Retail Explosion on Memorial Road

[bchris02]

I have watched this thread grow, and I'm still learning about this project, but it looks to be another strip mall letdown. This wreaks of University North Park.

I hope this turns out to be OKC's first true lifestyle center..with these incredible retailers, they should go back to the drawing board and re-plan this development. This should be done right; give us something that will be an OKC landmark for decades to come.

Not another Mayfair Village or Belle Isle or other faded strip malls.

I hope you are wrong, but this is what I fear given the retail track record in this city. The one thing this development has going for it is the involvement of Costco and the fact that Wal-Mart is already so close at Memorial and Penn. Because of that, there is no chance Wal-Mart could become an anchor for this development, meaning it already stands a better chance than Belle Isle.

[warreng88]

I hope you are wrong, but this is what I fear given the retail track record in this city. The one thing this development has going for it is the involvement of Costco and the fact that Wal-Mart is already so close at Memorial and Penn. Because of that, there is no chance Wal-Mart could become an anchor for this development, meaning it already stands a better chance than Belle Isle.

And there is a Sam's, Target, Home Depot, Dick's, Best Buy, Lowe's and Hobby Lobby close by. So, those pseudo-anchors are out as well. Not to mention the JC Penny, Macy's and Dillard's at QSM.

[GoOKC1991]

So, looking at the website and the plan...I see there is 16 screen IMAX Cinema. So we will have that to go along with AMC 24 at Quail.

Also noticed Ashley furniture and Panera Bread listed.

[warreng88]

So, looking at the website and the plan...I see there is 16 screen IMAX Cinema. So we will have that to go along with AMC 24 at Quail.

Also noticed Ashley furniture and Panera Bread listed.

Remember the long rumored Warren Theatre planned to be built west of here? It wouldn't surprise me to see that resurrected and put here.

[GoOKC1991]

Remember the long rumored Warren Theatre planned to be built west of here? It wouldn't surprise me to see that resurrected and put here.

That was my thought as well.

[GoOKC1991]

The homeless people who hang around behind Walmart will have to go somewhere else now

[Soonerman]

I wouldn't mind seeing Cost Plus in this development.

[Pete]

A lot of this new development and announcements have to do with the national economy finally improving a bit and more importantly, the lending industry finally getting back on it's feet.

We tend to forget in Oklahoma how tough it's been elsewhere because our local economy has stayed so solid. But the truth is that retail and commercial development has been down nationwide for quite some time and is just now coming back.

We've been very lucky because local companies like Devon, Chesapeake, SandRidge and Hobby Lobby have invested heavily. We also have a whole host of local developers (Midtown Renaissance, Chip Fudge, Steve Mason, Richard McKown, etc.) who have driven almost all the new development over the last 5 years or so.


Well, get ready. National retailers are waking up, OKC is on their radar and out-of-state money and developers are showing interest.

After loads of build-up that has almost been 100% locally driven, we may be ready for a real honest-to-goodness building boom.

[Dustin]

This would be awesome . . . can we get an Ikea next?

I don't think it would happen, but I will say when I was in Orlando, FL this past week, we went in an Ikea and it was awesome. If we had just ONE in OKC... Just one, I think it could be the top grossing Ikea in the US. There has to be a huge demand for this type of development here. There just has to be. The prices are fantastic and the furniture is stylish and modern. We were walking around and we kept saying "This would kill in OKC".

Slap it somewhere alongside this development and you couldn't go wrong.

[warreng88]

I don't think it would happen, but I will say when I was in Orlando, FL this past week, we went in an Ikea and it was awesome. If we had just ONE in OKC... Just one, I think it could be the top grossing Ikea in the US. There has to be a huge demand for this type of development here. There just has to be. The prices are fantastic and the furniture is stylish and modern. We were walking around and we kept saying "This would kill in OKC".

Slap it somewhere alongside this development and you couldn't go wrong.

I have been saying that for years that an Ikea would do well right off of I-35 north of the turnpike. Possibly on the NE/C of I-44 (Turner Turnpike) and I-35. The closest one is in Frisco so we would have people coming from TX Panhandle, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas coming here to shop.

[Pete]

In case there was any doubt about the quality of information we have been receiving, today Main Event filed for a $7.8 million building permit at the exact location we had predicted and shown here:

[GoOKC1991]

This reminds me a lot of the Legends area in Kansas City, with the retail, movie theater, water fall, some restaurants. The stores in this just won't be in a outlet mall format. But there is a lot of similarities.

We are just missing the race track and casino. You could mention the Great Wolf Lodge too.

[GoOKC1991]

In case there was any doubt about the quality of information we have been receiving, today Main Event filed for a $7.8 million building permit at the exact location we had predicted and shown here:

I am very excited for Main Event. Seems a lot more fun than Dave and Buster's and also closer to me!

[warreng88]

This reminds me a lot of the Legends area in Kansas City, with the retail, movie theater, water fall, some restaurants. The stores in this just won't be in a outlet mall format. But there is a lot of similarities.

We are just missing the race track and casino. You could mention the Great Wolf Lodge too.

By the river is the rumor for that one.

[GoOKC1991]

Over 34,000 views for this! The Will Rogers thread has been going on for two years and only has 13,000. All hail retail!

[PhiAlpha]

Shows how much interest there is in these retailers...

We just set a site record for number of simultaneous visitors:

Uh oh, OKCTALK going mainstream!!! haha

[BDK]

Yeah, I've seen this thread posted to facebook by people I'm pretty certain are not forum frequenters.

[catch22]

There are currently 479 users (9 members 470 guests) viewing this thread. Good thing Pete did the server maintenance a few days ago before breaking this. Smart
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[BrettM2]

Any chance this development could lead to someone fixing up the shopping center on the NW corner of Western and Memorial? It's hidden back (I usually forgot it was there) but looks awful.

[OKCisOK4me]

There are currently 479 users (9 members 470 guests) viewing this thread. Good thing Pete did the server maintenance a few days ago before breaking this. Smart
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Make that 501, lol.

[ShowMeOKC]

There's as much of a chance of that happening to Nichols Hills residents as close as they are to the rough areas just north of that border so why solely base it on that?

The intersection of Memorial and Western is virtually no different from anywhere else in the metro in that it is nearby high-income areas in one direction, and low-income areas in the other. Even Oak Tree has that rathole south of Guthrie very nearby, and the 73170/Rivendell area (metro's highest income ZIP) is surrounded by the greater south side.

One thing that has kept upscale retailers out, more than backward laws, is that our city is very socioeconomically spread out. The wealthy aren't cloistered in one direction or along one road (ie., North Dallas, which at points seems as narrow and thin as just one road all the way up to Frisco).

Good points. I don't have any statistical data, but the area at Memorial & Penn sure seems to be headed downhill over the past several years. Surely, I'm not alone in that feeling, am I?

[bchris02]

Good points. I don't have any statistical data, but the area at Memorial & Penn sure seems to be headed downhill over the past several years. Surely, I'm not alone in that feeling, am I?

Its the apartments at Penn and 122nd, especially the ones in the east side. That area really isn't a bad area with the exception of those apartment complexes.

[bchris02]

I am very excited for Main Event. Seems a lot more fun than Dave and Buster's and also closer to me!

Does Main Event serve alcohol? That's one thing that sets Dave & Busters apart from others that do the same concept.

[OKCisOK4me]

Good points. I don't have any statistical data, but the area at Memorial & Penn sure seems to be headed downhill over the past several years. Surely, I'm not alone in that feeling, am I?

Well, the only thing I can think of is that I personally avoid the area like the plague because the traffic is horrendus and will be even worse once this development opens for business--which is why I mentioned earlier in this thread that they need to turn Memorial into 3 lanes on each side with those third lanes turning into right turn only lanes about 500 feet away from the intersections. But, as far as business goes? I haven't seen any decline in the area. Food joints seem to be about the only new businesses going in the last few years but like Pete said, national retail took a huge hit and is just getting back up to par, so if there's been a decline, that's beyond my experience.

Does Main Event serve alcohol? That's one thing that sets Dave & Busters apart from others that do the same concept.

In the 'Main Event' thread, there are pics from another location and it has a very nice full service bar.

[Pete]

Does Main Event serve alcohol? That's one thing that sets Dave & Busters apart from others that do the same concept.

Yes, they have a huge bar area.