Crossroads Mall

[oklip955]

I dont know that much about the weed industry. I have never been around weed. With that said, I see so many dispensaries opening up and hear that there are lots of grow houses going in. Is there really that many people that use that stuff? I get that there is a soft line between real medical users and those who use the medical as an excuse to get it for recreational use. Bottom line is how the heck do they all stay in business?? I am sorry but I guess I am a sheltered older lady.

[Rover]

I dont know that much about the weed industry. I have never been around weed. With that said, I see so many dispensaries opening up and hear that there are lots of grow houses going in. Is there really that many people that use that stuff? I get that there is a soft line between real medical users and those who use the medical as an excuse to get it for recreational use. Bottom line is how the heck do they all stay in business?? I am sorry but I guess I am a sheltered older lady.

OK has the most users per capita of anywhere in the US.

[barrettd]

I dont know that much about the weed industry. I have never been around weed. With that said, I see so many dispensaries opening up and hear that there are lots of grow houses going in. Is there really that many people that use that stuff? I get that there is a soft line between real medical users and those who use the medical as an excuse to get it for recreational use. Bottom line is how the heck do they all stay in business?? I am sorry but I guess I am a sheltered older lady.

They don't all stay in business.

[TheTravellers]

They don't all stay in business.

Two that we know of have gone out of business, one on 30th/Penn-ish, one in the Paseo, then one on 36th by the OnCue had coming soon signs and never opened, and one behind the Dunkin on 36th/May has been renovating for months.

[citywokchinesefood]

I dont know that much about the weed industry. I have never been around weed. With that said, I see so many dispensaries opening up and hear that there are lots of grow houses going in. Is there really that many people that use that stuff? I get that there is a soft line between real medical users and those who use the medical as an excuse to get it for recreational use. Bottom line is how the heck do they all stay in business?? I am sorry but I guess I am a sheltered older lady.

Professional grows, processors, and dispensaries do not all stay in business. The large amount of competition in the current medical market is driving out the businesses that can not maintain quality, standards, and seed to sale accounting. The fact is the general populace have a demand for marijuana, just like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs. While not every "medical patient" utilizing the Medical Marijuana Laws are genuinely using it for "legitimate" therapeutic uses. The demand exists, marijuana use is nowhere close to as destructive alcohol or tobacco for its users. In spite of the low barrier for entry a large amount of marijuana users in Oklahoma are still purchasing and using the black market. In some cases they may be able to find slightly better pricing, some people dont want to reveal their use to the government. Realistically those individuals are putting themselves at risk consuming unregulated and untested marijuana in addition to taking on the legal liability of interacting in a black market. This really highlights the failures of prohibition in our society. Regardless of your personal ideals some individuals will indulge in their own vices. Portugal decriminalized drugs way back in 2001, they saw a decrease in overdoses, drug use, and petty crimes associated with dependent drug use. Like it or not people are going to use drugs, as a society we should insure that they are safe when doing so. Public health is a net benefit to our society and we should take every action we can as a community to champion it. I appreciate your question and hope this response from a young man helps a curious older lady.

[jn1780]

Wonder how the charter school feels about it?

Wonder how much of the space the new owners bought will be used to grow weed. Imagine in the long run this will lead to faster deteriation of the mall since greenhouses usually have higher moisture from all the plants.

[Rover]

W

Wonder how the charter school feels about it?

Wonder how much of the space the new owners bought will be used to grow weed. Imagine in the long run this will lead to faster deteriation of the mall since greenhouses usually have higher moisture from all the plants.

MJ growhouses employ large scale dehumidification equipment. The results of high humidity is very expensive. So, I doubt the growhouses will have any effect on the structural integrity of the building.

Worst side effect is the aroma. It can be very strong and widespread.

[Oski]

You can take a virtual tour inside the mall:

[Ward]

I still have a fine quality leather jacket I bought there at the Dillards in 1993-ish, still looks great and has not deteriorated. I remember when it was the place to go, especially if you lived way out of town rural Oklahoma.

[Roger S]

We drove in almost every weekend from Tuttle when I was a kid. Dad would give me $2 and tell me not to spend it all in one place.\

I would spend the $2 in the arcade and then go hit my grandpa up at the Winchell's (I think it was Winchell's), where he was people watching, and he would give me $2 and tell me not to let grandma know he gave it to me.

I'd spend that getting a praline and cream cone at Baskin Robbins or an Orange Julius and then head to Hickory Farms for all the free samples I could get and then spend my change on the stick candy there.

From there I hit every department store that had an Atari, Intellivision, or Colecovision setup until a store employee would run me off.

[Pete]

I worked at Orbach's at Crossroads while in college, from 1980 to 1982. It was downstairs next to Dillards.

Record Bar was right next door and they let us borrow any albums we wanted, and we'd play them in the store.

Long before Chick-fil-A became a sensation, there was a location at Crossroads that was never really busy. I don't know what changed to create the huge success they have today, because the chicken sandwich is much the same.

Breaks were spent at Le Mans Speedway playing Donkey Kong and eating a soft pretzel which was a new thing in OKC at the time.

The mall was crazy busy back in those days but Orbach's was never the best fit, being an upscale men's clothing store. We did okay but not great and there was a Varsity Shop that was separate but connected. Old man Orbach and his wife would come in once in a while and they were tiny and just the sweetest people. When his son Bob took over, the entire organization went to hell. Bob was brash and obnoxious and expanded Orbach's to multiple stores in OKC and Tulsa (there was one in the First National Arcade along with Harold's in the '80s), added a women's line, and eventually drove the entire business into the ground.

Especially during the state fair, state basketball tournaments and the National Finals Rodeo, the mall was overrun with people from small-town Oklahoma. Crossroads was a huge regional magnet for a long time.

The grisly murders of Syril and his wife Christine in their Belle Isle home are still unsolved. Most believe it was a professional job which is why after all this time they have never found those responsible.

[kzizok]

^^^I have said the exact same thing, to anyone that would listen, about Chick fil A (from my exact same experiences with it at Crossroads Mall). I mean, I don't remember anyone crowding into it or mentioning that had to have it. It was there, and occasionally we would grab a chicken sandwich but I don't remember the same reverence for it as there is today. The food is pretty much the same now as it was then. I keep thinking I'm missing something.

[Roger S]

Anyone remember what year it opened in the mall?

I spent most of my time there from 78 to 82 and I don't even remember it. If we had the extra money and stopped long enough to actually sit down and eat, while searching out all the freebies around the mall at the time, it was usually at McDonald's when a regular burger was still around $0.25.

[Martin]

^
pretty sure it was 1974. my folks have some old photos of some opening festivities at the mall... i seem to remember a huge cargo helicopter in the parking lot or something. i also think that the anchors were open a little before the mall itself was open.

[kzizok]

Anyone remember what year it opened in the mall?

I spent most of my time there from 78 to 82 and I don't even remember it. If we had the extra money and stopped long enough to actually sit down and eat, while searching out all the freebies around the mall at the time, it was usually at McDonald's when a regular burger was still around $0.25.

The Chick Fil A opened in Crossroads in 1978. It was the first in OKC.

[etsuco05]

In my opinion, Chick Fil A became popular once they started building free-standing restaurants. It seemed that outside of the southeast, they were nearly all in malls until the early 2000s then expanded outside that. The food was much the same back then as it is now, but don't remember the Crossroads location being overly busy either. Crossroads didn't really have a condensed food court area unlike other malls. The restaurants were spread around (CFA was on the first floor next to B. Dalton or Software, Etc., and McDonald's was on the second floor IIRC).

Back to Crossroads itself, growing up in SW OKC, I spent a lot of time there. Mainly at The Hobby Shop, Software Etc., and B. Dalton, with dinner at Garfield's.

[G.Walker]

I remember going to Crossroads mall every weekend while in college with my friends 20 years ago. This was the place to be. Miss eating at S'Barro's and trying to pick up girls from the balcony as they came up the escalator. Good times!

[Martin]

CFA was on the first floor next to B. Dalton or Software, Etc.

i don't think that's right... cfa was closer to the dillard's end of the mall on the first floor. i want to say that it was next to babbage's. b. dalton was near the center of the mall on the first floor. software etc. was the back half of the same storefront. if i remember right, orange julius was just to the right of b. dalton.

[Ginkasa]

i don't think that's right... cfa was closer to the dillard's end of the mall on the first floor. i want to say that it was next to babbage's. b. dalton was near the center of the mall on the first floor. software etc. was the back half of the same storefront. if i remember right, orange julius was just to the right of b. dalton.

Different era but I very clearly remember CFA being next to GameStop which is what Software, Etc. and Babbage's became.

[Martin]

Different era but I very clearly remember CFA being next to GameStop which is what Software, Etc. and Babbage's became.

i think i see what is happening... in the 1980's and into the early 90's, babbage's and software etc. were two separate stores in two separate places. what i remember as babbage's absolutely changed into gamestop in the late 1990's maybe early 2000's. software etc. was originally a competitor located at the back half of b. dalton. however, nationally, babbage's and software etc. merged sometime in the 1990's... i'm wondering if there was a period of time that the babbage's storefront was rebranded as software etc. before changing into gamestop.

[SouthSide]

I think Chickfila's service is what sets it apart more than its food. My preteen niece is team Raising Cane's while my nephew is team Chick fil a. The staff at Chick fil a thought it was hilarious when she brought in her Raising Cane's meal to dine with us.

I miss Crossroads. It was my teen hangout and i worked at Foleys to pay for college. Shopping options in south okc have become dismal.

[SoonerDave]

Chick-fil-A in Crossroads was in two locations..originally, they were in the east end of.the mall next to Radio Shack and IIRC a small bank, just adjacent to Montgomery Wards. Many years later, they moved to the location closer to the middle of the mall near where others here recall it being located.

[Roger S]

HA! Clearly shows that 10-13 year old me never noticed it. I remember every store mentioned above but have no recollection of the CFA.

[Martin]

Chick-fil-A in Crossroads was in two locations..originally, they were in the east end of.the mall next to Radio Shack and IIRC a small bank, just adjacent to Montgomery Wards. Many years later, they moved to the location closer to the middle of the mall near where others here recall it being located.

huh... now that must have been before my time. i don't remember that at all. as far as food on that end of the mall, all i remember is el fenix and piccadilly cafeteria.

[catch22]

Feels like CFA was caddy-corner to Sbarro, next to or within a few stores of Orange Julius.