Crossroads Mall

[G.Walker]

There used to be a restaurant called Wiggy's or something like that. It was located on the top floor NW entrance, right when you walked in. They made a darn good burger and fries. This was back in 2004-2005.

[Ginkasa]

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.

Ah, yeah, that sounds right.

I used to frequent both Crossroads and Sooner and that time (we're talking late 90s) Babbage's was at one and Software, Etc. was at the other. I don't remember which was which I just remember all those different video game stores became GameStop and Chik Fil A was next to the GameStop (and whatever the GameStop used to be).

I don't remember a B. Dalton being at Crossroads; I just remember Waldenbooks (I say just to place my experience; not doubting there was a B Dalton before my time).

[oklip955]

I am surprised no one has said anything about Louie Farrels ice cream parlor. I loved that place. even in college at OSU I would drive in to the city to Crossroads to get ice cream. Ok and some window shopping since I was a broke college student.

[SoonerDave]

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

Yup, that was it's final location. Moved there probably five, maybe ten (???) years before the mall finally died. Very much a rough guess/recollection. I know CFA was in it's original space near Wards as late as 1982 and beyond.

[SoonerDave]

Ah, yeah, that sounds right.

I used to frequent both Crossroads and Sooner and that time (we're talking late 90s) Babbage's was at one and Software, Etc. was at the other. I don't remember which was which I just remember all those different video game stores became GameStop and Chik Fil A was next to the GameStop (and whatever the GameStop used to be).

I don't remember a B. Dalton being at Crossroads; I just remember Waldenbooks (I say just to place my experience; not doubting there was a B Dalton before my time).

B Dalton was on the upper floor toward (roughly) the middle/west of the mall, and Waldenbooks was on the ground floor near LeMans Speedway. I remember when Software Etc opened up, which was just before mail-order computer stuff took off; you could buy shrink-wrapped copies of Word and Excel for a pretty penny. I think I got a copy of some obscure compiler there once for cheap because no one bought those kinds of things there but computer nerds like me.

In later years, there was a computer game store on the lower south corridor, east side, and they sold a bunch of what was then big-time computer games
.Infocomm was a big name back then and I got a copy of Starcross for $50, which was a chunk for a teenager working barely part-time. That was a text-based space adventure game where all the graphics were in your mind!! LOL

[Martin]

B Dalton was on the upper floor toward (roughly) the middle/west of the mall

you had me doubting myself, but b. dalton was also on the lower level... it's in the lower left corner of this pic:

[SoonerDave]

you had me doubting myself, but b. dalton was also on the lower level... it's in the lower left corner of this pic:

MY COMPLETE MISTAKE. In later years, they moved to that other upstairs location. I'm 100% wrong on saying it was always upstairs. Good catch!

[unfundedrick]

I am surprised no one has said anything about Louie Farrels ice cream parlor. I loved that place. even in college at OSU I would drive in to the city to Crossroads to get ice cream. Ok and some window shopping since I was a broke college student.

I don't think I every heard "Louie" mentioned in connection with it. Actually, that was Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. I went there many times and I think it has been mention here previously, just not in the current conversation. https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=21271 I definitely remember these kind of scenes when I was there.

[Ward]

I worked at Orbach's at Crossroads while in college, from 1980 to 1982. men's clothing store. .

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.

I don't remember the news of their deaths so I googled it. A posting of yours on OKCtalk dot com from 2007, how interesting. I had no idea OKCTalk went back that far.
.

[Tavia]

Piccadilly cafeteria was located upstairs on the NW end of the mall. El Fenix was lower level near Montgomery Wards on the East end of the mall. There was an A&W on the upper level, CFA lower level, McD's , Orange Julius/Corn dog place, Farrell's, the pretzel place near the cigar store. I feel like Garfield's was something else prior, was it?

[Pete]

Garfield's came later; not sure which space they took over.

The pretzel place was called Swiss Pretzels.

[kzizok]

Previous post from SoonerDave mentioned that the space started out as an English themed bakery and then remained vacant for a long time before Garfield's.

[Bullbear]

I love all these stories. Crossroads mall was amazing to me when I was younger and lived in Rural SE oklahoma. when we would visit my grandparents in Mustang just driving by it made me beg to go. then in Jr High and High school living closer that was the place to be!.

[Pete]

I had posted these before, but these were the tenants when the mall first opened in 1974:

[Jeepnokc]

I never realized there was a Tinder Box in Crossroads. I wonder if they had a on site cigar room like Plantations in Sooner Fashion Mall had.

[Bullbear]

So i almost didn't read all the tenants because I was like the chances of the original tenants ringing a bell of what I remember are slim. but Most of them definitely ring a bell and make me smile. Then I'm thinking wow some of those tenants were there a long time but then I recall I was born in 1971 so while many of them were there a long while I am also old and have a poor sense of time. LOL thank you Pete!

[Pete]

I never realized there was a Tinder Box in Crossroads. I wonder if they had a on site cigar room like Plantations in Sooner Fashion Mall had.

I don't think so; it was a tiny place.

[Pete]

Part of Crossroads Mall to become Asian Plaza

In May, an out-of-state investment group purchased the mall section of what had been Crossroads Mall, as well as the department stores that had formerly been home to Dillard's (south) and JC Penney (west).

Although no plans were revealed at the time of purchase, investigation has revealed key components.

The acquiring LLC tracks back to the owner and operator of Chinatown in Salt Lake City, Utah, a sprawling 100,000 square foot complex that includes a large Asian grocery store.

Recently, a building permit was filed to construct an Asian “Friendship Gate” in the northwest parking area of Crossroads by the same architect that built a nearly identical structure at the Salt Lake City complex.

The plans also reveal the name “Crossroads Asian Plaza” and tabs the former JC Penney building as 'Phase I'.

The same filing shows the mall and former Dillards – which the group also owns along with the associated 56.9 acres – as 'available'.

The former John A. Brown department store on the north side of the mall is under separate ownership and operates as Santa Fe South Hills Elementary. The former Montgomery Wards department store to the east is owned by a group operating Santa Fe South middle school and high school.

Located at the intersection of I-35 and I-240 in south Oklahoma City, Crossroads Mall was the first regional mall in Oklahoma when it formally opened in February of 1974. At 1.3 million total square feet, the mall hosted four department stores and nearly 100 shops and businesses.

By the 1990s, Crossroads started to decline and ultimately all the department stores closed and most of the retail shops followed. In 2013, the mall was purchased by a group planning to convert the property into a Latino-oriented mixed-use project to be called Plaza Mayor, but very little headway was made before completely shuttering the complex in 2017.

[shawnw]

I'm not sure this initiative will be any more successful that past initiatives...

[Pete]

Something has to be done.

That entire property is crumbling, even the parking lots.

It was pretty shocking to walk around the property last weekend, and I know the inside is no better.

[shawnw]

I wonder how much having a commuter train stop near here will help drive things.

If this doesn't work out though, maybe consider tearing it down (you know how much I hate to say that) and returning the land to "the neighborhood" to become housing, something that's needed anyway...

[dankrutka]

Are local Asian American business owners or entrepreneurs involved in this project? Do they already have agreements for local Asian American concepts as tenants?

[stlokc]

I'm sorry but I just think this is weird. OKC has a thriving Asian district in a completely different part of town. A Hispanic/Latin themed version of this didn't work and OKC has many times more Hispanics and Crossroads is actually geographically close to that community.

What an odd mix of uses for this old mall. I think ShawnW upthread is correct. Bulldoze this entire thing, tear up the parking lot, return it to virgin ground and then rethink the whole parcel. Maybe distribution/warehouses, or housing if there is a need.

[PhiAlpha]

This seems like a poor choice of location and frankly hope it fails. We have an awesome Asian district and I think the focus on future development should be there instead of in a dead/isolated mall on the southside of town. I don't see how this wouldn't negatively impact the Asian district, similar to how it effected downtown retail when originally built, if successful. The Hispanic themed mall made a ton more sense and it it failed miserably.

[catch22]

Yeah. This is odd.

When this fails it will be time to just raze the mall. It’s served its purpose and every attempt to restore it to functionality has failed.