Top 5 Grocery Chains

[Dubya61]

Yeah, why is that? Why is it that we always seem to get the shaft on things like that? Safeway got spun off into Homeland, Hardee's became Carl's Jr., our 7-11s aren't real 7-11s...

That's easy. It's our pre-historical liquor laws. If you could have gotten liquor by the drink back then, that one meeting with Maximillian Hardee, Carolyn Safeway and William Brown would have been less uptight and they would have figured out how to do business across state lines.

[bchris02]

Yeah, why is that? Why is it that we always seem to get the shaft on things like that? Safeway got spun off into Homeland, Hardee's became Carl's Jr., our 7-11s aren't real 7-11s...

Also Albertson's, the last major chain in the OKC area other than Wal-Mart decided to leave the market. Of course Albertson's is far from one of the best grocery store chains out there, but I would be willing to bet a large company like that would be more willing to spend money on and remodel their stores than is Homeland.

[BG918]

IMO Albertson's was the best we had in Oklahoma when they were here, though they had started to go downhill in the early 2000's. Since then Crest in the OKC metro and Reasor's in Tulsa/NE OK have stepped up their game with their newer stores, and are both good options. Whole Foods is super nice but can be expensive. I've been in a Trader Joe's and personally think it's a combination of Sprouts and Aldi, both of which we have, with a few unique products that you probably wouldn't buy otherwise. The main attraction is the wine shop which won't be in any of the (future) Oklahoma stores. I agree Homeland and Wal-Mart are bad, but for many looking for the best deal they are the least expensive.

[bluedogok]

Yeah, why is that? Why is it that we always seem to get the shaft on things like that? Safeway got spun off into Homeland, Hardee's became Carl's Jr., our 7-11s aren't real 7-11s...

It happened to the Safeway stores in Texas as well, the ones in Houston and Austin became Appletree stores. I think the DFW ones were snapped up by Tom Thumb and Minyards. They were all closed by the time I moved from OKC to Austin in 2003. Randall's out of Houston bought DFW Tom Thumb/Simon David (that was my favorite when I lived in Dallas) and was subsequently bought by the renewed Safeway.

[Jeepnokc]

Back in mid to late 90's, there was a Bakers grocery store at NW 23rd and Penn where the Ace hardware is now. We really liked the store and was sad to see them pull back out of the OKC market. It was definitely less scarier and cleaner than the Buy For Less across the street

[bchris02]

Back in mid to late 90's, there was a Bakers grocery store at NW 23rd and Penn where the Ace hardware is now. We really liked the store and was sad to see them pull back out of the OKC market. It was definitely less scarier and cleaner than the Buy For Less across the street

Bakers is now owned by Kroger though I am not sure that was the case in the '90s. I saw it posted a while back that Bakers failed here because those stores were as nice as any modern grocery store in a major city and OKC was not ready for it at the time. There was a perception that it was an upscale, snooty store due to the aesthetics. Buy for Less bought out many of the locations and stripped them down to the bare minimum just so people would shop there. Is that the case?

[bluedogok]

I think the Buy for Less at NW Expressway & Portland was built as Baker's. When Baker's was in OKC they were not associated with Kroger at that time. When I moved back from Dallas in 1993 I shopped mostly at the Homeland at NW 122nd & May and it was a pretty nice store back then.

[bchris02]

I think the Buy for Less at NW Expressway & Portland was built as Baker's. When Baker's was in OKC they were not associated with Kroger at that time. When I moved back from Dallas in 1993 I shopped mostly at the Homeland at NW 122nd & May and it was a pretty nice store back then.

True. The Homeland at S 104th and Penn was also built intended to be a Baker's but they left the market before grand opening. Though it could use a little updating today, you can tell that it was once a very nice grocery store. It seems to me that I remember Homeland in the '90s being nicer than it is today. The NW 122nd & May store is in sad shape today. It's also never busy. I have a feeling it may be on the chopping block if Homeland decides to close stores.

[Jeepnokc]

Bakers is now owned by Kroger though I am not sure that was the case in the '90s. I saw it posted a while back that Bakers failed here because those stores were as nice as any modern grocery store in a major city and OKC was not ready for it at the time. There was a perception that it was an upscale, snooty store due to the aesthetics. Buy for Less bought out many of the locations and stripped them down to the bare minimum just so people would shop there. Is that the case?

Probably so. The only decent Buy For Less that I have been to is the one store they took over from Bakers on NW Expressway by Baptist. It is halfway clean when I go in there unlike the one at 23/penn or south side

[Buffalo Bill]

Back in mid to late 90's, there was a Bakers grocery store at NW 23rd and Penn where the Ace hardware is now. We really liked the store and was sad to see them pull back out of the OKC market. It was definitely less scarier and cleaner than the Buy For Less across the street

That Bakers store was originally a MegaMarket, a warehouse type store that was owned by Fleming Foods. The Buy for Less across the street was a similar concept owned by Scrivner. When Fleming and Scrivner merged in the early 90's, creating the countries largest food distribution company, they effectively had 2 of the same stores across the street from each other. They then closed down the MegaMarket for a few weeks, re-worked the interior into a full service store, and re-opened as Bakers.

I can't remember if that Bakers store closed prior to or after Fleming sold Bakers to Kroger. Regardless, it was a sad day.