Crossroads Mall

[MonkeesFan]

This slow, agonizing death for Crossroads is really, really painful to watch for someone who remembers when it was first built and opened. It was awesome. It was a first of its kind in Oklahoma, and its unique location along two major interstates made it all the more compelling.

My son advised me the other day that Subway is gone, and Sbarro's has checked it in as well.

Going to Crossroads when I was a kid was almost like going to a theme park. Orange Juliuses and hotdogs, a trip to LeMans to ride the bumper cars (though they were gone by the time I was old enough to ride them), Toys By Roy (one of the last "real" toy shops you'll ever see), the two-story Emmer Brothers clothing store, John A. Brown's, the annual MDA Telethon in center court, July 4th fireworks, it was all incredible. Part of its demise is its owner(s)' own doing over the years, and part of it is lousy circumstance.

There's very little that Crossroads can do about the deterioration of the area north and northeast. That just crept up around them. And the addition of a movie theater was about a decade too late (remember that the AMC wasn't the first one - that General Cinema was). What Crossroads' owners failed to do over the years was keep the interior fresh and inviting - I think the interior has been renovated once, maybe twice in 34 years. Now its just a matter of atrophy.

I know the open-air "supersized" stripmalls are the wave of the future, but I'm not crazy about them. I don't like JCPenny's in Moore, because its too big, sprawling out over a single story. I used to like to run through to see if they were running sales on Dockers, but now I just let my wife go by herself...but I digress...

Crossroads was a site with a host of potential that was just never realized. And that's truly a shame.

-sd

Opening Subway in the mall was a stupid move because there is a Subway just across the mall

[Thunder]

How can it be a stupid move? It is not stupid to me. When I shop and feel hungry, I just may want to eat at Subway, rather than wasting gas to make a stop for another Subway.

Resturants are built all over the place in close locations. Look at Sonic, they got two in Del City on the same street, even two Braums on the same street.

[ssandedoc]

That "reputation" thing that hit Crossroads really frustrates me, because I think it was blown *way* out of proportion. Not saying that some bad stuff hasn't happened at Crossroads, but most people don't realize the first publicized "gangbanger" shooting in an OKC mall was at the ever-trendy, chronically hip Penn Square, not Crossroads. Even as recently as the last few years, we still visited Crossroads to shop at Penny's and never encountered any problems at all, or even felt threatened. There are some who wanted to create the illusion that there was an armored gang of thugs hiding at every corner, and you're life was in danger if you dared to show up at the parking lot, and that simply wasn't true or accurate. Again, I don't pretend there has never been a crime problem at Crossroads, but I think the degree to which it has been perceived is in direct proportion to at least some people's preconceived notions about the area in which Crossroads exists.

As far as losing the retail, I always thought Steve n Barry's as a "anchor" tenant was a losing proposition from the word go. A two-story, glorified T-shirt shop? Gimme a break - and just this week they file for bankruptcy - gee, that's a shock.

Crossroads best hope for some type of "reinvention" passed about three years ago (give or take) when Wards went belly up, and the space couldn't be re-let until the bankruptcy action was concluded. During that time, I think there was activity behind the scenes to get Sears from 44th and Western to take over that space, but couldn't because of the legal issues. Sears lost interest, and the rest is history. Obviously, we'll never know if that would have "saved" Crossroads, but it would have at least given them a boost; that old Sequoyah/Reding location is getting scarier by the day -- and I've been going there since I was a kid....then again, I'm not at all sure Sears will be around in another five years..

Maybe it was a tad overblown, but I went to see a movie at the Crossroads cinema when it was turned into a dollar theatre back in 04. During the movie a bunch of thugs kept coming in and out yelling obscenities. We told them to shut up, and we were threatened. Shortly after, the police surrounded the theatre and everyone was ordered outside. They even had a helicopter circling the place. So this is JUST the movie theatre next to the mall, and not even Crossroads. I worked at the Penney's while it was closing and at night some rough people did pass through. But I didn't feel unsafe, however other employees told me their car would get broken into while they worked.

[JWil]

Won't be missed at all.

[kevinpate]

It's been close to a year since I've been inside Crossroads, perhaps just over a year. That didn't used to be the case.

I've never felt unsafe there, but I'm not a maller in general. There has to be a right fair selection to draw me in, and nothing has given me a sense I should return.

[okcustu]

Soonerdave I'll agree with you there I worked at AE for a while never felt any danger I feel more unsafe at that shifty dollar theater thank God they changed the 50 cent policy

[jbrown84]

How about shawnee mall...??

I've heard it's doing better. They lost Gap a few years back, but they've added Old Navy and Ross and still have Hot Topic, Buckle, and American Eagle.

Quails interior is not in a decline...I go to that mall all the time. Its furnishings and finishes are the same as those in Penn. Nice floors, Glass barriers, same elevators, comparable stores.

I agree. Although they may be having some clientele issues, the interior is NOT getting "run down" as someone said.

[scootinger]

really I wouldn't be surprised if Dillard's stays around for quite a while, as a lot of the time they turn their stores in dying malls into "clearance centers." their Crossroads store is in a pretty good location (traffic-wise), they own their building (and it would be worth very little if they closed and tried to sell it seeing as there would be 2-3 other anchor buildings for sale/lease and only one or possibly no other anchor stores), and there are no other "clearance centers" in the OKC area. There used to be one up at Eastland Mall in Tulsa, and it was open even when the mall was completely empty and being remodeled to become an office complex. However I read that they recently closed it only because they sold the building to the developers to be turned into office space. That said, I'm guessing that there's a good chance that Dillard's will do just that with their Crossroads location and probably keep it open for a good while.

[sammiam832]

The wife and I were at Steve & Barrys last night looking around. I walked out into the mall and I just kind of had this erie feeling. It was about 7:00 and the mall seemed deserted. S&B was pretty busy but as you looked through out the mall it was pretty dead.

Try being there on a Saturday afternoon, it's the same way! Kinda scary!!

[Thunder]

It's not great news anymore. I shopped in there once, looking for a shirt as Christmas gift, but never bought anything there. Now, that place will turn off the lights.

[Thunder]

Did construction actually start? It been a long while that they torn down the apartment complex. For what? Nothing! All that sits there is a huge piece of bare land. To me, it was truely pathetic to destroy that complex. People had lost their home just for OKC to show us how beautiful a bare land is.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

No, they're not doing crap around there.

[oneforone]

From what I understand, land acquisition is the only thing in progress at this time. Actual construction is not slated to start until mid to late 2009.

The new construction is the reason why Bob Moore Ford is moving to 89th and I-35. Best Buy will most likely close the Crossroads store when they open the store in Moore.

From what I heard through the rumor mill everything in the immediate area of the 240/35 interchange will be torn down.

For those that do not already know Crossroads won the battle the pole road ramp will stay. The ramp from I-35 will feed into 240 at or just past Eastern.

As you can see the whole battle was a waste of time. I visited Crossroads just a couple of weeks ago. The place gives you the feeling you feel when you visit a terminally sick friend or relative. (IE: Time is running out so you want go by and visit often before they are gone.)

Crossroads is on life support, the DNR has been signed and the doctor is standing by to call the time of death. IMHO Crossroads will close in Spring 2009. I say that because Steve and Barry's is on thin ice, Dillard's will not stay past Christmas if they are the one and only anchor and Mom and Pop store cannot keep a mall that size open.

On a side note I think the mall should close and be redeveloped as a senior living center, community college or convention center. Trying to revive the area with retail would be a lost cause.

[Jesseda]

I worked at the mall in highschool, the beanie baby stand that was overpriced, well a bunch of the other stands around my area had highschool employees at well, we had to park at the end of the parking lot so we had to walk in the dark back to our cars when the mall closed every night, a bunch of us walked in groups because of the fear of gettting shot or robbed, crossroads is a sad place and needs to go, its is past time, unless they can do a 180 its hopeless

[sgt. pepper]

how did crossroads win the battle when soon there will be no crossroads? i looked on the ODOT page for this new intersection and just can't find it. can some one smarter than me (and that is all of you) tell me where i can find this thing, i am very intereasted to see what it will look like.

[SoonerDave]

From what I understand, land acquisition is the only thing in progress at this time. Actual construction is not slated to start until mid to late 2009.

The new construction is the reason why Bob Moore Ford is moving to 89th and I-35. Best Buy will most likely close the Crossroads store when they open the store in Moore.

Per a different thread on this topic (and blast if I can find it), interchange reconstruction is YEARS off - they haven't even finished acquiring the land for it, and no more land acquisitions are planned for several years.

I made the same assumption about Best Buy, and actually inquired about their status some months ago. To my amazement, I was told the following - that the BB Crossroads location was actually very successful, and that it would *not* be closing even when/if their Moore location materializes. More shocking, still, was that if anything happens, it is more likely that the Crossroads BB will pack up and move west in addition to - not in place of - the new Moore location. I thought I misunderstood when I asked him, so I asked him explicitly - BB is going to have a Moore location and a SW OKC location a few miles west of Crossroads? The response was an unequivocal "yes."

I'l believe that when I see it, frankly.

-sd

[Thunder]

Those poor people still had about 10 years left to live at the apt complex.

[Bobby821]

Those poor people still had about 10 years left to live at the apt complex.

I much prefer the open land as i did the apt. complex thats what we need is more open land it is much nicer to look at rather than buildings.

[Flatlander]

Sgt. Pepper

This sounds confusing but, go to Okla Dept of Transportation, Click on Public Meetings, Go to the bottom of page, Click on Public Hearings, Events, Meetings and archives. Then on meetings archive click 2005.
Scroll down to June 9, 2005, then click on Crossroads Mall and you will see the interchange.

Hope this works.

[oneforone]

Per a different thread on this topic (and blast if I can find it), interchange reconstruction is YEARS off - they haven't even finished acquiring the land for it, and no more land acquisitions are planned for several years.

I made the same assumption about Best Buy, and actually inquired about their status some months ago. To my amazement, I was told the following - that the BB Crossroads location was actually very successful, and that it would *not* be closing even when/if their Moore location materializes. More shocking, still, was that if anything happens, it is more likely that the Crossroads BB will pack up and move west in addition to - not in place of - the new Moore location. I thought I misunderstood when I asked him, so I asked him explicitly - BB is going to have a Moore location and a SW OKC location a few miles west of Crossroads? The response was an unequivocal "yes."

I'l believe that when I see it, frankly.

-sd

The Best Buy Moore location is reality it is under construction as we speak. The walls are up and the blue front will probably go up in the next month. My guess is that it will probably be open for business by Oct or Nov just in time for X-Mas.

[jbrown84]

To me, it was truely pathetic to destroy that complex. People had lost their home just for OKC to show us how beautiful a bare land is.

Are you serious? Ugly, dilapidated apartments are better than an empty lot for a few years? You act as if these people had nowhere else to go, which is hardly the case.

[Thunder]

No excuse. A home is a home. It is up to each of them to keep their inside lair liveable.

[jbrown84]

What?

[Spartan]

Yeah apparently city planners need to accommodate the sloths.

[sgt. pepper]

thanx flatlander! i found it. it still has a couple of cloverleafs, but it is still much improved. is that the place where ou hockey team practices there on 79th? it looks like it will have to be moved. yes, much better.