Quality grocery stores in OKC

[Pete]

25,000 SF or more is pretty darn big. The Homeland is a little smaller than that. Wouldn't be surprised if they just took over that site.

I don't know where something of that scale could fit in Midtown. Plenty of property in the Film Row and Core to Shore / Boulevard area, but I have a hard time seeing a big grocery store going either place.

The only real possibility in Midtown would be the south side of 10th across from Fassler Hall, but even that property isn't big enough considering the need for parking.

[warreng88]

What are the chances it goes on the site of the Collison Center that just closed? Since there are so many people living in the immediate area, they might not have to worry as much about parking or they could put in a parking garage to the east fronting Lincoln.

[Pete]

I would think any new grocer would want to be in the northwest part of downtown / Midtown to draw from the historic neighborhoods.

[bchris02]

While a development like this is probably currently a longshot for OKC, something like the Harris Teeter in uptown Charlotte would be nice. It's a full-service grocer in the ground level with housing built above it.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

Here is a list of America's best supermarkets. My family's favorite, Aldi's (ALDI US), is listed at #15. I love their extremely low prices & I love going into their stores each week to discover what new non-food specials are being offered for that week. I've purchased everything from a comfortable bicycle seat for me to electric keyboards which I gave to my relatives with children at Christmas.

The popularity vote is probably skewed by some small retailers having their employees vote many times for their store, but the article does give an overall insight into which stores are most popular & the specific characteristics which define their stores.

America's Best Supermarkets | The Daily Meal

[Rover]

So, 3 of top 10 are in OKC with a 4th on its way. So, we will have 6 of top 16. Maybe OKC supermarket situation is better than the people on this board think.

[Rover]

The vote is probably skewed by some small retailers having their employees vote many times for their store, but it does give an overall insight into which stores are most popular & the specific characteristics which define their stores.

America's Best Supermarkets | The Daily Meal

Do you have evidence of this or is this cynicism?

[JohnH_in_OKC]

Rover: I hope it's not cynicism. It just seems logical to me that chains with just a few stores would be able to outvote many strong retail grocers with devoted shoppers. Any store on this list has devoted shoppers. Otherwise, they'd be out of business!

[bchris02]

So, 3 of top 10 are in OKC with a 4th on its way. So, we will have 6 of top 16. Maybe OKC supermarket situation is better than the people on this board think.

It's not that OKC doesn't have any good grocery stores it does have a few. Stores like Crest Fresh Market or Uptown Grocery are the standard in most cities. They are great stores; large, aesthetically pleasing with a wide selection. In OKC, stores like that are very few. The standard is either Wal-Mart or a dirty, foul smelling Homeland like the one at 122nd and May. I live in a pretty high-income zip code and there isn't a store of the Uptown Grocery or Crest Fresh Market caliber anywhere near me. My hope is that Buy for Less continues its expansion and places locations near the worst Homelands and puts them out of their misery.

[Rover]

Within a couple miles of my house we have Whole Foods, Sprouts, Buy 4 Less, Homeland (Britton Rd., and not bad), and soon to have Uptown Grocery. Lots of good options. I guess I am not as despondent about the grocery business in OKC as many.

[Rover]

It's not that OKC doesn't have any good grocery stores it does have a few. Stores like Crest Fresh Market or Uptown Grocery are the standard in most cities. They are great stores; large, aesthetically pleasing with a wide selection. In OKC, stores like that are very few. The standard is either Wal-Mart or a dirty, foul smelling Homeland like the one at 122nd and May. I live in a pretty high-income zip code and there isn't a store of the Uptown Grocery or Crest Fresh Market caliber anywhere near me. My hope is that Buy for Less continues its expansion and places locations near the worst Homelands and puts them out of their misery.

Yes, we have 6 of national top 16 in the market and that doesn't even include Crest and Uptown. Maybe some individual sub-markets are under-served is your point. I would also tell you that in other cities I have been to some "smelly" and dirty stores of brands that are normally very good and held up here as desirable. I understand not liking the Homeland at 122 & May, but the one at Britton and May is totally different. The Buy 4 Less at 23rd & Penn isn't as good as NW Exp and Portland, and both are great compared to Hefner and Penn store. Sometimes we paint with too broad of a brush.

[bchris02]

Yes, we have 6 of national top 16 in the market and that doesn't even include Crest and Uptown. Maybe some individual sub-markets are under-served is your point. I would also tell you that in other cities I have been to some "smelly" and dirty stores of brands that are normally very good and held up here as desirable. I understand not liking the Homeland at 122 & May, but the one at Britton and May is totally different. The Buy 4 Less at 23rd & Penn isn't as good as NW Exp and Portland, and both are great compared to Hefner and Penn store. Sometimes we paint with too broad of a brush.

With Uptown Grocery going in on N May and Winco going in at Memorial and Penn, I have a feeling that will be the end for the 122nd and May Homeland.

In addition, not all areas of the metro are served equally. Some areas that should have great options don't. For instance, the Gaillardia area should have an Uptown Grocery or Crest Fresh Market style of store. At the very least Homeland should put money into the 122nd and Rockwell store bringing it on par with the one at May and Britton. That Homeland isn't totally atrocious yet but is in danger of becoming that way if it continues to be neglected.

I really do think the OKC grocery market is in the process of correcting itself. Crest and Buy for Less have taken notice of Homeland's negligence and new players are entering the market. In five years or so the complaints about grocery stores here will likely be a distant memory.

[Jim Kyle]

At the very least Homeland should put money into the 122nd and Rockwell store bringing it on par with the one at May and Britton. That Homeland isn't totally atrocious yet but is in danger of becoming that way if it continues to be neglected.

Unfortunately, there's absolutely no way that the 122nd and Rockwell store can be made anything at all like the one at May and Britton. The one at 122nd is one of the smallest in the entire chain, in terms of the number of square feet, and there's nowhere near enough room on the corner to make it even half as spacious as the one at May and Britton.

Both locations began as Albertsons, and both were built to order for that chain. The original Albertsons at May and Britton was on the northwest corner of the intersection, occupying almost all of that huge building that's now chopped up into a multitude of smaller shops. It didn't extend around to the west side of the parking area, but it did include everything to the north of the parking. It was as large as any of the "first rate" groceries I've visited in Austin, Dallas, or the suburbs of Nashville, but it wasn't large enough to satisfy Albertsons' hope for increased activity, so they built the "new" place to the southwest of the intersection and added all the things we all love about the place.

The one on 122nd was built much later, only a few years before the chain left the state. It was meant to "show the flag" without being actually competitive to the big store at NW Highway and MacArthur -- which itself is less than half the size of the original store at Britton Road. By design, the one at 122nd covers a bit less than half the square footage of the MacArthur store, and from the beginning carried only a limited choice of items.

When Albertsons abandoned our state, their stores went up for grabs to a number of chains. For a time, the one at 122nd was a Williams operation; that's a small chain based in Tulsa whose operations seemed to be aimed at the food stamp and commodities level. Shortly after they took over, I found a huge sale of Miracle Whip one day priced at less than half normal -- obviously in violation of the state's required 6% markup, I thought. But when I checked the sell-by date on a jar, it was less than a week away. They must have picked the stuff up from a freight salvage house and used it as a "great savings" promotion.

Besides that, their selection was far more limited than anywhere else I've seen in OKC; even the old 15th and Drexel Safeway offered more from which to choose. Williams didn't remain the operator for more than a few months. When Homeland took it over, the place improved by at least an order of magnitude -- but to put it simply, there's just not enough shelf space there to make a good grocery store possible.

I do shop there fairly often since I live less than a mile and a half to the west, but seldom spend as much as $50 on any one visit. Usually it's less than $20. Their meat counter is limited in comparison to the Crest at Rockwell and Hefner, but the quality is usually a bit better. The same goes for their produce area. Their deli, though small, is far better than that at the Crest, and in some ways even surpasses the one at Britton and May (not in the range of choice, but in the quality of some of the meats).

Hopefully we'll get something better out this way, but until then we simply have to deal with what's available. For some things I find it necessary to go to the big Buy For Less near NW Hiway and Portland -- but I don't plan to ever return to the one at NW 36 and Portland, or at Penn and Hefner. My point is that it's not always the chain itself that makes a location great; a poor manager can turn even the best chain's store into an unacceptable dump. And in my experience, the current managers of both the nearby Rockwell locations are doing the best they can with the tools available to them.

[Jim Kyle]

Just discovered this afternoon that the 122 and Rockwell Homeland is being remodeled to provide a bit more shelf space, and already the selection of available items seems to be improving! The clerks tell me that it began about two weeks ago; let's hope that the improvement continues and management makes the place the best it possibly can be with its limited space.

[Plutonic Panda]

Pockets of Oklahoma City metro area are food deserts, leaving residents without grocery stores | News OK

[ljbab728]

That is so funny. I live in one of the areas marked as a food desert. I have several grocery stores that are just over a mile away. I'm not saying that some don't have issues but the criteria for that designation is a little suspect.

[zookeeper]

That is so funny. I live in one of the areas marked as a food desert. I have several grocery stores that are just over a mile away. I'm not saying that some don't have issues but the criteria for that designation is a little suspect.

Especially when you consider in rural areas some will drive thirty minutes or more for food. Yeah, I agree, when you have a grocery store (or several in your case) within a mile, it's hard to call that a food "desert."

[bchris02]

Especially when you consider in rural areas some will drive thirty minutes or more for food. Yeah, I agree, when you have a grocery store (or several in your case) within a mile, it's hard to call that a food "desert."

I agree. There are places in the OKC metro area that really are food deserts though. There are some pretty nice housing developments at I-240 and Sooner, but the closest grocery store for them is the Homeland at 29th and Sunnylane or the Moore Wal-Mart. Not very convenient and you are looking at at least 15 minutes one way for a grocery run. That may be common in rural areas but in an urban area that's not acceptable.

[Dubya61]

I agree. There are places in the OKC metro area that really are food deserts though. There are some pretty nice housing developments at I-240 and Sooner, but the closest grocery store for them is the Homeland at 29th and Sunnylane or the Moore Wal-Mart. Not very convenient and you are looking at at least 15 minutes one way for a grocery run. That may be common in rural areas but in an urban area that's not acceptable.

I honestly don't see why no one can see the forest OR the trees here. There's a:
Homeland at SE 29th and Sunnylane,
a Wal-Mart Supercenter at I-240 and Santa Fe,
a Wal-Mart Supercenter at I-40 and Sooner,
a Buy-for-Less at I-35 and SE 44th,
a Crest at Reno and Douglas (MWC),
a Crest at Eastern and 12th (Moore),
Dollar Generals at Sooner and 89th, 44th and Sunnylane, 134th and Eastern,
a Braums at 44th and Sunnylane,
and there's even members-only stores on TAFB and at 29th and Sooner-ish (Sams Club).
I-240 and Sooner can ONLY be considered a food desert to those who don't have a car. I'll wager that very few moved to this little slice of country-flavored suburbia with expectations that they could get where they wanted to go without a car.

[bchris02]

I honestly don't see why no one can see the forest OR the trees here. There's a:
Homeland at SE 29th and Sunnylane,
a Wal-Mart Supercenter at I-240 and Santa Fe,
a Wal-Mart Supercenter at I-40 and Sooner,
a Buy-for-Less at I-35 and SE 44th,
a Crest at Reno and Douglas (MWC),
a Crest at Eastern and 12th (Moore),
Dollar Generals at Sooner and 89th, 44th and Sunnylane, 134th and Eastern,
a Braums at 44th and Sunnylane,
and there's even members-only stores on TAFB and at 29th and Sooner-ish (Sams Club).
I-240 and Sooner can ONLY be considered a food desert to those who don't have a car. I'll wager that very few moved to this little slice of country-flavored suburbia with expectations that they could get where they wanted to go without a car.

Every option you listed there is a 15-20+ minute drive one way except for the Dollar General. Even by OKC standards that is very underserved.

[Dubya61]

Every option you listed there is a 15-20+ minute drive one way except for the Dollar General. Even by OKC standards that is very underserved.

15 - 20+ minute drive one way?
I say, Nay, Nay.
10 minutes to the Crest in Moore.


8 minutes to the Homeland on 29th.


7 minutes to the I-240 Wal-Mart Supercenter.


8 minutes to the Tinker Wal-Mart Supercenter.


Less, if you drive like PluPan.

[TheTravellers]

Especially when you consider in rural areas some will drive thirty minutes or more for food. Yeah, I agree, when you have a grocery store (or several in your case) within a mile, it's hard to call that a food "desert."

The article said that the designation comes from an area "with a high poverty rate where a large portion of the population lives one mile or farther from the nearest grocery store or supermarket.", pretty cut and dried. Also lots of talk in the article about folks without cars and OKC's less-than-adequate public transportation, so I don't see a problem with designating areas as "food deserts". Not everybody has a car and the money to keep it going.

[Plutonic Panda]

15 - 20+ minute drive one way?
I say, Nay, Nay.
10 minutes to the Crest in Moore.


8 minutes to the Homeland on 29th.


7 minutes to the I-240 Wal-Mart Supercenter.


8 minutes to the Tinker Wal-Mart Supercenter.


Less, if you drive like PluPan.

[Dubya61]

We can laugh about this, but only because we're alive!

[Plutonic Panda]

We can laugh about this, but only because we're alive!

I know haha... I just saw this on Facebook and thought it'd be funny ;P