Crest

[bchris02]

Does anybody know if Crest plans on opening any more of these Crest Markets? I just moved here from Charlotte and live on the north side. While I have been very impressed with OKC and think it even edges out Charlotte in some areas, nice grocery stores are hard to come by here compared to what I was used to back in Charlotte. Some regular Crests are nice, a few Homelands are nice but most Homelands are run down and dirty. Of course there is Wal-Mart that I avoid like the plague. Whole Foods is nice but its a niche market. So I happened to be on the south side tonight and stopped into Crest Market at 104th and May and it felt like I was walking into a Harris Teeter back home or an H-E-B. I think the metro area could use a few more of these, especially on the north side. Does anybody know if Crest plans on expanding that concept?

[metro]

Welcome to OKC! Try Sprouts Market at 63rd and May or 2nd and Broadway in Edmond. The Uptown Grocery Co. In Edmond at Danforth and Kelly is real nice too. The Buy For Less at NW Expressway and Hefner Parkway is decent too. These are all on the north side. OKCs grocery store scene is just now being discovered on a national scale and is turning around quickly, be patient.

[adaniel]

I second a welcome. Glad to hear you are enjoying OKC. Can't say I've seen too many east-coasters here.

I agree the grocery scene in OKC is only now starting to improve and Crest is the local chain leading the way. Unfortunately the only store they are planning to build is going to be in Norman.

If you are in North OKC, have you tried the Crest off of Rockwell and Hefner? That was the store I went to when I lived on the north side of town. Not as nice as the one off 104th and May but its nice, clean, and carries about 95% of what the Fresh Market store carries.

[metro]

adaniel, why is Crest leading the way? They aren't anymore than BFL with their new Uptown Market concept.

[adaniel]

adaniel, why is Crest leading the way? They aren't anymore than BFL with their new Uptown Market concept.

I'm only saying that because Crest is already planning on Fresh Market store # 2. Plus, outside of Uptown Grocery and their flagship store on NWX, most BFL's are lacking. Whereas, I would have no problem going into a normal Crest.

Uptown Grocery is very nice, so I will give BFL credit for trying to right the ship.

[boscorama]

There's a Crest in Edmond, at 164th & Santa Fe. I don't get why anyone goes to Walmart for groceries if there's a Crest nearby. In my opinion, Crest is the Best!

[Questor]

brchris:

• You're actually talking about a "Crest Fresh Market."
• Crest stores are owned by the same company, but they are the crappy 80s version of the chain and while people are going to yell at me I'm sure they're nothing like what you are looking for. You want their Crest Fresh Market concept, nothing else.
• Right now the one on the SW side is the only one in existence. Crest has also announced plans for a Fresh Market in Norman, but I am unsure of when it will be built. I have heard of no plans for any more stores after that one.
• People are going to tell you about how nice Store X or Store Y are... don't believe them, they are "Oklahoma quality" 90s style stores. The only real options for the type of store you are looking for in your area are Whole Foods and Uptown Grocery. Thought it was getting better but new development seems to have stalled out. (Slapping new paint and fake wood floors on a dingy 30 year old store but keeping the same wilted veggies doesn't impress me Homeland).

As you can tell, I am fed up with many quality of life issues in OKC, this being one of them. OKC is a nice place to live, but it is behind the times in a lot of things and every day is a struggle against the hordes to keep it that way. I hope the quality of grocery stores will improve, but if past is any indication it is going to happen at a snails pace compared to everywhere else.

[bchris02]

brchris:

• You're actually talking about a "Crest Fresh Market."
• Crest stores are owned by the same company, but they are the crappy 80s version of the chain and while people are going to yell at me I'm sure they're nothing like what you are looking for. You want their Crest Fresh Market concept, nothing else.
• Right now the one on the SW side is the only one in existence. Crest has also announced plans for a Fresh Market in Norman, but I am unsure of when it will be built. I have heard of no plans for any more stores after that one.
• People are going to tell you about how nice Store X or Store Y are... don't believe them, they are "Oklahoma quality" 90s style stores. The only real options for the type of store you are looking for in your area are Whole Foods and Uptown Grocery. Thought it was getting better but new development seems to have stalled out. (Slapping new paint and fake wood floors on a dingy 30 year old store but keeping the same wilted veggies doesn't impress me Homeland).

As you can tell, I am fed up with many quality of life issues in OKC, this being one of them. OKC is a nice place to live, but it is behind the times in a lot of things and every day is a struggle against the hordes to keep it that way. I hope the quality of grocery stores will improve, but if past is any indication it is going to happen at a snails pace compared to everywhere else.

Thanks for the replies everybody. I actually do most of my shopping at the Crest at Rockwell and Hefner because its close to where I live. It's pretty nice, though not near as nice as the Crest Fresh Market. It's nice enough though and its clean and well stocked. Still wish there were a few more Crest Fresh Markets or a concept similar on the northwest side. I'll have to check out the Buy For Less on NW Expressway. I have been in a few nice Homelands, most notably the one on N May and Britton, but I have two other Homelands within a mile of where I live and they are both nasty.

Having lived in OKC as a child, I have to say the lack of quality grocery stores here is not completely the fault of OKC. The first reason is Wal-Mart deployed their saturation strategy in this market in the early 2000s and were much more aggressive than they were in most other markets. This resulted in many local grocers going out of business and some national chains like Albertson's leaving the market. This was able to happen because unlike most cities across the US, OKC never had a dominant grocery retailer prior to Wal-Mart's deluge on the market like Houston (H-E-B), Charlotte (Harris Teeter), Little Rock (Kroger), Tulsa (Reasor's), etc all had. The closest thing OKC ever had was Homeland which in Charlotte would be about on the level of a Compare Foods; definitely bottom tier. This allowed Wal-Mart to very easily come in and become that dominant grocery retailer because for the most part it was an improvement upon what was here before as sad as that is.

Fortunately, there are companies now like Crest that are stepping up to the plate and improving things, if ever so slowly. I was also reading that Reasor's may open a store in Edmond making it the first OKC metro store for them. If it does well, its not too far fetched to think the chain will expand their presence in Central Oklahoma. Personally, I would rather see an Oklahoma company like Crest or Reasor's expand and become a greater force in the OKC market than a national chain like H-E-B come in. Supporting local retailers benefits everybody.

[Jim Kyle]

duplicate!

[soonergooner]

Having been in the retail grocery industry going on 40 years, this thread is most interesting. It is great that you returned to OKC to live. Welcome home.
There is one thing on all these threads I cannot understand. The presumption that okc is negligent and backwards offends my Okieness to no end. You have supposedly moved back from Charlotte and know exactly how a real grocer should look. You say you support local chains, but only mention one. Homeland is employee owned and operated, BFL is locally owned and operated but you fail to mention either in your comments. I know the locations in your area intimately and take umbrage with your comment re: " two nasty Homelands." All those locations are operated quite well by industry standards and I have no qualms with shopping any.
I challenge you and all the community here to offer the definitive model of the perfect grocer for our needs. I don't see the be all/end all around, and if there were, it would be different tomorrow. In the meantime, my industry will continue to respond quickly to the wants and needs of the community.
While I think the mantra of supporting local business is great, is there any curiosity with the employee conditions the various companies require?
Once again, welcome home and look forward to your response.

[gamecock]

Having been in the retail grocery industry going on 40 years, this thread is most interesting. It is great that you returned to OKC to live. Welcome home.
There is one thing on all these threads I cannot understand. The presumption that okc is negligent and backwards offends my Okieness to no end. You have supposedly moved back from Charlotte and know exactly how a real grocer should look. You say you support local chains, but only mention one. Homeland is employee owned and operated, BFL is locally owned and operated but you fail to mention either in your comments. I know the locations in your area intimately and take umbrage with your comment re: " two nasty Homelands." All those locations are operated quite well by industry standards and I have no qualms with shopping any.
I challenge you and all the community here to offer the definitive model of the perfect grocer for our needs. I don't see the be all/end all around, and if there were, it would be different tomorrow. In the meantime, my industry will continue to respond quickly to the wants and needs of the community.
While I think the mantra of supporting local business is great, is there any curiosity with the employee conditions the various companies require?
Once again, welcome home and look forward to your response.

I think you are missing the point. No one is saying that OKC is negligent and backwards, but for those of us who have lived in other parts of the country (e.g., Washington, DC/VA, South Carolina) it is shocking to see what the grocery stores are like in Oklahoma versus other places. Homeland has definitely improved one of its stores in Norman, but the quality of the other stores is highly variable from what I've seen. The quality of the deli, produce, fresh foods, and bakeries here is just generally inferior to what you see from stores like Harris Teeter, Giant Food, and even some Kroger stores. And the stores themselves are not as nice. Also, our one Whole Foods store is the closest thing we have to something like Wegmans or Central Market. I have been to Uptown Grocery and Crest Fresh Market, and they are both very nice stores. But in other parts of the country, these would be closer to what the typical grocery stores look like. They are the rule, whereas here they are the exception. I moved to Oklahoma eight years ago, and I love it here. I think it's great that we're finally getting some decent options, and I hope concepts like Whole Foods, Uptown Grocery, and Crest Fresh Market will spread around the metro. I also hope we will get something like Central Market (and Trader Joe's).

[bchris02]

Having been in the retail grocery industry going on 40 years, this thread is most interesting. It is great that you returned to OKC to live. Welcome home.
There is one thing on all these threads I cannot understand. The presumption that okc is negligent and backwards offends my Okieness to no end. You have supposedly moved back from Charlotte and know exactly how a real grocer should look. You say you support local chains, but only mention one. Homeland is employee owned and operated, BFL is locally owned and operated but you fail to mention either in your comments. I know the locations in your area intimately and take umbrage with your comment re: " two nasty Homelands." All those locations are operated quite well by industry standards and I have no qualms with shopping any.
I challenge you and all the community here to offer the definitive model of the perfect grocer for our needs. I don't see the be all/end all around, and if there were, it would be different tomorrow. In the meantime, my industry will continue to respond quickly to the wants and needs of the community.
While I think the mantra of supporting local business is great, is there any curiosity with the employee conditions the various companies require?
Once again, welcome home and look forward to your response.

I never said OKC was backwards. I have found it quite the opposite. This grocery situation though is the one thing both newcomers and long time residents agree is lacking compared to nearly every other city, including Tulsa, and though has improved in the last couple of years still has a ways to go. There are a few very nice Homelands but there are also many not-so-nice ones. If there were more stores like the May and Britton Homeland, Crest Fresh Market, and Uptown Grocery scattered throughout the metro this would no longer be an issue.

[Buffalo Bill]

brchris:

• You're actually talking about a "Crest Fresh Market."
• Crest stores are owned by the same company, but they are the crappy 80s version of the chain and while people are going to yell at me I'm sure they're nothing like what you are looking for. You want their Crest Fresh Market concept, nothing else.
• Right now the one on the SW side is the only one in existence. Crest has also announced plans for a Fresh Market in Norman, but I am unsure of when it will be built. I have heard of no plans for any more stores after that one.
• People are going to tell you about how nice Store X or Store Y are... don't believe them, they are "Oklahoma quality" 90s style stores. The only real options for the type of store you are looking for in your area are Whole Foods and Uptown Grocery. Thought it was getting better but new development seems to have stalled out. (Slapping new paint and fake wood floors on a dingy 30 year old store but keeping the same wilted veggies doesn't impress me Homeland).

As you can tell, I am fed up with many quality of life issues in OKC, this being one of them. OKC is a nice place to live, but it is behind the times in a lot of things and every day is a struggle against the hordes to keep it that way. I hope the quality of grocery stores will improve, but if past is any indication it is going to happen at a snails pace compared to everywhere else.

+1

The Oklahoma City grocery market, save for a few niche stores, sucks big time.

[stdennis]

What about sunflower market? They are very nice too

[ljbab728]

What about sunflower market? They are very nice too

Sunflower is now Sprouts which was mentioned earlier.

[zookeeper]

Homeland at May and Britton is the nicest regular grocery store on the northwest side. Unfortunately it's about their only really nice store.

[soonerguru]

Homeland is terrible, although they've improved their store on May and Britton, and it's decent.

[ljbab728]

Homeland is hardly terrible.

[Buffalo Bill]

Homeland is hardly terrible.

You need to stop into their "store" at 18th and Classen. Unbelievably bad.

[CuatrodeMayo]

You need to stop into their "store" at 18th and Classen. Unbelievably bad.

+1

[betts]

You need to stop into their "store" at 18th and Classen. Unbelievably bad.

I agree that it's bad by suburban standards. But, it's really not bad compared to a lot of urban grocery stores. They'll fix it up once they get some competition downtown. Right now, it's our only option. I buy all my staples there, for which it's just fine. But, I'm waiting for Urban Roots to be my best option for meat and vegetables.

[Buffalo Bill]

I agree that it's bad by suburban standards. But, it's really not bad compared to a lot of urban grocery stores. They'll fix it up once they get some competition downtown. Right now, it's our only option. I buy all my staples there, for which it's just fine. But, I'm waiting for Urban Roots to be my best option for meat and vegetables.

It's horrible by any standard urban, suburban, or otherwise. Flaccid rejected vegetables from their other stores, employees hanging out front smoking girts and discarding them in the parking lot, no lighting. Shameful. It needs to be dozed. I only go there as a last resort. Super Cao has great produce, seafood and pork. Braums has dairy staples. This place is godawful.

My idea of an urban grocery store is the King Soopers at 14th and Speer in Denver. Not great to look at, but functional. It's been there maybe 20 years.

[metro]

Homeland is hardly terrible.

You're right, it's beyond terrible, minus the flagship store.

[ljbab728]

You're right, it's beyond terrible, minus the flagship store.

To each his own. I shop at a Homeland regularly and am quite satisfied.

[G.Walker]

We live right down the street from a Walmart Neighborhood Market, and its not that bad, which we go there to pick up light things, but if we really want to do some serious grocery shopping we go to Sam's....But for the record Crest's Fresh Markets are the best everyday grocery shopping in the city. Moreover, Norman's Crest Fresh Market plat was approved a couple weeks ago, so they should be breaking ground anytime now.