Penn Square Mall

[Thunder]

Bi-Weekly is every two weeks.

Bi-Monthly is every two months.

Case closed.

So, what is going into the space after that gym goes bye-bye? I never knew of a gym being there...then again, a gym has no place inside a shopping mall. Its been since last Christmas since I've been in that mall. I'll most likely be back shopping in a few weeks.

[cfeken]

I don't buy this at all. First off, wha are you trying to imply by current teens being raised by children in adult bodies? What about the current "teen-parent" generation would suggest they are children in adult bodies en masse? I'm not saying there aren't really horrible parents, but surely not most of them.

I also think you're using selective viewing. You allege that teenagers are becoming worse and acting out more and wearing a criminal record like a badge of pride. However, those teenagers are the only ones you are seeing and hearing about. You are comparing these bad kids with your childhood and declaring everyone everyone under 21 (or whatever) a delinquent. I'm willing to bet, though, that you were a good kid who hung out with good kids and generally stayed away and ignored the bad kids. There are punks in your day, sure, but you didn't mess with them or their lifestyle so they seemed much less numerous. All you saw, for the most part, were the good kids.

You don't care about the good kids nowadays. You don' notice them. You have no interest in them and they don't do anything to draw your attention. The bad kids, though... You care about them. You hear news stories about them doing bad things. You see trends and fads that appear distasteful to you and draw erroneous conclusions on everyone who wears them. Then you really pay attention to the few that actively cause trouble in your presence. They swear or fight or just do horrible things. They are truly in the minority, but you only pay attention to them so they feel much more prevalent than they really are.

Anyway, just a thought.

Right on ! We all hear the sruff about the bad kids. But iam here to tell you I have 4 teenage g-kids that are good kids, one is MDOT hes on here alot. For every bad kid you see or hear about there is 1000 good kids u dont.

[cfeken]

p.s. We dont let our kids hang out at the mall.

[Patrick]

Just an update on changes coming to Penn Square. Mall management did not renew the lease with Pottery Barn Kids, so they will be leaving at the end of their lease. This was the mall's decision, not Pottery Barn Kis. PBK simply got passed over for another store that put up more money for the space. I believe the old Aspen Athletic Club will also be leaving. Forever 21 has put up big bucks to put one of their flagship XXI Forever stores in the space, and it will likely be a 2 level flagship store, taking up the space of PBK and the space above it where the athletic club is located, but not connected to the mall walkway.

Mall management is also still considering expansion options for the north parking lot.

[Spartan]

It sounds like they're trading one respectable tenant for another, although a bigger one. Perhaps they could move PBK into one of the countless spaces taken up by bad tenants, which there are way too many of in Penn Square--especially for a mall that wants to brand itself as the "upscale" retail destination in OKC.

[metro]

About time we get a Forever 21, hopefully being this large of space they'll carry their men's line.

[Oil Capital]

About time we get a Forever 21, hopefully being this large of space they'll carry their men's line.

Isn't there already one in Quail Springs Mall, and another in Norman?

[Debzkidz]

Don't know about the one in Norman, but the one in Quail Springs is a smaller store that does not carry their men's line.

[Soonerman]

Just an update on changes coming to Penn Square. Mall management did not renew the lease with Pottery Barn Kids, so they will be leaving at the end of their lease. This was the mall's decision, not Pottery Barn Kis. PBK simply got passed over for another store that put up more money for the space. I believe the old Aspen Athletic Club will also be leaving. Forever 21 has put up big bucks to put one of their flagship XXI Forever stores in the space, and it will likely be a 2 level flagship store, taking up the space of PBK and the space above it where the athletic club is located, but not connected to the mall walkway.

Mall management is also still considering expansion options for the north parking lot.

Man it really seems that Penn Square is always on a roll.

[Patrick]

Yeah, Quail Springs has one but it's one of their regular Forever 21 stores, and not one of their flagship XXI Forever stores. The XXI Forever stores carry the men's line and generally take up about twice the space as one of their regular stores. I know the one at the Kansas City Plaza is 2 levels, and it's maybe about the size of a smaller 2 level department store. That space where PBK and Aspen Athletic Club are used to be the Rothschilds Department store, which was a smaller local department store that took up both floors on that corner, before Dillards bought them uot and took over the space. So, I can see where a XXI Forever store would be a great fit for the space, to serve as a smaller anchor, if you will.

[Spartan]

Man it really seems that Penn Square is always on a roll.

Huh?

[MikeOKC]

Huh?

By "on a roll," I think they mean Penn Square is doing really well. I've heard, and I believe Patrick has said, that Penn Square has a mega-long waiting list. It really is one of the nicest old-style malls around. I love remembering the old outdoor Penn Square which many people have said if it was built today, it would be considered really cool. If you think about it - and remember it - it really would be. The outdoor square with all the flowers, trees, the center plaza and all. It's changed so much it's hard to believe it's the same place.

[Spartan]

If you walk into Penn Square, it's a dump, with a few nice stores scattered here and there. I used to think it was nice until the last time I went there, when it finally begin to sink into me that it's definitely on the decline. Quail went first, but now that's finally caught up with Penn.

I'm really curious what you're talking about, I never realized that there was an outdoor square. Sounds Utica-esque.

[MikeOKC]

If you walk into Penn Square, it's a dump, with a few nice stores scattered here and there. I used to think it was nice until the last time I went there, when it finally begin to sink into me that it's definitely on the decline. Quail went first, but now that's finally caught up with Penn.

I'm really curious what you're talking about, I never realized that there was an outdoor square. Sounds Utica-esque.

Oh yes...it was open-air. Here's a picture of part of it...



As far as your saying it's a dump, I admit to not having been in the mall for awhile so things have obviously changed.

[Spartan]

Wow, cool! I never knew.

[MikeOKC]

Wow, cool! I never knew.

This was their logo and sign at NWX and Penn. The sign was still used up until the early eighties.



They first made a lot of changes and enclosed the mall and then a few years later added a second level.

[Patrick]

If you walk into Penn Square, it's a dump, with a few nice stores scattered here and there. I used to think it was nice until the last time I went there, when it finally begin to sink into me that it's definitely on the decline. Quail went first, but now that's finally caught up with Penn.

I'm really curious what you're talking about, I never realized that there was an outdoor square. Sounds Utica-esque.

I don't know how you can say it's on the decline when it's 100% leased and has a waiting list of over 65 major national retailers and 50 local upscale retailers, with Nordstrom and Saks both interested in occupying anchor space if a new northwest wing is indeed built. The problem is that these retailers want a certain sized space, so they sometimes have to wait for other leases to open up so they can get the space they want. That's been the case with Forever 21. Yeah, there are about 3 or 4 short term leases, but that's the case in any mall across the country. They keep the space filled with short term leases until they find a long term tenant. And some of the spaces, like the old Rockport, for example, and the space occupied by "Honey's, Handbags, and More," are hard to lease due to their small size. Forever 21 has been on the waiting list forever (no pun intended), because they wanted a flagship store in that mall and had to wait for some leases to expire on existing tenants. Malls will never have 100% long term leases. Never have, never will, just because of the different sizes of spaces that open up and what a specific retailer's actual needs are.

[ljbab728]

Oh yes...it was open-air. Here's a picture of part of it...



As far as your saying it's a dump, I admit to not having been in the mall for awhile so things have obviously changed.

I was there shopping last Sunday and it definitely was not a dump. I have no idea what Spartan is talking about.

[metro]

If you walk into Penn Square, it's a dump, with a few nice stores scattered here and there. I used to think it was nice until the last time I went there, when it finally begin to sink into me that it's definitely on the decline. Quail went first, but now that's finally caught up with Penn.

I'm really curious what you're talking about, I never realized that there was an outdoor square. Sounds Utica-esque.

What are you smoking up in Canada?

[metro]

Oh yes...it was open-air. Here's a picture of part of it...



As far as your saying it's a dump, I admit to not having been in the mall for awhile so things have obviously changed.

Too bad they didn't stay open air and expand. Would be a gem fixed up and expanded with modern finishes and old mid century modern design.

[Questor]

Too bad they didn't stay open air and expand. Would be a gem fixed up and expanded with modern finishes and old mid century modern design.

I agree, it's an example of how sometimes we lose something of great architectural design because arguments of convenience win out.

Actually, this very thing has been on my mind a lot lately. In another thread I've been asking for some old photos of Quail Springs Mall, from back before they slapped the theater onto the front of it, because I recently learned that the architect that designed the famously-pointy Trans-America Building in San Francisco (William Pereira) also designed QSM. I just have a vague memory of what it originally looked like and am hoping someone has some old photos. I am just wondering if it might be yet another example of architecture that, one day in the not so distant future, we will all be saying to ourselves what a gem it would be if it were still around....

[Larry OKC]

Oh yes...it was open-air. Here's a picture of part of it...



As far as your saying it's a dump, I admit to not having been in the mall for awhile so things have obviously changed.

This pic looks like a dump, NOT what it is today...how many "dumps" have an Apple store?

[MikeOKC]

Oh, Larry. I always thought I was cynical. The pic is a sixties picture that doesn't have the vivid colors that better photography might, but the colorful flowers, greenery, trees in and around the property - I remember. It was a nice place and if built today would be considered contemporary.

Now I agree that the last time I was in Penn Square it was far from a dump, and I've always loved the mall - but there's no reason to call a place that was a big part of a lot of our childhoods a "dump," because it wasn't. Yeah, I wish I had a better picture, but some here never knew its history and can appreciate that it's a place that could still be nice as what goes around sometimes comes around again - like these outdoor centers. That's all I was saying.

[MDot]

I was there on Friday and the only thing I recall being "dumpy" about it was some of the people in there, but that's it.

[ljbab728]

I was there on Friday and the only thing I recall being "dumpy" about it was some of the people in there, but that's it.

You're right, MDot. There is absolutely nothing dumpy about the physical structure or ambience in Penn Square. I got wet because it was raining when I walked into the mall so I may have looked a little dumpy though. LOL