Wal-Mart's Husk at 23rd and MacArthur

[White Peacock]

Might anybody have any idea what plans there may be to use this lot for? As of now, it's just an empty Walmart Neighborhood Market building (which sucks, because now I have to drive much farther to pick up groceries late at night), and I'm concerned that its being left vacant for too long will begin an Almonte effect. There were rumors that an On Cue would be going in, but I don't know if there's any truth to that.

[Garin]

I just noticed that empty building this morning.... Isn't crest across the street?

[Garin]

Might anybody have any idea what plans there may be to use this lot for? As of now, it's just an empty Walmart Neighborhood Market building (which sucks, because now I have to drive much farther to pick up groceries late at night), and I'm concerned that its being left vacant for too long will begin an Almonte effect. There were rumors that an On Cue would be going in, but I don't know if there's any truth to that.

Also Almonte is under new ownership and they are updating the paint and signage ,and actually have some pretty solid tenants and are talking to a lot of new prospects.

[Pete]

Why did the Neighborhood Market close? They just opened up a new one 3 miles due north.

That property is still owned by Walmart so I don't know what they plan to do with it.

[White Peacock]

I just noticed that empty building this morning.... Isn't crest across the street?

Crest is at 23rd and Meridian.

It'll be nice to see Almonte revived completely. I grew up in that neighborhood and used to go to the movies at the theater there.

[White Peacock]

Why did the Neighborhood Market close? They just opened up a new one 3 miles due north.

That property is still owned by Walmart so I don't know what they plan to do with it.

The one at 63rd is just the one at 23rd, moved. They had signage up at the 23rd location indicating that they were moving north a few miles.

[Garin]

Crest is at 23rd and Meridian.

It'll be nice to see Almonte revived completely. I grew up in that neighborhood and used to go to the movies at the theater there.

I did too spent every Friday and Saturday at the movies ,the arcade and peter pipers pizza......Good times

[rte66man]

Why did the Neighborhood Market close? They just opened up a new one 3 miles due north.

That property is still owned by Walmart so I don't know what they plan to do with it.

Pete, is it owned by Walmart or did they lease it? IIRC they usually don't own their own buildings. They have (or used to have) a real estate subsidiary that owned the property. Walmart Stores leased the buildings once built. Has that changed?

[gjl]

The Walmart Neighborhood Market on 23rd and MacArthur was approached to move to their new location on 63rd and MacArthur by the Mayor of Warr Acres about 4 years ago. It took about 3 years for them to decide to move. They were not happy with what the 23rd st location was becoming at night with some increase in crime in the area. The bar across the street and patrons of the bar were spilling over onto their parking lot too. Drive by there late on a Fri or Sat night and you will see. There may have even been a robbery or 2 at the Walmart late at night since they were open 24 hours. I know Warr Acres is really happy to have them in their city now with the sales tax revenue they generate, and actively pursued getting them to move. Warr Acres almost went bankrupt when the Walmart Supercenter that used to be at NW Highway and MacArthur moved west out of Warr Acres.

[White Peacock]

Yeah, patrons of the OK Corral would take up large sections of the Walmart parking lot at night. Hopefully the space is put to some good use soon.

[White Peacock]

I did too spent every Friday and Saturday at the movies ,the arcade and peter pipers pizza......Good times

The arcade and pizza joint must have been before my time. However, I do remember the awesome chili dogs at the Coney Island next to the movie theater.

[MWCGuy]

This was originally a Walmart Discount City Store. (This store is at least 25 years old) The predecessor of the big blue grey box Walmart's and Supercenter's. I think they are in the process of using smaller buildings and utilizing green technology to cut the cost of the operations at each new store. The neighborhood markets and supercenter's they are building today are smaller then what they used to be. Smaller packaging and centrally located warehouses are making to where the large stores are no longer necessary.

[gjl]

This was originally a Walmart Discount City Store. (This store is at least 25 years old) The predecessor of the big blue grey box Walmart's and Supercenter's. I think they are in the process of using smaller buildings and utilizing green technology to cut the cost of the operations at each new store. The neighborhood markets and supercenter's they are building today are smaller then what they used to be. Smaller packaging and centrally located warehouses are making to where the large stores are no longer necessary.

I disagree. The 23rd and MacArthur location has always been a Neighborhood Market. It was one of the first, if not the first one Walmart built as a test store.

[Hondo1]

gjl, I believe you're correct that this was OKC's first Walmart Neighborhood Market however, it was converted from a "regular" Walmart store. Remember it well as my family and I shopped there frequently after relocating to OKC in 1994.

[MWCGuy]

I disagree. The 23rd and MacArthur location has always been a Neighborhood Market. It was one of the first, if not the first one Walmart built as a test store.

This store was built in 1983. It was converted after Walmart moved to I-40 and MacArthur in 1999. That is why there has always been an unused leased portion at the south end of the building. The Neighborhood Market concept did not start until the late 90's. 104th and Western, Hefner and Rockwell were both built in 1999 around the same time they remodeled this store to a Neighborhood Market.

My sources: Cleveland County and Oklahoma County Assessor's websites.

[Brett]

I would take a guess that it will probably turn into a self storage location much like the old MWC and Village Wal-Marts did after closure.