost so much since the 1990s. I seem to remember when SW 29th St was a more viable retail corridor than it is today.

They did build on but the hardware store also took part of Target's space when the entire store/center was reconfigured around that new construction.

http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/searches/sketches/picfile/1684/R132064620001xA.jpg

http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/searches/sketches/picfile/1684/R132064620001wA.jpg

i love digging around for this kind of stuff... just found an article from 1983 that states that westlake ace hardware will open "2 new stores ... adjacent to existing target stores"... so they did something similar at the target on midwest blvd in midwest city. i don't remember the "ace" part being prominently displayed in the 1980's... as a kid i remember the westlake logo looked awfully similar to the warner brothers logo of that era, which is why i remember it. -M

Ah well, you guys may be right, it was a long time ago. But it just seems that was the name of it, we used to go to this Trade Mart in Del City well before the 74th st store opened
http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2489&d=1345674019

That property is owned by Sears and has been paid for for a long time so there is no rent on the property or building

Well, not really anymore - Sears started and spun off a real estate investment trust company called "Seritage SRC Finance, LLC" to hold a lot of Sears' real estate assets. According to the County Assessor, the property that the Sears store is on was sold to Seritage last July. When interviewed by the Memphis Business Journal about a few Sears stores in Memphis sold under similar circumstances, Sears said that they expected to continue to operate these stores sold to Seritage under a leaseback agreement, but that Sears has no control over Seritage (Source: Sears Memphis building sell-off part of retail land rush (http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2015/07/21/sears-memphis-buildingsell-off-part-of-retail-land.html)).

I wonder if Target is going to build a new store out by the airport. I can't see them closing without building a new Southside store.

I wonder if Target is going to build a new store out by the airport. I can't see them closing without building a new Southside store.

I think if they did a new southside store, they might prefer to be on I-240. SW 44th and Western is somewhat off the beaten path these days unless you live in that area. An I-240 store would probably be much busier.

There's not a whole lot of vacant land near I-240... best area of clear land for a store of that size looks like the area between Shields and Santa Fe, roughly between I-240 and SE 66th St.

There's not a whole lot of vacant land near I-240... best area of clear land for a store of that size looks like the area between Shields and Santa Fe, roughly between I-240 and SE 66th St.

If WalMart even spectulated closing their big store, I can't imagine Target trying to build new in that general area. Somewhere around the new Portland development near the Airport makes a lot of sense, excepting for its proximity to the big Target in Moore....don't know how close together Target wants its stores.

The Walmart at I-240 and Santa Fe is constantly busy. They do a huge amount of business there. If they're thinking of closing their store there, I think the only real reason would be to mitigate shrinkage - as I understand it, that store stopped being 24-hour because there was a high amount of loss to theft during the overnight hours. Target doesn't operate any 24-hour stores in OKC, so to my mind this would be less of an issue for them.

This target was only moderately busy when I would visit, which is one of the reasons I preferred it.

Target has been re-trenching for a while so I bet this store did okay, just not well enough.

What does CVS expanding into Target stores have to do with the closing of this particular store? I don't see the correlation.

What does CVS expanding into Target stores have to do with the closing of this particular store? I don't see the correlation.

There isn't one other than the fact Target is making a bunch of wholesale business changes as it retrenches a bit.

Store closings are part of that overall strategy.

If WalMart even spectulated closing their big store, I can't imagine Target trying to build new in that general area. Somewhere around the new Portland development near the Airport makes a lot of sense, excepting for its proximity to the big Target in Moore....don't know how close together Target wants its stores.

I drive from 19th Street to Meridian/I-40 for work, and it takes roughly 15-20 minutes to actually get to Portland/Airport Road from 19th Street in Moore, depending on the time of day, so I think the Portland/Airport development would definitely be a great fit for a new one. It seems close but really is comparable, if not farther away than the Moore-Norman locations.

I can't believe that Sears is going to last much longer.

Monstrous parking lot that is virtually empty every time I go by.

There is absolutely no reason it hasn't already folded up...I think it is a zombie. Or maybe a good setting for Fallout 5.

...
BTW, that location is *not* a Super Target. Never has been.

...

I guess I just consider every Target with groceries a 'Super Target.' Maybe they all have groceries now. Not sure. I never buy food there.

The the three reasons I often shop this location....

1.) I'm in the area frequently.
2.) They are never very busy (during the day when I go).
3.) Their clearance items/prices are the best I've ever found.

This Target that's going out of business isn't a Super Target. Quail, Edmond, and Norman are the only Super Target's that are nearby.

Maybe perhaps they are looking to build a new one in the airport development?

I seriously doubt this is due to planning another store because nothing has even been announced yet.

Usually in such a case, they wait until the new one is open then shift existing employees.

I seriously doubt this is due to planning another store because nothing has even been announced yet.

Usually in such a case, they wait until the new one is open then shift existing employees.

I'm inclined to agree - especially since the rumors over a Target at 104th faded a *looong* time ago, right around the time the built the one in Moore, and I figured that pretty much put an end to the idea. With Target shuttering stores, it doesn't seem likely a new one is going up...

And with how long it's taken them to do anything other than the road over by the airport development it could be years before anything goes in there.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/26/investing/sears-kmart-kenmore-craftsman/index.html

Speaking of sears, it looks like they are doing away with the only thing that distinguishes them. It won't be long now.

I wonder if the new abortion clinic that is planning to open just down the street played a part with the upcoming closure of Target?

I wonder if the new abortion clinic that is planning to open just down the street played a part with the upcoming closure of Target?

Making that connection takes a larger suspension of disbelief than I can muster, and I am a Superman fan, I watch Supergirl, I watch The Flash, I watch Legends of Tomorrow.

I can believe in people flying, running faster than the speed of light, and time travel, but I can't believe in that, is what I am saying here.

Making that connection takes a larger suspension of disbelief than I can muster, and I am a Superman fan, I watch Supergirl, I watch The Flash, I watch Legends of Tomorrow.

I can believe in people flying, running faster than the speed of light, and time travel, but I can't believe in that, is what I am saying here.
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