Top 5 stores (retail, grocery or otherwise) you wish we had in OKC

[warreng88]

And locations you think would best suit them.

1. Ikea (I-35 in Edmond. It would work for all the colleges in oklahoma and most of Kansas)
2. Trader Joe's (downtown)
3. Costco (not sure where to put it, probably out on I-40)
4. Crate and Barrel (Classen Curve area)
5. Kate Spade (Penn Square Mall) so my wife will quit complaining about driving three hours to shop there

[Pete]

1. Trader Joes (Uptown / 23rd)
2. Kroger or other nicer grocery chain (everywhere)
3. Bloomingdales or Nordstrom (Penn Square)
4. Costco (Memorial, I-40 west, Midwest City, Moore)
5. Restoration Hardware (Penn Square)

[Roger S]

I only have one..... Sportsmen's Warehouse.

Moore would be nice but having one back anywhere in OKC would make me really happy.

[warreng88]

1. Trader Joes (Uptown / 23rd)
2. Kroger or other nicer grocery chain (everywhere)
3. Bloomingdales or Nordstrom (Penn Square)
4. Costco (Memorial, I-40 west, Midwest City, Moore)
5. Restoration Hardware (Penn Square)

Restoration Hardware was #6 on my list and I think something like that would do well in the space next to Anthropologie.

[Mr. Cotter]

Some good ones above, so I'll try to add to the list, even though Trader Joes and Nordstrom would be very high on my list for sure.

1. Uptown Grocery (remodel of the 23rd and Penn Buy For Less) The Edmond location shows an Oklahoma grocer can do it right.
2. Brooks Brothers (lobby of Mystery Tower)
3. La Madeleine (Automobile Alley or Uptown)
4. Urban Outfitters (Automobile Alley)
5. West Elm (Penn Square)

[bradh]

just give me a grocery store worth a damn. was back home for the 4th and walking through HEB made me sad

[MikeLucky]

Kroger Grocery Store
QT

that's my entire list... lol

[Pete]

Really, most things can now be easily purchased on-line so brick & mortar locations in close proximity are decreasing in importance.


However, the grocery thing is completely different and it's disturbing how bad things are in OKC.

Whole Foods, Sprouts and Uptown are all nice improvements but I've never seen a city the size of OKC where the regular grocery chains are at such an incredibly low standard.

I'm really hoping someone will take the OnCue strategy and just start expanding to do direct battle with the well-established local under-achievers. Given the current state of the competition, you would think people would beat a path to the door of a nicer store that still offered good prices.

And again like OnCue / 7-11, I would hope a new competitor would run Homeland into the ground. They deserve to fail after putting the bare minimum (and sometimes less) into their stores.

[warreng88]

Really, most things can now be easily purchased on-line so brick & mortar locations in close proximity are decreasing in importance.


However, the grocery thing is completely different and it's disturbing how bad things are in OKC.

Whole Foods, Sprouts and Uptown are all nice improvements but I've never seen a city the size of OKC where the regular grocery chains are at such an incredibly low standard.

I'm really hoping someone will take the OnCue strategy and just start expanding to do direct battle with the well-established local under-achievers. Given the current state of the competition, you would think people would beat a path to the door of a nicer store that still offered good prices.

And again like OnCue / 7-11, I would hope a new competitor would run Homeland into the ground. They deserve to fail after putting the bare minimum (and sometimes less) into their stores.

I have always enjoyed my experiences at the Crest locations. The one at 23rd and Meridian I have a hard time getting in and out of so we usually go to the one on SW 104th and May. I know Reasor's is looking to build a location in Edmond, but that whole development is being met with some concern due to the housing east of it. I actually know Josh Reasor, who I believe is in charge of Marketing there, and have talked to him multiple times about breaking in the Oklahoma City market. He said they were looking at it but had to find the right place and didn't want to be too close to Crest.

[Pete]

The typical Crest is still well below the standard of the grocery stores found in most other cities.

[rlewis]

1. Trader Joes (Uptown / 23rd)
2. Kroger or other nicer grocery chain (everywhere)
3. Bloomingdales or Nordstrom (Penn Square)
4. Costco (Memorial, I-40 west, Midwest City, Moore)
5. Restoration Hardware (Penn Square)

In my wishlist, I'd replace Restoration Hardware with Fry's Electronics, and I'd replace Kroger with Meijer instead. To me, Kroger is very similar to Crest except that they have better house brands and they offer double & triple couponing. I know my wife's list would include the Container Store and Sam Moon's (it's a purse and accessories chain out of DFW).

[venture]

Krogers would (yes with an "s" LOL) would be nice to have here. It is interesting that most of the national chains have avoided Oklahoma.

Side though. When picking locations its interesting how many want everything north of I-40. Would be much more advantageous to have locations closer to downtown or the central sections. Put things up in Edmond or on Memorial, people from the south side won't bother. For me, I haven't been on Memorial or anywhere north of Downtown (locally that is) in years.

[Roger S]

Krogers would (yes with an "s" LOL) would be nice to have here. It is interesting that most of the national chains have avoided Oklahoma.

Well there was that whole Food Lion fiasco.... They did build some nice buildings for those big churches to move into.

[OKCTalker]

Eatzi's: eatZi's Market & Bakery ? Chef-Crafted European Food for the Taking

[venture]

Well there was that whole Food Lion fiasco.... They did build some nice buildings for those big churches to move into.

LOL indeed! Of course the one on Highway 9 in Norman is an AT&T center.

[Pete]

What's wrong with this photo??

[MadMonk]

A Fry's would be nice.

[UnclePete]

[QUOTE=venture79;662048]Krogers would (yes with an "s" LOL) would be nice to have here. It is interesting that most of the national chains have avoided Oklahoma.

I have often wondered why national or even regional chains avoid Oklahoma. Not only grocery stores, but also gas stations. Is our business climate as bad as it seems?

[jdcf]

Costco
Container Store
Central Market
Trader Joe's
HEB Grocers

no particular order or location

[warreng88]

The typical Crest is still well below the standard of the grocery stores found in most other cities.

Is the one on SW 104th and May? I always thought they had an expansive meat and deli selection as well as their produce being very good. I have been to Publix in Florida, Reasor's in the Tulsa area as well as a few Kroger's in Texas and I think this one tops them all. Maybe I am not going to as nice of stores in the other areas?

[Pete]

Is the one on SW 104th and May? I always thought they had an expansive meat and deli selection as well as their produce being very good. I have been to Publix in Florida, Reasor's in the Tulsa area as well as a few Kroger's in Texas and I think this one tops them all. Maybe I am not going to as nice of stores in the other areas?

I haven't been to the one on 104th & May but I've seen several of the others and they don't compare favorably to the standards found in most other cities.

[warreng88]

I haven't been to the one on 104th & May but I've seen several of the others and they don't compare favorably to the standards found in most other cities.

I don't think any of them come close to the one on 104th and May. Most of the other ones were just retro-fitting older grocery stores and this one was built on open land from the ground up. Again, I may be wrong in my assessment of grocery stores, but I have always really like that one so that is where my focus is.

[Just the facts]

Reading through these suggestions makes me realize there is no way in hell I could convince my wife to move back to OKC, at least not on a full-time basis. You guys are listing stores that are in every 2-bit shopping center across America. How is it metro OKC (and in some cases - the whole state) doesn't have any of these stores?

[Pete]

Wal-Mart flooded the market and more or less deterred Costco and grocery chains.

The true retailers listed usually go into markets based on population and most are now considering OKC, as are Trader Joe's and Costco.

[Just the facts]

Wal-Marts are everywhere though. Metro Jacksonville has like 12 supercenters but we also have all the upscale stores.