Crossroads Mall

[GWB]

They should build a canal in it. It worked for Bricktown.

You mean like this one?

[BricktownGuy]

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-mall...rticle/3340103

[grantgeneral78]

It is really sad to see such a landmark of south oklahoma city is leaving.

[nurfe]

I hate to say it guys, but we ALL played a part in Crossroads demise. I live in Portland, OR now, but lived in okc until 2006. I also worked for Waldenbooks for 5 years in almost all of their OKC locations. What's saddest about Crossroads is that the Waldenbooks in that mall was the largest and highest volume in the entire state. For years it had double the traffic and profit that any of our other stores had. Now its gone. We went from having 5 metro area stores to just 2 now.

Lots of things contributed to the death of Crossroads; the work on I-35 that cut off access to the mall, bad management, gang activity, and most of all declining demographics. But the death of Crossroads, Heritage Park, and what I believe will be the death of Quail Springs comes down to one thing.

Most shoppers don't care about nice places to shop until they're gone. My experience with shoppers was that they wanted to come to the mall to browse, to mall walk, to see movies, etc., and then actually buy their merchandise at Walmart or online. My experience with Waldenbooks was that people would come in and browse magazines for free to wait for their movie to start, or come in and browse the books they wanted and then go home and buy them on Amazon.

I'm not castigating anyone for wanting a good deal. I know a lot of you might be on a budget and have no choice but to buy things at the cheapest price. But you have to understand that running a store in a mall was EXPENSIVE (rents were high and your utilities were high because you were basically heating and cooling the outside area too). I got so much attitude off of people because they thought we were ripping them off, when in reality the prices had to be higher because the over head was more expensive.

This is why most malls will eventually die. People prioritize a good deal and a cheap price over convenience and atmosphere. They always will. The only reason Penn Square will survive is because it went upscale and caters to the Nichols Hills crowd.

So there you have it. For every time you went into or go into a mall just to browse and then turn around to buy stuff cheaper at Walmart, you're contributing to a point in time where there will only be bargain basement stores and Walmart left.

This mall needed their stores to be profitable to stay in business. For the stores to be profitable, you needed to shop there. You didn't. You walked around looking at how pretty everything was. A lot of you are wading knee-deep in nostalgia without acknowledging that you didn't really spend a lot of money there.

If you were one of the people who cared more about getting things at the cheapest price, you can't complain that malls are dying. It's just the way of the world.

Mark my words...Quail has about 5 years left.

[sgt. pepper]

did a mall in tulsa close recently? what happened to it?

[metro]

nurfe, no offense but I think your view of OKC and OKC Malls is a little skewed. Penn Square caters to FAR more people than the small "Nichols Hills crowd." The "NH crowd" could not keep the mall in business alone. Most NH crowd shop in Nichols Hills Plaza or out of state. As you stated Penn Square seeks higher end tenants and for the most part they are the only store in the metro or even the state. For this reason alone, people from all over the metro and state will continue to frequent Penn for the unique selection of stores otherwise they would have to drive to Dallas or Kansas City to get to. Penn has a waiting list of even more exclusive tenants waiting to get in. Quail is not going anywhere soon, especially with the death of Crossroads. Quail while not as nice as Penn will always have a place in the ever sprawling Memorial Rd. corridor. Especially if the Quail Springs Village directly north of the mall gets completed as proposed, it will only anchor the area as a destination point. If you are not familiar with that project, I encourage you to check out the Quail Springs Village thread.

[Soonerman]

Scratch Chick Fil A from the list it was closed down also sign down off the wall and everything. Taco Mayo was gone as well everything ripped out but the Coke Fountain was still sitting on the counter(it didnt work ) Orange Julius was still there but looked nasty and smelled like old cigaretts when we walked by the counter.

I went to Crossroads Friday and Chick Fil A is still open.

[gen70]

I agree with the state service facility, But like Danielf1935 said,it makes sense and probably won't happen. Why does OKC continually shoot itself in the foot?

One thing about converting the mall to a state service facility, It would probably solve the gangs and thug problem.

[Jesseda]

i for bath and body works say they are closing , then i will head out there for the closing sales.

[Video Expert]

I hate to say it guys, but we ALL played a part in Crossroads demise. I live in Portland, OR now, but lived in okc until 2006. I also worked for Waldenbooks for 5 years in almost all of their OKC locations. What's saddest about Crossroads is that the Waldenbooks in that mall was the largest and highest volume in the entire state. For years it had double the traffic and profit that any of our other stores had. Now its gone. We went from having 5 metro area stores to just 2 now.

Lots of things contributed to the death of Crossroads; the work on I-35 that cut off access to the mall, bad management, gang activity, and most of all declining demographics. But the death of Crossroads, Heritage Park, and what I believe will be the death of Quail Springs comes down to one thing.

Most shoppers don't care about nice places to shop until they're gone. My experience with shoppers was that they wanted to come to the mall to browse, to mall walk, to see movies, etc., and then actually buy their merchandise at Walmart or online. My experience with Waldenbooks was that people would come in and browse magazines for free to wait for their movie to start, or come in and browse the books they wanted and then go home and buy them on Amazon.

I'm not castigating anyone for wanting a good deal. I know a lot of you might be on a budget and have no choice but to buy things at the cheapest price. But you have to understand that running a store in a mall was EXPENSIVE (rents were high and your utilities were high because you were basically heating and cooling the outside area too). I got so much attitude off of people because they thought we were ripping them off, when in reality the prices had to be higher because the over head was more expensive.

This is why most malls will eventually die. People prioritize a good deal and a cheap price over convenience and atmosphere. They always will. The only reason Penn Square will survive is because it went upscale and caters to the Nichols Hills crowd.

So there you have it. For every time you went into or go into a mall just to browse and then turn around to buy stuff cheaper at Walmart, you're contributing to a point in time where there will only be bargain basement stores and Walmart left.

This mall needed their stores to be profitable to stay in business. For the stores to be profitable, you needed to shop there. You didn't. You walked around looking at how pretty everything was. A lot of you are wading knee-deep in nostalgia without acknowledging that you didn't really spend a lot of money there.

If you were one of the people who cared more about getting things at the cheapest price, you can't complain that malls are dying. It's just the way of the world.

Mark my words...Quail has about 5 years left.

With all due respect, I believe your analysis of using Waldenbooks to try and prove your theory about Crossroads' demise is flawed and incomplete.

First of all, you did not mention why the non-mall store at NW Expressway and Market Place in Warr Acres closed in the late 90s. That store did not have to pay for "heating the outside air," yet it bit the dust too. You also singled out Wal-Mart and Amazon.com for taking business due to price, but didn't mention a single thing about the intrusion of Barnes and Noble and Border's into the OKC market beginning in the late 90s.

The reason Waldenbooks has declined is because they have failed to compete with the larger and nicer stores that B&N and Borders provide...not because of evil mall walkers or freeloaders waiting to see a movie. Do you really think that a B&N or Borders location has less overhead than a Waldenbooks located inside a mall? You've got the cost of the property, cost of construction of a larger building, the property taxes, more employees, higher insurance cost, etc. Waldenbooks simply charged more for the exact same book you could get elsewhere and provided no amenities (Such as the coffee shops, etc.) that made people want to shop there. Not to mention the dinky little mall stores have nowhere near the book selection these other places have. And ask yourself this...when was the last time you saw a Waldenbooks advertisment either on television or in print? Hmmm.

In the 80s, I would agree that Waldenbooks was a premiere book store. But in this market, they've been outdone by their competitors and haven't kept up with the changes. Why anyone today would actually go to a Waldenbooks inside a mall to pay more for a book is mind boggling.

[Soonerman]

Isn't Waldenbooks owned by Borders?

[OKCitizen]

I can't remember a time when I could go into Waldenbooks and order a cup of coffee, sandwich and maybe a cookie and chill out to easy listening music on a couch with a book. This is what keeps me going back to B&N and Borders. I give them my business because they treat me better.

[Video Expert]

Isn't Waldenbooks owned by Borders?

Waldenbooks is a subsidary of Borders. Borders is phasing out many stores due to underperformance. Here's some more info from Yahoo's biz site...


"Walden Book Company targets mall shoppers through some 295 Waldenbooks storefronts in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, most located in malls. The company steps up its retail efforts during the retail high season, using other venues such as mall kiosks to sell specialty gifts items. The chains also sells books at airports. Waldenbooks accounts for 15% of parent Borders Group's sales. Borders has been dramatically shrinking the size of the unit, shuttering nearly 200 locations in the first half of 2008, as mall traffic slows. The Waldenbooks e-commerce site is operated through a partnership with Amazon.com, which will likely change when Borders ends its relationship with Amazon in 2008."

Again...why go to the mall and shop at Waldenbooks when you can just go to the much larger and nicer Borders?

[scootinger]

First of all, you did not mention why the non-mall store at NW Expressway and Market Place in Warr Acres closed in the late 90s. That store did not have to pay for "heating the outside air," yet it bit the dust too. You also singled out Wal-Mart and Amazon.com for taking business due to price, but didn't mention a single thing about the intrusion of Barnes and Noble and Border's into the OKC market beginning in the late 90s.

That strip mall is practically completely vacant, aside from Hemispheres and Hideaway Pizza that recently opened there. Even the sign from the Service Merchandise that closed years and years ago is still there.

did a mall in tulsa close recently? what happened to it?

Yes...Eastland Mall closed after it lost pretty much every store in the mall. It still exists and the new owners are leasing it out as (mostly) office/government space. Dead Malls dot Com: Feature: Eastland Mall: Tulsa, Oklahoma

[sgt. pepper]

Penn has a waiting list of even more exclusive tenants waiting to get in.

i guess exclusive tenants does not mean fast food joints. nobody has rented the taco bell spot after they left the food court.

[oneforone]

I can't remember a time when I could go into Waldenbooks and order a cup of coffee, sandwich and maybe a cookie and chill out to easy listening music on a couch with a book. This is what keeps me going back to B&N and Borders. I give them my business because they treat me better.

I heard B&N is one of those places for Larry Craig type activities.

[grantgeneral78]

IMO I think when you move a hop and shop convienence store into a mall it was a sign of a death sentence then for the mall

[CuatrodeMayo]

The is a c-store in Penn...

[SeinfeldBlock]

little oklahoma mall bodegas, lol

[grantgeneral78]

Are all the stores in crossroads on a month by month lease ?

[Generals64]

Are all the stores in crossroads on a month by month lease ?

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Absolutely not......I wanted to put a store in that mall ..... the leases were so ridiculous and the rent was beyond your wildest
dream.....

[Martin]

not sure if somebody already posted this... but found this ad in the 3/11/1973 oklahoman. -M

[OKCitizen]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

[grantgeneral78]

cool post M BRINGS BACK FONDER TIMES

[Jesseda]

so whats going on with the mall, is it being bought? saved ? anymore shops closing, opening?