OnCue: 63rd & NW Expressway

[ABryant]

The main difference in layout between a QT and an ONCUE is the bathrooms are on the left when walking in on a QT, and on the right at an ONCUE. I still sometimes go to the wrong side at an ONCUE when I have to take a quick leak. On a side note, 711 has lost alot of my "If I have to use your bathroom I will buy something for services rendered" business, because they have no public bathrooms.

[warreng88]

I went graduated from OCU in 2002. Before 2000, the 7-11 on the corner of 23rd and Penn was like the one at 36th and Penn, it was basically a convenience store in a small strip mall. They tore that down and built what you see today. Before everyone had cell phones, there was a thing called "pagers" or "beepers". There was a store connected to the 7-11 before it was remodeled called "Mo-Beeps". It was one of the more ghetto things I have ever seen.

[warreng88]

Wow, did OKC get the rawest of deals in that "gentlemen's agreement".


The 7/11's in the Metro are generally horrible places while QuickTrips are at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum.

OnCue saw a great opportunity and is obviously thriving...

I hope they drive 7/11 completely out of business. Most their locations are shameful.

I am curious if the "gentlemen's agreement" was made before QT became as nice as it is today and 7-11 became as bad as it is today.

[Buffalo Bill]

I noticed around the city they are cleaning up and remodeling the stores

I wish I could say the same.

All the ones I see are still the dumps they've always been.

[Shake2005]

No. The agreement was between Bill Brown, who bought the 7-Eleven franchise in OKC and QuickTrip founder John Thompson. The Brown family still owns the 7-Eleven stores in Oklahoma City as a completely autonomous entity from corporate 7-Eleven due to a clause Brown insisted on in his franchisee contract back in the early 50's. 7-Eleven is now actually headquarted in Tokyo, with the American division operating out of the old 7-Eleven headquarters in Dallas. They go far out of the way to make people think 7-Eleven is still an American company.

The Oklahoma City stores is a fascinating story really. The 7-Eleven North American page even has on their contact page at the very bottom:
7-Eleven in Oklahoma City:
For comments, inquiries or complaints pertaining to 7-Eleven stores in Oklahoma City, please note that this company is not affiliated with 7-Eleven, Inc.

7-Eleven Stores
2021 S. MacArthur Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73128
Phone: 405-682-5711

Interesting story and similar to what I have heard except for one large detail. Who is John Thompson? QuikTrip was founded by Chester Cadieux and friend Burt Holmes. Chester still owns the private company that is today run by his son Chet. Here’s a good story about the founding of the chain.

Store No. 27 and the Making of QuikTrip | This Land Press

[zookeeper]

Interesting story and similar to what I have heard except for one large detail. Who is John Thompson? QuikTrip was founded by Chester Cadieux and friend Burt Holmes. Chester still owns the private company that is today run by his son Chet. Here’s a good story about the founding of the chain.

Store No. 27 and the Making of QuikTrip | This Land Press

Interesting story and similar to what I have heard except for one large detail. Who is John Thompson? QuikTrip was founded by Chester Cadieux and friend Burt Holmes. Chester still owns the private company that is today run by his son Chet. Here’s a good story about the founding of the chain.

Store No. 27 and the Making of QuikTrip | This Land Press

This comes from an old photocopy of a newspaper article from a Tulsa weekly back in the nineties. They describe John Thompson as an investor in QT, not the founder, sorry. He recommended Brown grab the OKC territory for 7-Eleven and later became involved financially with both Brown's 7-Eleven and Cadieux's QT. The agreement was made then not to ever introduce new stores on their turf which was OKC (7-Eleven) and Tulsa (QT) proper.

[Plutonic Panda]

Wow, did OKC get the rawest of deals in that "gentlemen's agreement".


The 7/11's in the Metro are generally horrible places while QuickTrips are at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum.

OnCue saw a great opportunity and is obviously thriving...

I hope they drive 7/11 completely out of business. Most their locations are shameful.

amen to that!!!! I really hope they build one in North Edmond

[bchris02]

I'm sure someone here knows the real story (or it's been posted before), but I've heard two stories on On Cue, and they both are based on some old agreement between the QT and 7-11 folks that QT would never come to OKC and 7-11 wouldn't go to Tulsa (boy we got the crap end of that deal...if it's true).

1.) The OnCue concept we see today in OKC was started by a guy who essentially walked into a QT, took notes on everything, and copied it to a T

2.) OnCue is actually partially owned by QT and it's their way of getting into the OKC market without breaking the 7-11 agreement.

Odds are both of these are false, but they are things I heard when I first moved here in 2009, and complained there were no QT's in OKC.

I have never understood what the big obsession is with QT. When they came to Charlotte, everybody went crazy. To me, a gas station is a gas station.

[traxx]

I have never understood what the big obsession is with QT. When they came to Charlotte, everybody went crazy. To me, a gas station is a gas station.

It's a case of wanting what you don't have.

Kinda like In n Out. If they built one in OKC it'd be real popular at first but then everyone would realize it's another burger joint in a city full of burger joints. Everyone longed for a Dave & Busters. Now that we've got one, I wonder how their business is. I'm hoping they're still doing good business. We really don't need another vacant building of a failed business.

Such places are cool because we don't have them. But as soon as we get it, it must not be cool anymore because we have one. A bit like Groucho Marx saying he didn't want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member.

[bchris02]

It's a case of wanting what you don't have.

Kinda like In n Out. If they built one in OKC it'd be real popular at first but then everyone would realize it's another burger joint in a city full of burger joints. Everyone longed for a Dave & Busters. Now that we've got one, I wonder how their business is. I'm hoping they're still doing good business. We really don't need another vacant building of a failed business.

Such places are cool because we don't have them. But as soon as we get it, it must not be cool anymore because we have one. A bit like Groucho Marx saying he didn't want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member.

I agree with you on In-N-Out. I too wonder why people get so excited about a fast food chain. When I lived in Charlotte people talked about In-N-Out like it was the holy grail.

[CuatrodeMayo]

About 4-6 months ago, the local 7-11 group was interviewing architects to design a new prototype store.

[jedicurt]

I agree with you on In-N-Out. I too wonder why people get so excited about a fast food chain. When I lived in Charlotte people talked about In-N-Out like it was the holy grail.

not much different than the way people around here talk about Quick Trip... at the end of the day, it's still just a convient store

[soonerguru]

not much different than the way people around here talk about Quick Trip... at the end of the day, it's still just a convient store

Do they have a nice selection of habits at the convent store?

[LuccaBrasi]

Bingo on the 63rd street location, nice to see one's sources pan out with accurate info. See the OnCue expansion thread where we talked about this location as well as the battle vs shameful 7-11 back in February or thereabouts.

BTW, 7-11 selected an out-of-state architect and PR firm to assist with new designs and rebranding to prep for battle with OnCue, but I heard the hiring of those firms has since possibly gone south for reasons unknown. 7-11 probably is too cheap to pay for design services, or, they saw the price tag to actually do something better than their norm. They will soon build a rival to OnCue on the corner of NWH and McArthur, which OnCue originally wanted before building the Wilshire location. I thought it would be started by now......not sure why its not. My guess is the delay is due to uncertainly in the prototype design direction. I think it was planned to be one the first new designs, but if that's gone south, my guess is it just look like a larger version of their other locations. Hopefully they end up improving their stores since they are not going anywhere anytime soon.

[BB37]

They will soon build a rival to OnCue on the corner of NWH and McArthur, which OnCue originally wanted before building the Wilshire location.

Must be on the SW corner, where the closed Arby's and Mazzio's buildings are currently standing. That location is kind of hard to get to except from EB NWH, probably why those two businesses closed.

[progressiveboy]

Must be on the SW corner, where the closed Arby's and Mazzio's buildings are currently standing. That location is kind of hard to get to except from EB NWH, probably why those two businesses closed.

The reason why Arby's and Mazzios closed those locations is because 7 Eleven bought those lots for their future store. It had nothing to do with the access as that Arby's and Mazzios had been their since the 80"s.

[Pete]

That 63rd & MacArthur location does have poor ingress and egress.

You can only access it going south on NW Expressway and can only turn south coming out.

There is no direct access from MacArthur, as you have to turn down a side street, pass behind a couple other of businesses, then come out the other side. And, you can't even make that turn going north on MacA; only south.

I imagine they will petition Warr Acres to provide a curb cut on MacArthur.

[ljbab728]

That 63rd & MacArthur location does have poor ingress and egress.

You can only access it going south on NW Expressway and can only turn south coming out.

There is no direct access from MacArthur, as you have to turn down a side street, pass behind a couple other of businesses, then come out the other side. And, you can't even make that turn going north on MacA; only south.

I imagine they will petition Warr Acres to provide a curb cut on MacArthur.

That would make the most sense. Every time I went there I had to travel north on MacArthur and then left on NW Expressway before making a turnaround and taking the next available place to go back the other way.

[dankrutka]

not much different than the way people around here talk about Quick Trip... at the end of the day, it's still just a convient store

Well, obviously, but QTs offer such a better overall experience that you never want to go to other convenience stores. I've had a lot of bad experiences at 7/11s with dirty products/bathrooms and poor service while having the exact opposite experience at QTs. If there's a QT in the market I won't go to any other store. Have you been to one of their new model stores? They're ridiculously nice for a gas station. Saying a convenience store is a convenience store is akin to saying a hamburger place is a hamburger place, but I'll take Nic's, Tucker's, or Republic burgers over McDonald's everyday. In the end, OnCue is still an inferior imitation. OKC really got screwed by that gentleman's agreement.

[bchris02]

Well, obviously, but QTs offer such a better overall experience that you never want to go to other convenience stores. I've had a lot of bad experiences at 7/11s with dirty products/bathrooms and poor service while having the exact opposite experience at QTs. If there's a QT in the market I won't go to any other store. Have you been to one of their new model stores? They're ridiculously nice for a gas station. Saying a convenience store is a convenience store is akin to saying a hamburger place is a hamburger place, but I'll take Nic's, Tucker's, or Republic burgers over McDonald's everyday. In the end, OnCue is still an inferior imitation. OKC really got screwed by that gentleman's agreement.

Good way of putting it.

It's kind of like grocery stores. Wal-Mart Supercenter gets the job done, but it would sure be nice to have a Publix or Harris Teeter/Kroger. At this point, I would even settle for an OnCue-level imitation of a nice grocery store chain in OKC if they would expand with enough locations to be convenient.

[Larry OKC]

Things may have changed, but when I lived back in Florida (80s), Publix were dumps. Roughly equivalent to most of the Homelands today. Same for most of the chain grocery stores. Piggly Wiggly, Kroger, Safeway, Winn-Dixie, A&P, and a score of others.

[Pete]

Things may have changed, but when I lived back in Florida (80s), Publix were dumps. Roughly equivalent to most of the Homelands today. Same for most of the chain grocery stores. Piggly Wiggly, Kroger, Safeway, Winn-Dixie, A&P, and a score of others.

They have changed -- it's been 30 years, after all.

All of those are nice chains that have invested a lot in upgrading and adding nice finishes to their new stores.

Homeland looks now like those places did 3 decades ago.

[warreng88]

Drove by yesterday and it looks like the old Hometown Buffet was leveled. Shouldn't be too long before they start putting in tanks and running lines.

[MWCGuy]

Unless I am mistaken, I think it takes about 4-6 months depending weather conditions to build an Oncue. The stores I have seen built are not built up quickly like 7-11 builds their stores. I predict they will be open for business sometime in December or January provided we don't see an early winter.

[UnclePete]

Oncue's are fine, but it seems like a lot of people on okctalk don't want competitors for any type of business.