Crossroads Mall

[Roger S]

Anyone remember what year it opened in the mall?

I spent most of my time there from 78 to 82 and I don't even remember it. If we had the extra money and stopped long enough to actually sit down and eat, while searching out all the freebies around the mall at the time, it was usually at McDonald's when a regular burger was still around $0.25.

[Martin]

^
pretty sure it was 1974. my folks have some old photos of some opening festivities at the mall... i seem to remember a huge cargo helicopter in the parking lot or something. i also think that the anchors were open a little before the mall itself was open.

[kzizok]

Anyone remember what year it opened in the mall?

I spent most of my time there from 78 to 82 and I don't even remember it. If we had the extra money and stopped long enough to actually sit down and eat, while searching out all the freebies around the mall at the time, it was usually at McDonald's when a regular burger was still around $0.25.

The Chick Fil A opened in Crossroads in 1978. It was the first in OKC.

[etsuco05]

In my opinion, Chick Fil A became popular once they started building free-standing restaurants. It seemed that outside of the southeast, they were nearly all in malls until the early 2000s then expanded outside that. The food was much the same back then as it is now, but don't remember the Crossroads location being overly busy either. Crossroads didn't really have a condensed food court area unlike other malls. The restaurants were spread around (CFA was on the first floor next to B. Dalton or Software, Etc., and McDonald's was on the second floor IIRC).

Back to Crossroads itself, growing up in SW OKC, I spent a lot of time there. Mainly at The Hobby Shop, Software Etc., and B. Dalton, with dinner at Garfield's.

[G.Walker]

I remember going to Crossroads mall every weekend while in college with my friends 20 years ago. This was the place to be. Miss eating at S'Barro's and trying to pick up girls from the balcony as they came up the escalator. Good times!

[Martin]

CFA was on the first floor next to B. Dalton or Software, Etc.

i don't think that's right... cfa was closer to the dillard's end of the mall on the first floor. i want to say that it was next to babbage's. b. dalton was near the center of the mall on the first floor. software etc. was the back half of the same storefront. if i remember right, orange julius was just to the right of b. dalton.

[Ginkasa]

i don't think that's right... cfa was closer to the dillard's end of the mall on the first floor. i want to say that it was next to babbage's. b. dalton was near the center of the mall on the first floor. software etc. was the back half of the same storefront. if i remember right, orange julius was just to the right of b. dalton.

Different era but I very clearly remember CFA being next to GameStop which is what Software, Etc. and Babbage's became.

[Martin]

Different era but I very clearly remember CFA being next to GameStop which is what Software, Etc. and Babbage's became.

i think i see what is happening... in the 1980's and into the early 90's, babbage's and software etc. were two separate stores in two separate places. what i remember as babbage's absolutely changed into gamestop in the late 1990's maybe early 2000's. software etc. was originally a competitor located at the back half of b. dalton. however, nationally, babbage's and software etc. merged sometime in the 1990's... i'm wondering if there was a period of time that the babbage's storefront was rebranded as software etc. before changing into gamestop.

[SouthSide]

I think Chickfila's service is what sets it apart more than its food. My preteen niece is team Raising Cane's while my nephew is team Chick fil a. The staff at Chick fil a thought it was hilarious when she brought in her Raising Cane's meal to dine with us.

I miss Crossroads. It was my teen hangout and i worked at Foleys to pay for college. Shopping options in south okc have become dismal.

[SoonerDave]

Chick-fil-A in Crossroads was in two locations..originally, they were in the east end of.the mall next to Radio Shack and IIRC a small bank, just adjacent to Montgomery Wards. Many years later, they moved to the location closer to the middle of the mall near where others here recall it being located.

[Roger S]

HA! Clearly shows that 10-13 year old me never noticed it. I remember every store mentioned above but have no recollection of the CFA.

[Martin]

Chick-fil-A in Crossroads was in two locations..originally, they were in the east end of.the mall next to Radio Shack and IIRC a small bank, just adjacent to Montgomery Wards. Many years later, they moved to the location closer to the middle of the mall near where others here recall it being located.

huh... now that must have been before my time. i don't remember that at all. as far as food on that end of the mall, all i remember is el fenix and piccadilly cafeteria.

[catch22]

Feels like CFA was caddy-corner to Sbarro, next to or within a few stores of Orange Julius.

[G.Walker]

There used to be a restaurant called Wiggy's or something like that. It was located on the top floor NW entrance, right when you walked in. They made a darn good burger and fries. This was back in 2004-2005.

[Ginkasa]

i think i see what is happening... in the 1980's and into the early 90's, babbage's and software etc. were two separate stores in two separate places. what i remember as babbage's absolutely changed into gamestop in the late 1990's maybe early 2000's. software etc. was originally a competitor located at the back half of b. dalton. however, nationally, babbage's and software etc. merged sometime in the 1990's... i'm wondering if there was a period of time that the babbage's storefront was rebranded as software etc. before changing into gamestop.

Ah, yeah, that sounds right.

I used to frequent both Crossroads and Sooner and that time (we're talking late 90s) Babbage's was at one and Software, Etc. was at the other. I don't remember which was which I just remember all those different video game stores became GameStop and Chik Fil A was next to the GameStop (and whatever the GameStop used to be).

I don't remember a B. Dalton being at Crossroads; I just remember Waldenbooks (I say just to place my experience; not doubting there was a B Dalton before my time).

[oklip955]

I am surprised no one has said anything about Louie Farrels ice cream parlor. I loved that place. even in college at OSU I would drive in to the city to Crossroads to get ice cream. Ok and some window shopping since I was a broke college student.

[SoonerDave]

Feels like CFA was caddy-corner to Sbarro, next to or within a few stores of Orange Julius.

Yup, that was it's final location. Moved there probably five, maybe ten (???) years before the mall finally died. Very much a rough guess/recollection. I know CFA was in it's original space near Wards as late as 1982 and beyond.

[SoonerDave]

Ah, yeah, that sounds right.

I used to frequent both Crossroads and Sooner and that time (we're talking late 90s) Babbage's was at one and Software, Etc. was at the other. I don't remember which was which I just remember all those different video game stores became GameStop and Chik Fil A was next to the GameStop (and whatever the GameStop used to be).

I don't remember a B. Dalton being at Crossroads; I just remember Waldenbooks (I say just to place my experience; not doubting there was a B Dalton before my time).

B Dalton was on the upper floor toward (roughly) the middle/west of the mall, and Waldenbooks was on the ground floor near LeMans Speedway. I remember when Software Etc opened up, which was just before mail-order computer stuff took off; you could buy shrink-wrapped copies of Word and Excel for a pretty penny. I think I got a copy of some obscure compiler there once for cheap because no one bought those kinds of things there but computer nerds like me.

In later years, there was a computer game store on the lower south corridor, east side, and they sold a bunch of what was then big-time computer games
.Infocomm was a big name back then and I got a copy of Starcross for $50, which was a chunk for a teenager working barely part-time. That was a text-based space adventure game where all the graphics were in your mind!! LOL

[Martin]

B Dalton was on the upper floor toward (roughly) the middle/west of the mall

you had me doubting myself, but b. dalton was also on the lower level... it's in the lower left corner of this pic:

[SoonerDave]

you had me doubting myself, but b. dalton was also on the lower level... it's in the lower left corner of this pic:

MY COMPLETE MISTAKE. In later years, they moved to that other upstairs location. I'm 100% wrong on saying it was always upstairs. Good catch!

[unfundedrick]

I am surprised no one has said anything about Louie Farrels ice cream parlor. I loved that place. even in college at OSU I would drive in to the city to Crossroads to get ice cream. Ok and some window shopping since I was a broke college student.

I don't think I every heard "Louie" mentioned in connection with it. Actually, that was Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. I went there many times and I think it has been mention here previously, just not in the current conversation. https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=21271 I definitely remember these kind of scenes when I was there.

[Ward]

I worked at Orbach's at Crossroads while in college, from 1980 to 1982. men's clothing store. .

The grisly murders of Syril and his wife Christine in their Belle Isle home are still unsolved. Most believe it was a professional job which is why after all this time they have never found those responsible.

I don't remember the news of their deaths so I googled it. A posting of yours on OKCtalk dot com from 2007, how interesting. I had no idea OKCTalk went back that far.
.

[Tavia]

Piccadilly cafeteria was located upstairs on the NW end of the mall. El Fenix was lower level near Montgomery Wards on the East end of the mall. There was an A&W on the upper level, CFA lower level, McD's , Orange Julius/Corn dog place, Farrell's, the pretzel place near the cigar store. I feel like Garfield's was something else prior, was it?

[Pete]

Garfield's came later; not sure which space they took over.

The pretzel place was called Swiss Pretzels.

[kzizok]

Previous post from SoonerDave mentioned that the space started out as an English themed bakery and then remained vacant for a long time before Garfield's.