Nichols Hills Drug Store Closing?

[BDP]

No confirmation from them, but the rumors are starting that Nichols Hills Drug is the next Plaza casualty:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicho...85619111490205

[ljbab728]

You're correct. There has been discussion for several days about that in the Crescent Market closing thread.

[warreng88]

Nichols Hills Drug soda fountain faces closure
By Brianna Bailey
Journal Record
Oklahoma City reporter - Contact 405-278-2847
Posted: 07:15 PM Monday, October 17, 2011

OKLAHOMA CITY – The lunch fare at the Nichol Hills Drug soda fountain has changed little since it opened in 1963.

A vintage Dr Pepper menu board hangs above a row of barstools at the lunch counter advertising cheeseburgers, taco salads and turkey and cheese sandwiches.

“It may be the last place out there like it,” said drugstore patron Bob Bowles, who has been eating lunch at Nichols Hills Drug since it opened in Nichols Hills Plaza nearly 50 years ago.

However, the neighborhood hangout could serve up its last milkshake in the coming months if Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s latest plans for the Nichols Hills Plaza shopping center come to fruition.

Plans are in the works to temporarily relocate the pharmacy and permanently shutter the soda fountain to bring in a new supermarket.

Drugstore regulars say they will protest the soda fountain’s demise.

Nichols Hills Drug announced on its Facebook page last week that the soda fountain will close and the pharmacy will temporarily relocate to another site. The announcement comes just a few weeks after the drugstore’s neighbor, Crescent Market, the metro area’s oldest surviving independent grocer, announced it will close its doors Oct. 29 after 122 years in business.

Chesapeake, which acquired Nichols Hills Plaza through a subsidiary in 2006, has announced plans to open a new market to replace Crescent.

Drugstore owner Jay Black, whose father opened the drugstore in Nichols Hills Plaza, said Chesapeake has offered to allow the pharmacy to become part of a larger market that would combine Nichols Hills Drug with the space Crescent Market occupies next door. The old-timey soda fountain isn’t part of Chesapeake’s plans, however. Another operator would be brought in to operate a lunch counter at the new store.

Black declined to comment further on Monday because he hasn’t made any deal with Chesapeake and has no timetable for when the plans for a new market might move forward.

College student Leann Farha, who grew up in Nichols Hills, has fond memories of riding her bike to the drugstore to meet friends before and after school.

“It was a staple of our childhood,” Farha said. “I would be down here every day during the summer.”

Farha and her friends have organized a Facebook group called “Save the Drugstore” and are organizing a protest at noon on Saturday at Nichols Hills Plaza in support of keeping the lunch counter open.

“Chesapeake has done so much for this community, but it would be a sad thing for (the lunch counter) to close,” Farha said.

Chesapeake has discussed the possibility of temporarily moving the pharmacy to another site within Nichols Hills Plaza while the space is being renovated and remodeled, Henry Hood, senior vice president of land and legal for Chesapeake, said in a written statement.

“Several ideas have been presented, including the possibility of combining the store with the adjoining space occupied by Crescent Market, which is closing at the end of this month,” Hood said in the statement. “Our goal is to work with Jay (Black) to minimize the interruption to his business and the inconvenience to his customers always associated with a reconstruction project of this nature.”

Tenants at Nichols Hills Plaza have a tightknit community and have been concerned about what the future holds for the shopping center after all of the recently announced changes, said Heather Davis, a Realtor for Churchill-Brown & Associates, which has offices in Nichols Hills Plaza.

“I would like to find a balance between moving forward and still honoring the history we have here,” she said.

[Pete]

Very interested to know who the new grocer is going to be.

CHK certainly is making it sound like they have a deal in progress otherwise I can't see why they'd be so eager to get the pharmacy and fountain out of the way.

[MDot]

Very interested to know who the new grocer is going to be.

CHK certainly is making it sound like they have a deal in progress otherwise I can't see why they'd be so eager to get the pharmacy and fountain out of the way.

I'm stumped as well. Sad that it has to happen like this though.

[Pete]

I would think Trader Joe's but they don't have pharmacies, so the part of offering NH Drug to become part of the larger grocer doesn't fit, nor does the reference to a lunch counter.

[BDP]

I think what's telling is that the one thing that people are passionate about and the one thing we don't have in abundance is the fountain, yet that's the thing CHK has no interest in trying to salvage.

[soonerguru]

I think what's telling is that the one thing that people are passionate about and the one thing we don't have in abundance is the fountain, yet that's the thing CHK has no interest in trying to salvage.

Absolutely this. What a joke. Aubrey builds POPs because he allegedly has nostalgia for this kind of thing and kills that last remaining drug store fountain in OKC. Aggravating.

[OKCTalker]

What has been rumored for a long time and written about in these boards, a story appeared in this morning's edition of the Journal Record (link here, login required): http://journalrecord.com/2011/10/17/...e-real-estate/

Neither side - Nichols Hills Drug or Chesapeake - are willing to say that closure is certain, and discussions are apparently underway to relocate the drug store and lunch counter to another location at NHP. But it doesn't look good for Jay Black, the employees at the drug store, or the group which operates the lunch counter.

[OKCTalker]

http://newsok.com/community-set-to-r...ad_story_photo

Steve covers the closing of NH Drug and their lunch counter in today's edition. Again from Chesapeake, no comment about specifics.

A rally is planned for tomorrow, probably the closest you'll see to an "Occupy Nichols Hills" movement, and it will be interesting to see...

[Libbymin]

I've been a supporter for a lot CHK's development, though many oppose it. But this is something that I have yet to find anyone, pro or anti-development, who agrees with this. It's a profitable store.

[oakhollow]

I didn't grow up with daddy paying my tab at the drugstore, so I don't have the sentimental feelings that most people have. I'd rather Chesapeake shut it down so they are one step closer to being able to bull doze all of NHP and start over.

[MDot]

I didn't grow up with daddy paying my tab at the drugstore, so I don't have the sentimental feelings that most people have. I'd rather Chesapeake shut it down so they are one step closer to being able to bull doze all of NHP and start over.

Dang, you're pretty hardcore.

[Libbymin]

I didn't grow up with daddy paying my tab at the drugstore, so I don't have the sentimental feelings that most people have. I'd rather Chesapeake shut it down so they are one step closer to being able to bull doze all of NHP and start over.

I don't really care if you're resentful towards rich people or not (for the record, the employees there are NOT rich), but from a purely business standpoint, it doesn't make sense. It makes money unlike Crescent Market. If they want to put something like a Trader Joe's in the plaza (which doesn't make sense to me considering Sunflower and Whole Foods nearby), then that's fine, but why not keep the Drug Store there and put a Trader Joe's somewhere else in the plaza? There are several other spots in the plaza. Why do they need that spot so badly?

[Just the facts]

A rally is planned for tomorrow, probably the closest you'll see to an "Occupy Nichols Hills" movement, and it will be interesting to see...

LOL - is that where the 1%ers protest against the 0.25%ers?

[Pete]

[Steve]

I've been a semi-regular at the Nichols Hills lunch counter. Does that make me part of the 1 percent? I also value the history of the place. Does that make me a rich Nichols Hills elitist? Because if so, I'd sure like to know where all the money went...

[betts]

It will be all the kids who grew up walking or riding their bikes to the Drug Store for lunch. For many, it was the first time their parents let them go somewhere with friends and sans parents. The lunch counter had moms, kids, grandparents, an occasional dad.

I remember when we moved near there. My youngest daughter asked if our family could have a charge account there because all her friends had one. We complied because it was easier than remembering to give them lunch money on days when we worked. Then we got our first months' bill - $300+. She had not only bought lunch, there was gum, toys, chapstick and a variety of items on the charge slip, all with her awkward signature. That was her first and last experience with credit. While she's almost self supporting now (I am counting the months), she and all my kids have a lot of memories at that counter.

[Okaleyhoma]

LOL - is that where the 1%ers protest against the 0.25%ers?

Why not focus your comment to problem of the corporation, Chesapeake Energy, Occupy advocate, rather than attack a local business owner?

[Okaleyhoma]

I didn't grow up with daddy paying my tab at the drugstore, so I don't have the sentimental feelings that most people have. I'd rather Chesapeake shut it down so they are one step closer to being able to bull doze all of NHP and start over.

NHP will still be in a wealthy neighborhood irregardless of what inhabits it. Why not support a 3 generation owned and operated business instead of supporting a greedy corporation?

[urbanity]

Rally in the Hills

Don’t call it a protest, but residents stood their ground at Nichols Hills Drug.

http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/ar...the-hills.html

[Pete]

So, CHK says it's going to renovate the old Crescent and NH Drug space and not tear it down.

Will be very interesting to see who the new market operator will be.

[ljbab728]

"Occupy Nichols Hills" anyone? LOL

It's also interesting that Crescent Market now says they are looking to relocate instead of just close.

[MikeOKC]

Does anybody know when the lunch counter will be closing? I know they're talking about renovation now, but is there still a "close" date for the drug store?

[Tydude]

the pharmacy of the drug store is relocating to old Monogram and Linen Shop (just across the breezeway) and the fountain is gone the last day of the current location is Friday and the new location where the Pharmacy going to be at will be on Monday January 23rd.