Pratt's Grocery Stores

[Cohiba]

Wow.....on this cold and snowy day, sitting at the computer and finishing my lunch...I'm going back in time and doing some "thinkin"".

Pratt's Grocery Stores: Growing up in Chandler,on Saturday or Sunday afternoons my mom and I would stop at Meeker to visit relatives then on to Shawnee to get groceries.

I remember her and I shopping at Pratt's ...anyways I though at one time there were TWO Pratts in Shawnee. Then if I'm not mistaken....I remember on 23rd and Spencer(???) them having a store and maybe a few in OKC.

Well ......time goes by and it seemed like all of a sudden they're all GONE. I'm sure it's me and my slow-poke recognition but it seemed they went out of business FAST. I remember ..I think it was J.B. Pratt doing TV commercials.

Any info?? Thanks!!

[Pete]

NW 39th & Portland and I-240 and Walker are the Pratt's I remember.

[Martin]

i believe there was one on eastern in moore as well.

[Martin]

a june 1997 ad in the oklahoman lists:
7501 s walker (i-240 & walker)
3645 nw 39th expressway
1648 sw 89th (i don't remember this one... thought it was a homeland during this time)
1258 n. eastern, moore
1205 e. lindsay, norman
600 w. independence, shawnee

[Martin]

an ad from 1992 adds:
8423 ne 23rd, spencer

and from 1996:
4439 nw 50th

[Martin]

guess this turned into my lazy sunday afternoon "detective" project.

an article from may 2001 reports the closing of the i-240 & walker store when the lease expired. j.b. pratt told the paper that he was "moving the store" to bryant and danforth in edmond as a natural foods grocery. i do remember in the late 90's, the i-240 location had a section of the store dedicated to 'natural' products... perhaps pratt closed his traditional stores to refocus on a 'natural' concept... a strategy that might have paid off if he had waited 10 years.

a june 2001 ad announced the closing of the i-240 & walker and moore locations. it seems that pratt's was down to just norman and nw 39th in the metro area... so they were already on the way out at that point.

an article from december of 2003 reports homeland buying back the shawnee store on independence.

[Pete]

The business and J.B. Pratt himself declared bankruptcy in 2005.

[Martin]

The business and J.B. Pratt himself declared bankruptcy in 2005.

he was local and (if i remember right) homeland and albertsons were opening tons of locations in the early 2000's. wonder if pratt was just choked out by the competition. it seems that a few other local players (e.g. buchanan's) folded around this time also.

[Pete]

^

Independent grocery stores started getting clobbered in the 90's and very few of them survived.

[ctchandler]

1648 sw 89th (i don't remember this one... thought it was a homeland during this time)

Martin,
It was a Buchanan's prior to Pratt's.
C. T.

[Martin]

Martin,
It was a Buchanan's prior to Pratt's.
C. T.

i've lived in sw okc my whole life, so i'm pretty confident in this... this spot on the se corner of sw 89th and penn opened as a safeway, was later turned into a homeland, and (apparently) spent a few years as a pratt's. after that, it was an asian grocery store for over a decade until last year when it moved into the old homeland space at sw 104th and penn. it currently sits vacant.

buchanan's had a store just opposite this on the nw corner of sw 89th and penn. this is currently a goodwill location. buchanan's also operated at sw 119th and western, and at sw 59th and western... they probably had other locations that were before my time.

[SoonersFan12]

I used to work at Pratt's when I was 15 years old on Eastern in Moore and South Walker in Oklahoma City, it is a shame the store declined for years and it shut down, it used to be a good grocery store when I was working there

[ctchandler]

i've lived in sw okc my whole life, so i'm pretty confident in this... this spot on the se corner of sw 89th and penn opened as a safeway, was later turned into a homeland, and (apparently) spent a few years as a pratt's. after that, it was an asian grocery store for over a decade until last year when it moved into the old homeland space at sw 104th and penn. it currently sits vacant.

buchanan's had a store just opposite this on the nw corner of sw 89th and penn. this is currently a goodwill location. buchanan's also operated at sw 119th and western, and at sw 59th and western... they probably had other locations that were before my time.

Martin,
My mistake, I lived at 2605 SW 92nd, I though we were talking about the Northwest corner of Pen and 89th. I left the area before Pratt's came to the area. There was no Safeway either. I wasn't there when they developed the Southeast corner. I should have read this thread a little closer before running my mouth.
C. T.

[Jesseda]

A friend of mine ran a Craft Mall business in the Silverleaf shopping center in Moore, ok off 12th and eastern. He told me the owner of the shopping center was owned by Mrs. Pratt she got it from the divorce. I dont know when the Divorce happened but it was told it was the reason the big fall of Pratts Groceries . I dont know how many stores she got in the divorce etc. The shopping center was later sold. This is coming from a friend who rented space in the shopping center back in early early 2000s after Pratts closed in moore already. Dont know if it was just shopping center store owners gossip but I know how crazy divorces can go so there might be truth to it.

[RadicalModerate]

The most recent time I got into any sort of "argumental" discussion regarding Grocery Stores involved the fact that I preferred Buy For Less and Homeland. Buy For Less morphed into Uptown. Uptown/Buy For Less was recently sold. She said "Pratts" . . . I disagreed. This time I was right: It was sold to PLATTS, not Pratts. A minor victory . . . Yet still a win. (Still . . . somehow, I recall the childlike wonders of Snyders IGA at the corner of May and Hefner. =~)

[RadicalModerate]

Word on the street has it that The Oklahoma Gazette was easily available at any location that advertised therein . . . Is this no longer true? Even prior to the attack of Covid-19 and the onslaught of the CBD epidemic I was sure to obtain a copy wherever it might have been . . . for the OP-ED pages and the NY Times Crossword . . . Change: Embrace IT =~)

[coop2773]

The most recent time I got into any sort of "argumental" discussion regarding Grocery Stores involved the fact that I preferred Buy For Less and Homeland. Buy For Less morphed into Uptown. Uptown/Buy For Less was recently sold. She said "Pratts" . . . I disagreed. This time I was right: It was sold to PLATTS, not Pratts. A minor victory . . . Yet still a win. (Still . . . somehow, I recall the childlike wonders of Snyders IGA at the corner of May and Hefner. =~)

I thought it was sold to Pruett's? That's what shows on my bank statement.

[BoulderSooner]

The most recent time I got into any sort of "argumental" discussion regarding Grocery Stores involved the fact that I preferred Buy For Less and Homeland. Buy For Less morphed into Uptown. Uptown/Buy For Less was recently sold. She said "Pratts" . . . I disagreed. This time I was right: It was sold to PLATTS, not Pratts. A minor victory . . . Yet still a win. (Still . . . somehow, I recall the childlike wonders of Snyders IGA at the corner of May and Hefner. =~)

I thought it was sold to Pruett's? That's what shows on my bank statement.

yep not "PLATTS"

https://www.thefoodpartners.com/home...tro-locations/

[RadicalModerate]

I thought it was sold to Pruett's? That's what shows on my bank statement.

I sit corrected. (I'm so old that I can't even get my nostalgia right.) Oh. Wait. I could have blamed it on Spellcheck

[TheTravellers]

The most recent time I got into any sort of "argumental" discussion regarding Grocery Stores involved the fact that I preferred Buy For Less and Homeland. Buy For Less morphed into Uptown. Uptown/Buy For Less was recently sold. She said "Pratts" . . . I disagreed. This time I was right: It was sold to PLATTS, not Pratts. A minor victory . . . Yet still a win. (Still . . . somehow, I recall the childlike wonders of Snyders IGA at the corner of May and Hefner. =~)

Actually, Buy For Less didn't morph into Uptown Grocery, they're two completely different concepts existing side-by-side that were owned by the same people/group.

[RadicalModerate]

Actually, Buy For Less didn't morph into Uptown Grocery, they're two completely different concepts existing side-by-side that were owned by the same people/group.

Dang. Living out here in the "Food Desert" of a surrounded suburb of OKC Proper caused me to forget that fact. Sorry. I've never figured out what the attraction of Aldi is. Have you? Is the concept to always have a Cart Rental Fee close at hand? I still miss Skaggs . . . Albertsons . . . Albertsons/Skaggs . . . Skaggs/Albertsons . . . Busley's . . . and Red Owl. =~) And Safeway . . .

[TheTravellers]

Dang. Living out here in the "Food Desert" of a surrounded suburb of OKC Proper caused me to forget that fact. Sorry. I've never figured out what the attraction of Aldi is. Have you? Is the concept to always have a Cart Rental Fee close at hand? I still miss Skaggs . . . Albertsons . . . Albertsons/Skaggs . . . Skaggs/Albertsons . . . Busley's . . . and Red Owl. =~) And Safeway . . .

Ha, nope, don't do Aldi, been in a few, just not in our rotation even though it's closer than Sprouts to us (and we generally only use Sprouts for the produce/bread/spices/etc. we can't get at Homeland). And yes, I also miss Skaggs/Albertsons (either they had really good donuts, or the mists of nostalgia are blurring my memories), but Homeland is pretty much a Safeway clone.

[RadicalModerate]

Ha, nope, don't do Aldi, been in a few, just not in our rotation even though it's closer than Sprouts to us (and we generally only use Sprouts for the produce/bread/spices/etc. we can't get at Homeland). And yes, I also miss Skaggs/Albertsons (either they had really good donuts, or the mists of nostalgia are blurring my memories), but Homeland is pretty much a Safeway clone.

I don't do Aldi . . . I only do Walmart Neighborhood Market . . . Super Target . . . and /or Crest on special occasions. Plus, I never have the quarter for the shopping cart rental at Aldi. =~) (and that's my 2.5 cents worth).

[Dob Hooligan]

The most recent time I got into any sort of "argumental" discussion regarding Grocery Stores involved the fact that I preferred Buy For Less and Homeland. Buy For Less morphed into Uptown. Uptown/Buy For Less was recently sold. She said "Pratts" . . . I disagreed. This time I was right: It was sold to PLATTS, not Pratts. A minor victory . . . Yet still a win. (Still . . . somehow, I recall the childlike wonders of Snyders IGA at the corner of May and Hefner. =~)

Afraid I'm gonna bump you on nostalgia....IGA at May & Hefner was Puddin Lane. It was owned by the Snyder family and Mike Snyder managed this location in Quail Plaza. They had another location at May & Britton, which is currently the Sherwin-Williams paint store (or, as we say in Oklahoma "Sherman-Williams"). Mike Snyder's brother Steve was the manager. They also operated one in Mayfair for some period in the 1970s, which I think is where Michael's is currently located.

As I recall, the first Puddin Lane IGA was located in the 2600 block of W. Britton Rd, and was named Puddin Lane because it was across the street from the Puddin Lanes Bowling Alley. Johnnie's Charcoal Broiler is the current occupant of the old IGA space.

[ctchandler]

Is the concept to always have a Cart Rental Fee close at hand?

RM,
To correct you, it's not a cart rental fee, it's a deposit to insure that you return it. Really common in Great Britain but it's a pound, quite a bit more than twenty five cents. p.s. Good to hear from you.
C. T.