Crest killing Homeland in SW OKC

[euphjay]

Where are their "flagship stores"?

I'm assuming one of them is their store at SW 104th and Penn. It's actually a very nice store but my gosh is it expensive. I've only been their once or twice since the new Crest opened.

[zuluwarrior0760]

While true that Crest is going to Norman next, I don't think it will be for 18mos to 2years. If you look at the timeline of previous store openings compared to the last,
you see that trend.
Crest simply doesn't begin to open a store until they are able to pay cash for it,
which of course comes faster the more they build. I love the new store in S. OKC
We shop there sometimes when we go to the only movie theatre in OKC we like
which is on the south side too.

I hate Homeland and if you travel all around the U.S. you see our city is so incredibly
underserved in this area, it's truly unreal. You won't see any grocery stores in our
Chamber of Commerce commercials anytime soon.

[SoonerQueen]

We shop at Crest and love the store. Can't wait for Whole Foods to open though.

[ljbab728]

As I stated in another thread, the addition of Whole Foods to the grocery market here in OKC will force Homeland and the other chains to step up their game. I understand that Whole Foods is a rather niche food retailer, but the group that tends to shop there will leave the other chains pretty quick. As I have traveled across the country and Canada this past year, I have noticed how far behind we are in this area of retail. And I am one of the biggest boosters of this city and state, but this is not an area that I defend. This will change, the market will correct it over time.

I'm sure you're correct about the demographics who will shop at Whole Foods. But keep in mind the demographics who are more concerned about the price of staples rather than being able to buy 100 varieties of cheese will only go there occasionally. There is a place for both kind of stores here.

[davidmeek]

Hello guys, my name is David and I am the overnight front end manager at the Homeland on 104th and Penn. We are not closing our store down any time soon just because Crest opened down the street from us. We have hired several associates from the store that is closing on 74th and May and the other store on 44th has hired some of them as well. I welcome everyone to come check out our store on 104th and Penn. We are open 24 hours everyday except Monday morning. We close at midnight Sunday night to 6 am on Monday morning for store cleaning. We have a very nice, clean, mid-size store with very friendly cashiers and managers. The waits in line are not that long and one added benefit at our store is that we have a 24 hour gas station. If you use your free Homeland card when you check out, you can receive up to 75 cents off of a gallon of gas at our station.

Sure, Crest may be new in this side of town and a lot of people have been shopping there lately, but Homeland has been around for a long time, too. I encourage everyone to keep an open mind and not give up on any local grocery store as the economy is so bad right now and people need their jobs. Thanks for your time.

[Martin]

thanks for the clarification, david. -M

[flintysooner]

Hello guys, my name is David and I am the overnight front end manager at the Homeland on 104th and Penn. We are not closing our store down any time soon just because Crest opened down the street from us. We have hired several associates from the store that is closing on 74th and May and the other store on 44th has hired some of them as well. I welcome everyone to come check out our store on 104th and Penn. We are open 24 hours everyday except Monday morning. We close at midnight Sunday night to 6 am on Monday morning for store cleaning. We have a very nice, clean, mid-size store with very friendly cashiers and managers. The waits in line are not that long and one added benefit at our store is that we have a 24 hour gas station. If you use your free Homeland card when you check out, you can receive up to 75 cents off of a gallon of gas at our station.

Sure, Crest may be new in this side of town and a lot of people have been shopping there lately, but Homeland has been around for a long time, too. I encourage everyone to keep an open mind and not give up on any local grocery store as the economy is so bad right now and people need their jobs. Thanks for your time.

I like the non-ethanol fuel at the Homeland pumps, too.

I also like the folks in the meat department there. I prefer their beef filets and really enjoy the jalapeno sausage.

[kevinpate]

here in norman, the homeland on lindsey just off i-35 is disgusting. boring, and i kind of feel sorry for them. Then you go into the one on 12th and Alameda, and its completely different. Seems like it was remodeled in the past couple of years. Either way, a crest is definitely needed here in norman. Preferably here on the east side close to campus

The Homeland on Lindsey has been one for a long time. The Homeland stores at Alameda/12th and W Robinson/NW24th were Albertson stores until acquired by Homeland just a few years back.

[earlywinegareth]

here in norman, the homeland on lindsey just off i-35 is disgusting. boring, and i kind of feel sorry for them. Then you go into the one on 12th and Alameda, and its completely different. Seems like it was remodeled in the past couple of years. Either way, a crest is definitely needed here in norman. Preferably here on the east side close to campus

The Lindsey street store is a former Safeway from waaaay back when I was a kid growing up in that area (Monroe elementary grad - yeah!). The 12th & Alameda location is a former Albertson's.

[gamecock]

The "nice" Homeland on the East side of Norman (Alameda) has gone dramatically down hill since Albertson's sold it off.

As others have pointed out, we have shockingly low-quality grocery stores in Oklahoma. The new Crest is nice, but this is the kind of store that is the standard in many parts of the country.

We were at a Central Market in Dallas over the weekend. If we could get something like that here, it would be really great (although we're thrilled that at least we will have one Whole Foods soon).

[corwin1968]

I worked for Homeland for several years and was there during the transition from Safeway to Homeland. I felt like the company has been dying a slow death almost since it was first started. The stores I've been in mostly tended to be dreary and depressing places.

[tburn]

The best thing about Crest for me is that they offer Premium Natural Beef.
Oklahoma farm, no hormones or fillers, grass fed - good stuff! The location at 23rd & Mer has a butcher shop with fresh, thick cuts or can get PNB in the pkgd meats too.
Crest does not carry "Smart chicken" that has no steroids, hormones, water added -- I have to get that at Buy for Less or the bigger Homelands. The quality of meat that you eat matters!

[UnclePete]

It seems as though the South side has plenty of grocery stores, but we need some more on the North side. Our only convenient store at 50th and North May became a CVS, and it is a hassle to get to another one. Some national or regional chains avoid Oklahoma like the plague.
Why is that?

[flintysooner]

The best thing about Crest for me is that they offer Premium Natural Beef.
Oklahoma farm, no hormones or fillers, grass fed - good stuff! The location at 23rd & Mer has a butcher shop with fresh, thick cuts or can get PNB in the pkgd meats too.
Crest does not carry "Smart chicken" that has no steroids, hormones, water added -- I have to get that at Buy for Less or the bigger Homelands. The quality of meat that you eat matters!

I recently tried several different vendors for Prime fillets. The fillets from Crest at SW 104th and May were about 1.75" thick weighing about 8 oz at about $25 per lb. Also liked the twice baked potatoes available right next to them. The fillets from Homeland at SW 104th and Penn were slightly thinner - maybe 1.5" thick - but weighed about the same and cost about $17 per lb. No twice baked potato but I did buy some jalapeño sausage. Also tried a couple of meat market selections at prices between $15 and $30 per lb.

Allen Brothers is about $70 per lb plus freight for Prime fillet mignon.

Our results were Allen Brothers was our preference followed so closely by Homeland and Crest that there wasn't much real difference.

At the same time I tried several different grass fed fillets including from Whole Foods and discovered I really like Prime when it comes to fillets.

I've been buying grass fed ground beef on line for a while as well as free range chicken breasts. Both are much, much better. Recently tried http://www.plumrichbeef.com/ as a local source for grass fed beef and was pretty happy.

[Eep]

Our only convenient store at 50th and North May became a CVS, and it is a hassle to get to another one.

I agree with the sentiment that the grocery situation here is generally horrid. Have you been to the Buy for Less at NW Expressway and Portland though? It's easy to get to from the 50th and May area, and in my opinion it's far better than the options S/SE of there. They have a good and varied selection, and reasonable prices. I find it a little strangely laid out inside, but it's okay once you get used to the quirks like the organic/gluten free products being in the "International" section.

[dismayed]

The thing is even the 'nice' grocery stores here tend to have a limited selection of vegetables, which are often wilted or browning, yet still sell them. Also it is common to see milk, eggs, and so on within days of their expiration date and that be your only option at a grocery store. It's common all around the metro.

One thing I find attractive about stores like Whole Foods or Central Market is that in addition to some high end options being available, the stores tend to have very high quality control standards, pulling items almost immediately that do not appear fresh. I've shopped at both of those stores before and I don't think I ever saw a wilted grape or browning lettuce ever. Store owners here just don't seem to care as much, or perhaps are on a tighter budget and have to stretch things longer.

If any store owners are reading, I would pay considerably more for this type of quality control and I know there are many others out there in the metro who would too....

[kevinpate]

... Our results were Allen Brothers was our preference followed so closely by Homeland and Crest that there wasn't much real difference.
...

Not much difference between HL and Crest, or not much difference between all three?

[flintysooner]

Not much difference between HL and Crest, or not much difference between all three?

Well my wife definitely preferred the Allen Brothers until I told her how much it. I agree plus it is lot less convenient just to pick up steaks ready to grill than worry about thawing.

We both chose the Homeland fillets second but agreed there was so little difference between any of those three choices that we'd go with the most convenient and least expensive. For us that's Homeland. However, if I really wanted that twice baked potato I might drive over to Crest.

The Allen Brothers is pretty close to steaks I've enjoyed at Red Prime and Mahogany just to be clear about it.

The most surprising thing for us was that we learned we really didn't care for grass fed beef steaks.

[kevinpate]

Thanks for clarifying flintysooner. I don't think I'll be seeking out the Allens anytime soon given the price points.

[Patrick]

I wouldn't mind paying more to shop at Homeland if the service was better. Heck, their service and stores are worse than Wal-Marts. I can see why Crest would be putting them out of business. Crest has good prices, similar to Wal-Mart, and their stores are clean and well stocked.

[ljbab728]

I wouldn't mind paying more to shop at Homeland if the service was better. Heck, their service and stores are worse than Wal-Marts. I can see why Crest would be putting them out of business. Crest has good prices, similar to Wal-Mart, and their stores are clean and well stocked.

I regularly shop at the Homeland at NW Expressway and MacArthur and find no problems with cleanliness or shelves being well stocked. The employees are always very friendly and helpful. It may vary from store to store but you can't make a blanket statement like that.

[megax11]

You know, everyone here complaining about how people act at a grocery store should be in the shoes of the 4 year old kid who died the other day from being stabbed 38 times during a home invasion?

Why do I say this? While people here are complaining about the little things in life, a 4 year old died for no reason, who might have grown up without a superiority complex, or childish acting.

Just food for thought... There are better things to gripe about in life, than if someone made eye contact with you, or how store employees didn't do this or that.

Boo-frickin-hoo.

[jn1780]

I'm surprised that GFF on Santa Fe and 12st is still open.

I like the non-ethanol fuel at the Homeland pumps, too.

OT, The new 7 Eleven on 4th St and Telephone is going to be selling non-ethanol fuel.

[flintysooner]

I'm surprised that GFF on Santa Fe and 12st is still open.

Actually I stop by there frequently on my way home and find it pretty good on everything except produce. Plus it is really old and could use some updating. However, I like the barbecue place a lot and strangely the store usually has several items that I often cannot get at Homeland. And besides that I really do enjoy the service from several of the checkers and I like the way they haul my groceries out to the car for me.

OT, The new 7 Eleven on 4th St and Telephone is going to be selling non-ethanol fuel.

I didn't know that. I noticed the canopy was up and it was a lot larger than I anticipated.

[ljbab728]

You know, everyone here complaining about how people act at a grocery store should be in the shoes of the 4 year old kid who died the other day from being stabbed 38 times during a home invasion?

Why do I say this? While people here are complaining about the little things in life, a 4 year old died for no reason, who might have grown up without a superiority complex, or childish acting.

Just food for thought... There are better things to gripe about in life, than if someone made eye contact with you, or how store employees didn't do this or that.

Boo-frickin-hoo.

mega, that's a little unfair. You could say the same thing about every post in this whole website. Of course that's a tragedy and no one would diminish that. It doesn't mean you should ignore anything except the types of thing you reference. Our minds are able to accomodate more than just one injustice or perceived slight.