Sam's Club

[Pete]

I'm not familiar with the building permit system in Tulsa/BA, otherwise I could figure out exactly what this is.

But it seems highly unlikely that a project would start principal construction without an announcement. Why wouldn't Costco want to start building the buzz and excitement?

[gjl]

I don't think the ethanol gas really matters to people anymore. I have been in Charlotte, NC for 6 months now and have yet to find one store here or in SC that sells 100% gas (even QuickTrips or Loves). Everything is E10. There are plenty of people who drive pickup trucks and I haven't heard a single complaint or outrage. I think the no ethanol fad is over.

It is not an issue when you have no choice. In OKC where we still have a choice and 100% gas is not hard to find there are a tons of people that detest the E10 gas and won't use it.

[bluedogok]

It is not an issue when you have no choice. In OKC where we still have a choice and 100% gas is not hard to find there are a tons of people that detest the E10 gas and won't use it.

Yep, in Austin, San Antonio, DFW or Houston you have no choice. You had to go well out of the emission control counties of a metro area to find E0 gas. As much as Charlotte has grown I would imagine it is similar the Texas cities in EPA mandates. The ethanol free gas is much more important to small engines and vehicles that sit for awhile being unused. I do know that the owners manuals for the cars and my motorcycle say do not use anything with more than 10% ethanol.

[ethansisson]

I don't think the ethanol gas really matters to people anymore. I have been in Charlotte, NC for 6 months now and have yet to find one store here or in SC that sells 100% gas (even QuickTrips or Loves). Everything is E10. There are plenty of people who drive pickup trucks and I haven't heard a single complaint or outrage. I think the no ethanol fad is over.

It's not over in OKC. I've never put ethanol in my car's tank and I won't as long as I have a choice.

If you can't get 100% gas, what do you put in your lawn mower? *shudder*

[soonerliberal]

It's not over in OKC. I've never put ethanol in my car's tank and I won't as long as I have a choice.

If you can't get 100% gas, what do you put in your lawn mower? *shudder*

I live in a condo .... but there are 2 million people in the metro area here who somehow make it work.

[bchris02]

I live in a condo .... but there are 2 million people in the metro area here who somehow make it work.

I agree. Before moving to OKC, I didn't realize they still had 100% non-ethanol gasoline. The EPA regulations in Charlotte are much stricter. There are many cars from the 1970s and 80s still on the road in OKC that couldn't be legally tagged in Mecklenburg County.

[ethansisson]

I live in a condo .... but there are 2 million people in the metro area here who somehow make it work.

I guess there's some solution to it. I've never bothered to look into it since I have 100% gas available to me. I just can't help but remember trashing my dad's Husqvarna chainsaw in high school by running it on E10. Obviously a Toyota is not a chainsaw and my car would tolerate ethanol much better, but I've stayed away since then.

[bluedogok]

It's not over in OKC. I've never put ethanol in my car's tank and I won't as long as I have a choice.

If you can't get 100% gas, what do you put in your lawn mower? *shudder*

E10 and Stabil is what I have to do. The only E0 that I can really find is VP Racing Fuel (friends who race) but it is very expensive even with no road taxes paid on it. The two stations on Pure-Gas.org listed here never seem to be open when I have been by them. They are on the other side of town so I am not driving by them often.

Two-strokes seem to be a bit more sensitive to it than 4-stroke engines.

[Plutonic Panda]

I don't think the ethanol gas really matters to people anymore. I have been in Charlotte, NC for 6 months now and have yet to find one store here or in SC that sells 100% gas (even QuickTrips or Loves). Everything is E10. There are plenty of people who drive pickup trucks and I haven't heard a single complaint or outrage. I think the no ethanol fad is over.

No it is not and I go out of my way to get E0 gas. Ethanol a) does absolutely nothing to help the environment(arguably makes it worse) b) rusts fuel tanks that are not set-up to be used with ethanol and c) reduces gas mileage. Many people still want E0 gas and I hope ethanol is done away with.

[Plutonic Panda]

I live in a condo .... but there are 2 million people in the metro area here who somehow make it work.

They're forced to; there is a difference.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yep, in Austin, San Antonio, DFW or Houston you have no choice. You had to go well out of the emission control counties of a metro area to find E0 gas. As much as Charlotte has grown I would imagine it is similar the Texas cities in EPA mandates. The ethanol free gas is much more important to small engines and vehicles that sit for awhile being unused. I do know that the owners manuals for the cars and my motorcycle say do not use anything with more than 10% ethanol.

DFW has Ethanol free gas, I filled up there other day. Unless something has changed, Houston also has it as of 3 months ago.

Not sure about Austin or SA.

[ethansisson]

Two-strokes seem to be a bit more sensitive to it than 4-stroke engines.

Definitely.

To get back on topic, I think the point was that if Shell sells ethanol-free gas they can differentiate from Sam's gas and keep their business up. There's definitely a market for 100% gas in OKC, given how widely available it is. Even if they don't adapt, Shell probably won't have much trouble.

[PhiAlpha]

I agree. Before moving to OKC, I didn't realize they still had 100% non-ethanol gasoline. The EPA regulations in Charlotte are much stricter. There are many cars from the 1970s and 80s still on the road in OKC that couldn't be legally tagged in Mecklenburg County.

OMG even the cars are better in Charlotte?????

[Mr. Cotter]

I'm not a regular Sam's shopper (only because I never need that much bulk merchandise), but I think this is a big win for the area.

I hope this spurs some development, or at least clean up, along May to the South.

[warreng88]

Personally, I am a little disappointed in this only because I remember when there was a plan for a much better use of this space. I can't find it right now, but I remember there was a hotel on the far NW corner of the space and mostly restaurant pad sites facing May. Much like what was originally proposed for the Dave and Buster's area on May. I know they are going to start work on redoing May from NW 36th to Britton and I hope that includes making the street to bridge over I-44 more seamless instead of a huge dip that people slow down to 20 mph to go over. Luckily, there is already a fifth lane so there won't be too much of a traffic backup.

[reverend]

Personally, I am a little disappointed in this only because I remember when there was a plan for a much better use of this space. I can't find it right now, but I remember there was a hotel on the far NW corner of the space and mostly restaurant pad sites facing May. Much like what was originally proposed for the Dave and Buster's area on May. I know they are going to start work on redoing May from NW 36th to Britton and I hope that includes making the street to bridge over I-44 more seamless instead of a huge dip that people slow down to 20 mph to go over. Luckily, there is already a fifth lane so there won't be too much of a traffic backup.

I just hope they find a way to provide access to I-44 west from 39th.

[onthestrip]

I just hope they find a way to provide access to I-44 west from 39th.

Pretty much impossible. Just have to go south to 36th and then to 44.

[warreng88]

I just hope they find a way to provide access to I-44 west from 39th.

Yeah, I think it was tried about ten years ago and there were so many wrecks from people trying to cross three lanes of traffic going 30 mph, they just blocked it off. If anything, there just needs to be a lot better signage so people don't get lost trying to look for it.

[reverend]

Yeah, I think it was tried about ten years ago and there were so many wrecks from people trying to cross three lanes of traffic going 30 mph, they just blocked it off. If anything, there just needs to be a lot better signage so people don't get lost trying to look for it.

Yeah, I know the wrecks were bad, just wish there was some way to mitigate that.

[warreng88]

Yeah, I know the wrecks were bad, just wish there was some way to mitigate that.

Flyover would fix it, unfortunately they probably have no interest in spending that amount of money on that intersection.

[OKCisOK4me]

All kinds of gas aside, what kind of time frame are we looking at on this if the application is approved? End of 2014?

[Jim Kyle]

I just hope they find a way to provide access to I-44 west from 39th.

They had one, originally, but it proved to be so accident-prone that they closed it. That entire interchange area is so horribly designed that it needs to be completely re-done, from the ground up. Preferably, with no access to I44 at all in either direction from May...

[cxl144]

I'm not a huge Walmart fan myself. That being said I am a Sam's Club member and this is a great move for the company in OKC. The location in WOKC on the I40 frontage is too busy. With the current developments and out of town shoppers coming in from Yukon and beyond it was becoming almost impossible to shop there due to the volume of customers. Should buy them some time before there is enough population growth in the far SW sector of OKC to support another store.

[trousers]

I'm just hoping that this somehow spurs some new businesses in the Mayfair shopping center. I'm right around the corner and would like to keep my money in the neighborhood but right now Khazana is the only one getting any of my cash in that strip.

[Urbanized]

I would think some sort of true lifestyle center type development would have been better for that. This will probably mostly just spur additional congestion.