National retailers are back in town, looking for space for new stores, but Price Edwards & Co. says landlords should act fast: When sexier markets like Austin and Las Vegas, and most of California and Florida, get their groove back, Oklahoma City will lose the competitive advantage it now enjoys.

BY RICHARD MIZE

National retail prospects, scarce since the 2008 economic crash, are back in Oklahoma City scouting for new stores. That's the take-away from Price Edward & Co.'s year-end retail property summary, which is brimming with cautious optimism.

Dick's Sporting Goods, Anthropologie, The Container Store, California Pizza Kitchen and LA Fitness are among the national names “that want to be here and are actively looking for sites,” the firm said in the report by Senior Vice President Jim Parrack, retail investment broker Paul Ravencraft and brokers Karleen Krywucki, Brandy Rundel, Susan Brinkley, Ev Ernst, Laci Jackson and Lee Chancellor.

Loosening hold
Walmart's stranglehold on groceries — the giant has cornered almost 60 percent of the market — is loosening. Whole Foods Market, to open on Classen Boulevard, and a new Crest Foods, 10601 S May Ave., started it; Sprouts and Fresh Market are now eying Oklahoma City, the firm said.



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