Oklahoma Factory Shoppes - I40 & Council

[Double Edge]

I drove past there at 9am. Paved parking is full, dirt parking appears to be near full. Some people seem to be parking on side streets east of there.

They have employees parking across the street at the east end of the old ATT plant. Reno is backed up nearly to Rockwell in the right lane that turns into the Shoppes. Did not see if Council is backed up onto interstate or not but the intersection is fully open and there is steady stream of people making the turn off Council from that direction.

And an ambulance pulled out of there onto Reno behind me with lights and siren on.

Looks like they will have a smashing opening.

[Larry OKC]

Think I'll wait to visit as well when the newness wears off. And not everything is tax free this weekend.

That is correct, there is a list of included/excluded items over on the Okla Tax Commission website. Think the paper printed an abbreviated list. Essentially it is clothing valued at $100 and less. School supplies are not included even though this is commonly referred to as a Back to School tax free weekend...

[Larry OKC]

Tax free weekend is a little overrated IMO. Sure it's a discount but I'm not sure it's worth the crowds that you get. I mean, how many have rushed to the mall because you saw an ad touting 8% off everything? Several weekends throughout the year you can go to department stores and find many things at 50% off

this is true (but many retailers, not just the Outlet, are offering discounts on top of the tax free element, so it can add up). It is more about perceived value than anything else. Like you said, most won't budge if a store announced "8.375% off" but mention Tax Free and they flock to it. On the other hand, people will flock to a Store Closing liquidation sale (where they typically start with "up to" 10% off), and the parking lot will look like Christmas. But those sales often start out with higher prices (MSRP) and then you get the "up to" discount (may end up being more than what you could have gotten it for the week before or at another location of the same store that isn't closing). Have seen it happen many times.

[kevinpate]

... School supplies are not included even though this is commonly referred to as a Back to School tax free weekend...

so so silly ... and sad.

[Wishbone]

All 3 lanes of I-40 are backed up all the way to White Water. Be prepared if you are headed towards Yukon.

[adaniel]

Check out the North facing camera on I-40 and Meridan. Looks like a mess.

http://www.oktraffic.org/map.php?location=okc

[SOONER8693]

Check out the North facing camera on I-40 and Meridan. Looks like a mess.

http://www.oktraffic.org/map.php?location=okc

It is a mess. Just got home from there. The line to pay for items in the Nike and Polo stores looked to be 45 minutes to an hour, if not longer.

[Double Edge]

I wonder if they will all sell out and have to close permanently? I think I'll wait awhile and take my chances.

[rcjunkie]

I wonder if they will all sell out and have to close permanently? I think I'll wait awhile and take my chances.

I agree, wouldn't go anywhere near the Mall, even if everything was free.

[lasomeday]

I went right when it opened up. I got a few freebies. The Coach store ladies in line are insane! It was a 100 women long! Is a purse worth a heat stroke?

On a side note, all the stores were awesome! The food options sucked! They need a place that serves breakfast or something. I didn't stay long enough to have a smashburger, but I will soon! City Bites and Primos were doing well when I left and the Pretzel place was packed!

Polo, Nike, Underarmor, and Coach are the biggest successes!

[iMAX386]

Went around 11am...it's chaos right now. If there's something you're interested in buying this weekend you better really really want to buy it because the cash register lines in all the major stores wrap all the way around the store a few times. To just walk through the store you have to walk through the payment lines a time or two. Coach has a huge line outside the store in the open sun just to get in.

I like a few items, but didn't care enough to wait another hour to pay for it. The one big name clothes store that had any semblance of order was J.Crew. I was surprised b/c it was pretty empty and you could walk right up to the register.

If you're going there on I40 west be prepared to wait for 30-45 minutes just to exit the highway.

Chaos:
- Polo
- Nike
- Coach
- Gap
- Saks
- The whole food court
- one of the kitchen stores

[CuatrodeMayo]

The wife insists we go this evening...if I survive, I'll report back.

[Spartan]

I went to the Polo outlet, because I just had to, and it seemed smaller than the one in Allen? Very exciting that Dillard's no longer has a monopoly on Polo stuff in OKC..

[Larry OKC]

The wife insists we go this evening...if I survive, I'll report back.

It's after midnight, guess he didn't survive....RIP

[ljbab728]

I think I'll just pay my personal shopper to go. LOL

[Spartan]

Let's send out the search party. Perhaps that godawful Coach line would be a good place to start? Lol

[onthestrip]

Hey Spartan, what does the polo outlet charge for their typical solid color polo?

[jarrington00]

The city is going to have to address the I-40/Council intersection in the near future. They need at least two defined lanes to exit not just one.

On another note:
Can we bulldoze the two gas stations? Can someone put in a couple decent ones that for one don't close at 8PM on a Friday and two make a better impression on the surrounding area than what is currently represented.

[SkyWestOKC]

That area will start to develop with that much traffic going through there. I'd expect a few hotels to come up nearby and some nicer pad site restaurants to come up.

[Jettmiester]

Dillard has a momopoly on Polo? Macy's has it too. Anyone else miss Harolds?

[metro]

Harolds was subpar, unstylish merchandise at luxury prices.

[lasomeday]

That area will start to develop with that much traffic going through there. I'd expect a few hotels to come up nearby and some nicer pad site restaurants to come up.

I don't know about hotels being so close to the hotel rich Meridian, but it will definitely attract more restaurants and hopefully more outlet stores to be addded on to the mall. I would love to see a Northface Outlet. The food options at the food court are not the best so restaurants nearby would be great. Hopefully we can attract a diverse group of places to eat that are not nearby on Meridian.

[Larry OKC]

That area will start to develop with that much traffic going through there. I'd expect a few hotels to come up nearby and some nicer pad site restaurants to come up.

No doubt. This turn have been the best $5MM the City has invested for development (or whatever the final number ended up being).

[Double Edge]

You don't have to go to Meridian. We have gained quite a few more eating options in recent history at the Rockwell to MacArthur area a mile or two east of the mall. There are maybe 10 to 15 in that area. Some on Reno, some on Mac just north of 40 and some on the Westgate Marketplace access road between Rockwell and Mac.

Steak and Shake was the most recent one. I'd be happy with more though, wife and I only frequent about 6 of them and frequently go to Yukon or NW Expressway for other options like Chilis, Carinos, Which Wich, TGI Fridays, Red Lobster or Charlestons. We need a good Italian food joint, a fish place would be nice and something up scale too.

There is a newer Hilton just east of Rockwell too.

[Double Edge]

They set up $5 parking across the street at the front of the ATT building this morning. Is that called OKC Works now? I can never remember what they are calling it. It would be good if they could figure out how to capitalize on this deal.