Crest killing Homeland in SW OKC

[earlywinegareth]

The store at I-240 & May is going out of business - closing in December...everything in stock is 15% off. No doubt the new Crest store siphoned off their business. I have no problem with economic evolutionary processes at work, especially in favor of a locally owned company.

[jmarkross]

Homeland stores...with their dreadful nasal funeral-dirge commercials...at least in the Norman area..are distasteful places to be...

[MustangGT]

I am NOT surprised. The last time I dared to enter a Homeland store the employees were rude, unhelpful and walked around like they were in a daze. They made no eye contact and the checker did not say hello/goodbye/thanks. The closing of that chain of stores wil NOT be missed in my home.

[jmarkross]

I am NOT surprised. The last time I dared to enter a Homeland store the employees were rude, unhelpful and walked around like they were in a daze. They made no eye contact and the checker did not say hello/goodbye/thanks. The closing of that chain of stores wil NOT be missed in my home.

The last one I entered...I watched a dolt stacking cukes like bricks...one every 30 or 40 seconds...it was appalling...had not seen this type of Night of The Living Dead employees since the teens I saw in a Washington DC McDonald's...took them about 45 seconds to wrap each cheeseburger--when the average OKC teen could wrap one in under 5 seconds--easy. Poor Management.

[SkyWestOKC]

You mean I-240 and Penn?

[Martin]

there's a homeland at i-240 and may and then there's one at 104th and penn. the rumor i heard, which may be wrong, was that 104th and penn was closing in december... -M

[okclee]

Now if we can do something about the Homeland at 18th and Classen.

[MustangGT]

Now if we can do something about the Homeland at 18th and Classen.

So true. The majority of the customers and the staff look like homeless shelter rejects. Once in that hell hole was enough. Never again.

[MikeOKC]

Homeland is also a local company. Its headquarters is in Edmond. EDIT correction...Homeland in in Edmond but it's a subsidary of AWG....which also owns

* Price Chopper / Price Mart
* Country Mart
* Cash Saver
* Apple Market
* Harps
* SunFresh
* ThriftWay
* Hen House Market

The problem with Homeland is it seems to put all its money into 2 or 3 stores. They are all former Albertsons locations and are all kept up very nice.

For example, you go into Homeland at 18th and Classen and then go into the the Homeland at Britton and N. May and you would never guess it could possibly be the same chain. 18th and Classen needs serious work. North May is clean, customer service is good, and they've kept it as much like the old Albertsons as possible. But I have to agree on other locations. Like I said, it's sometimes hard to believe it's the same chain.

[cindy]

Homeland is also a local company. Its headquarters is in Edmond. EDIT correction...Homeland in in Edmond but it's a subsidary of AWG....which also owns

* Price Chopper / Price Mart
* Country Mart
* Cash Saver
* Apple Market
* Harps
* SunFresh
* ThriftWay
* Hen House Market

The problem with Homeland is it seems to put all its money into 2 or 3 stores. They are all former Albertsons locations and are all kept up very nice.

For example, you go into Homeland at 18th and Classen and then go into the the Homeland at Britton and N. May and you would never guess it could possibly be the same chain. 18th and Classen needs serious work. North May is clean, customer service is good, and they've kept it as much like the old Albertsons as possible. But I have to agree on other locations. Like I said, it's sometimes hard to believe it's the same chain.

I believe that EVERY major store in OKC (Buy for Less, Homeland, Crest, Eleys, etc.) except for Wal Mart is serviced by AWG (Associated Wholesale Grocers) and AWG owns the Homeland stores.

[adaniel]

So true. The majority of the customers and the staff look like homeless shelter rejects. Once in that hell hole was enough. Never again.

Not only that, but then it has the audacity to be expensive!

A scaled down version of Crest Fresh Market would be perfect in one of the many empty lots around Midtown. Maybe 10th and Harvey?

[Doug Loudenback]

Now if we can do something about the Homeland at 18th and Classen.

That's my neighborhood Homeland and over the years (though the faces have frequently changed) it's close and that's where I've done most of my grocery shopping over the past 15 years or so and I like being able to say, "Hi, Michael" (or whoever) when I'm there and kibitzing with a friendly face and person I know for a bit while shopping. I have the impression that Homeland low-balls its employee wages and that's the reason for its frequent employee turnover, but that's only an impression. But, aside from proximity and familiarity, there is no way that my own shopping patterns have not changed since the new southside Crest opened, despite its distance from my Mesta Park home. But, the reality check is that on the interstates it takes only 12-15 minutes to get there from where I live.

While I've pretty much avoided trading at the WalMart grocery west of Penn on NW 23 except for emergencies, I've got to say that my habit of favoring the 18th & Classen Homeland has changed. I've now settled into a new comfortable pattern of going to the new southside Crest about every 2 weeks, just like I did this morning, and dropping $175-$225 there with each bi-weekly visit. I still go to Homeland at 18th & Classen for less complete purchasing on an ad hoc immediate-need basis, but it doesn't get the larger share of my food dollars that Crest now does. So, if I'm a typical example (and I don't know that I am), it's not just the southside Homelands that might be suffering with better competition, it's quite possibly all of them. They simple don't measure up.

It's not just prices, which are way better at Crest, it's what's available. This morning, for example, in addition to picking up a couple of bags of Starbucks whole bean coffee at just under $7 a bag (at Homeland, usually over $9 a bag), I picked up at the southside Crest 1 1/2 pounds of king crab legs which I cannot wait to eat, as well as many other things in their meat and other sections. Get those crab legs them at Homeland at 18th & Classen? No way, no how.

[Lauri101]

I shop regularly at the Homeland on 29th and Sunnylane and love it. It's a former Albertsons and kept up fairly well. I'm known by name, get excellent service at all departments and have been able to get items special ordered with no problem. Overall, I tend to spend about the same amount of money for groceries as I did at WalMart and I buy non-food items at Target.
I've been Wally World free for 6 months and plan to stay that way. I will not, ever, shop at Crest - a personal boycott for 20 years because of the store EEO policies practiced at that time. As long as Crest treats employees as they do and the Harroz family owns the store, they won't get a dime from my house. IMHO - some things are more important than money and I'll economize in other ways.

[Doug Loudenback]

I shop regularly at the Homeland on 29th and Sunnylane and love it. It's a former Albertsons and kept up fairly well. I'm known by name, get excellent service at all departments and have been able to get items special ordered with no problem. Overall, I tend to spend about the same amount of money for groceries as I did at WalMart and I buy non-food items at Target.
I've been Wally World free for 6 months and plan to stay that way. I will not, ever, shop at Crest - a personal boycott for 20 years because of the store EEO policies practiced at that time. As long as Crest treats employees as they do and the Harroz family owns the store, they won't get a dime from my house. IMHO - some things are more important than money and I'll economize in other ways.

I don't know about this, Lauri. Can you explain?

[Wambo36]

Not sure what Laurie's experiences were Doug, but as someone who grew up in MWC, I can tell you that the stories from people who worked for the Harroz family during my high school years are not very flattering. I had one friend who was hired and told he was on a 2 week training period. What he wasn't told, was that the training was at no cost to the employer. When he found out his first 2 weeks had been for free, he quit the job on principle.
In the wake of the May 3rd tornado they were the only grocery store, that I'm aware of, that was selling cardboard boxes to the people who were trying to gather up the remains of their homes. The same cardboard boxes that would have otherwise been incinerated.

Never let it be said that they don't know how to make a buck.

[Architect2010]

Honestly. I don't think it was just the Crest, I do think Crest was the nail in the coffin though. Walmart Neighborhood market is at 59th and Penn, there's another Homeland at 44th and May, another Homeland at 104th and Penn, and now the Crest at 104th and May. Out of all of these, this Homeland at 74th and May and the Albertson's that previously occupied it were by far the nastiest. It's just a decrepit location with loads of competition from nicer stores all within 2 miles.

[soonerguru]

Homeland is terrible. And it's not "a fresh experience."

Wow, what an awful tagline.

[king183]

This is the beauty of creative destruction...and I love it because Homeland should have died long ago.

Did someone say Crest was expanding to Norman? That would spell the end of at least two Homelands there.

[rickself]

This is the beauty of creative destruction...and I love it because Homeland should have died long ago.

Did someone say Crest was expanding to Norman? That would spell the end of at least two Homelands there.

I understand they are looking to expand into Yukon soon.

[Dustin]

Homeland is terrible. And it's not "a fresh experience."

Wow, what an awful tagline.

Disagree, Their flagship stores are VERY nice..

[JayhawkTransplant]

When I moved here last year, I went to the closest grocery store after unloading the moving truck. It was the Homeland at 18th and Classen. I spent the rest of the day in tears, considering asking my employer to move me back home. It's funny how you can become homesick for your old grocery store.

The next week, I began a quest to find a nice grocery store. I asked everyone I met where they did their grocery shopping. I'd say about 70 percent said either Wal-Mart or Target. I think it would be interesting to see how many true grocery stores there are per square mile in OKC as compared to similar cities.

I now shop at the Homeland on May and Britton. I have never been to a Crest...I will find one and try it out.

[MustangGT]

Disagree, Their flagship stores are VERY nice..

Where are their "flagship stores"?

[euphjay]

Where are their "flagship stores"?

I'm assuming one of them is their store at SW 104th and Penn. It's actually a very nice store but my gosh is it expensive. I've only been their once or twice since the new Crest opened.

[zuluwarrior0760]

While true that Crest is going to Norman next, I don't think it will be for 18mos to 2years. If you look at the timeline of previous store openings compared to the last,
you see that trend.
Crest simply doesn't begin to open a store until they are able to pay cash for it,
which of course comes faster the more they build. I love the new store in S. OKC
We shop there sometimes when we go to the only movie theatre in OKC we like
which is on the south side too.

I hate Homeland and if you travel all around the U.S. you see our city is so incredibly
underserved in this area, it's truly unreal. You won't see any grocery stores in our
Chamber of Commerce commercials anytime soon.

[kevinpate]

Thanks for clarifying flintysooner. I don't think I'll be seeking out the Allens anytime soon given the price points.