Whole Foods Check, Now What?

[lasomeday]

Ok, so we have a Whole Foods coming next year, now what?

What stores or businesses do we realistically have coming to the city in the next year or two?

[donbroncho]

Well The Container Store said they were coming and they're new to this market so I guess that counts.Not really sure whats next though

[onthestrip]

Before we start naming them, ones that are not coming are Ikea, Nordstoms, Saks, and Brooks Brothers. The higher ups of these retailers have said they don't plan an OKC expansion anytime in the near future, per a recent ULI luncheon.

[HOT ROD]

that was then. but what about after a few years of success and "PROVING" that other upper end retailers coming to OKC will show?

If I remember correct, didn't Whole Foods say the same thing a few years ago? Now, that was foot and mouth. In business, times do indeed change.

Also, it's Nordstrom (not s). I wouldn't get into a hussy fit about Saks, Tulsa has it - let them.

[bombermwc]

Yay for the container store!!!!!

[metro]

Look at the retailers that typically surround a WF store (don't look to Tulsa) and their is probably your answer.

[stlokc]

Within a half mile of the St. Louis Whole Foods (that are not in OKC):
REI
Crate and Barrel
Arhaus
Nordstrom Rack
Maggiano's
Galleria Mall with a few higher-end retailers

[BG918]

Within a half mile of the St. Louis Whole Foods (that are not in OKC):
REI
Crate and Barrel
Arhaus
Nordstrom Rack
Maggiano's
Galleria Mall with a few higher-end retailers

Remember the St. Louis metro is twice the size of OKC. It would be better to look at what metros close to or slightly larger than OKC have, like Richmond, Louisville, Memphis, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Austin, Indianapolis, and Charlotte.

[lasomeday]

REI would be awesome! I love that store!

[onthestrip]

that was then. but what about after a few years of success and "PROVING" that other upper end retailers coming to OKC will show?

If I remember correct, didn't Whole Foods say the same thing a few years ago? Now, that was foot and mouth. In business, times do indeed change.

Also, it's Nordstrom (not s). I wouldn't get into a hussy fit about Saks, Tulsa has it - let them.

Obviously things can change over the course of 5 years, but the retailers I mentioned will not be here within 5 years. Ikea: would need 500,000 more residents to be on their radar. Nordstrom, the midwest is their worst performing stores and are not looking to expand. Brooks Brothers, only goes to places with other super high end retailers that we dont have. Saks, just wont happen. Steve can back me up on this, he was at the ULI luncheon.


REI would be great, but I think they are in the boat with the ones above. At this point, scoring a Dicks Sporting Goods would be a great get.

[CCOKC]

There is an REI in Boise ID which is much smaller than OKC. I have also been hearing there commercials on the Sports Animal for a while now. I don't know exactly what that means if anything but it is curious at least.

[Pete]

Keep in mind that retailers in general are not in expansion mode as 1) most are still reeling from the last few years of recession and 2) on-line options and deep discounters are shifting lots of dollars from brick-and-mortar stores.

For example, I love REI but almost never buy anything there. I like cruising through the stores but if I see something I like, I'll just buy it on-line for generally a significant discount.

I think OKC could support just about any store but I not so sure the ones everyone wants (mainly the higher-end stuff) will be looking to expand to new markets in the next couple of years.

Hope I'm wrong!

[metro]

I shot some video of the WF site and the 4 signs that went up today, will post them in my video thread here shortly.

[Insider]

What about a Cabellas?

[Spartan]

I get a lot of clothes and stuff from REI. A store in Oklahoma that's similar is the Stillwater Summit Co in downtown Stillwater--an awesome area. Edmond has a Summit Co too but it's newer, owned separately, smaller, and a lot less authentic. I know the Stillwater one is well supported, don't know about Edmond I never go there..metro reminded me of it the other day when I suggested OKC should try and attract a Summit Co-like place or an REI. I think it would be well-supported because there are a lot of outdoorsy Oklahomans, even though we're definitely a minority.

There is a lot of gear they wouldn't be able to sell in OKC, such as their awesome (but overpriced) collection of snowboards and other equipment for sports such as skiing and climbing equipment. They would be able to make up for it I think if they specialized an OKC store towards running and rowing, however. Those sports are really strong here.

[metro]

Spartan, OKC has several ski shops, you'd be surprised at how many would buy ski gear, heck even Academy carries it seasonally.

[Spartan]

I am just saying that there has to be either a huge local demographic or an outdoors connection for an REI to be successful in a market. That's why there's in big cities..as well as places like Boise and Montana.

OKC's strongest outdoors connection is running and rowing, which REI could capitalize on, and we may have demographics as well that can support non locally-connected items like skiing and climbing equipment.

I was just proposing something that they could really capitalize on.

[metro]

I think we'd overwhelmingly support one REI, but not two. There are many more outdoors enthusiasts than people realize, just have to get the right company and marketing strategy in place as REI seems to have. Heck, I'd say we have more support for skiing than we do rowing, although it's rapidly catching on.

[semisimple]

Remember the St. Louis metro is twice the size of OKC. It would be better to look at what metros close to or slightly larger than OKC have, like Richmond, Louisville, Memphis, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Austin, Indianapolis, and Charlotte.

Well, within approximately one mile of the north Austin Whole Foods location there's all of those places just listed (except Arhaus, ?), along with numerous "high-end" retailers like Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., Ralph Lauren, etc., etc., none of which OKC has...

[okclee]

Let's start with the grass roots emails.

REI All Other Questions

Please consider Oklahoma City for the next REI store location.

[metro]

Just emailed them as well.

[BG918]

Well, within approximately one mile of the north Austin Whole Foods location there's all of those places just listed (except Arhaus, ?), along with numerous "high-end" retailers like Neiman Marcus, Tiffany & Co., Ralph Lauren, etc., etc., none of which OKC has...

Austin, Indianapolis, and Charlotte (at #33 with 1.75 million) would be at the higher end of that spectrum of those larger metros. The 10 metros, bigger and smaller, around OKC using 2009 numbers:

34 Indianapolis
35 Austin
36 Virginia Beach
37 Providence
38 Nashville
39 Milwaukee
40 Jacksonville
41 Memphis
42 Louisville
43 Richmond
44 Oklahoma City
45 Hartford
46 New Orleans
47 Birmingham
48 Salt Lake City
49 Raleigh
50 Buffalo
51 Rochester
52 Tucson
53 Tulsa
54 Fresno

[okclee]

We would also need to know if they have New Whole Food's stores or were they existing stores that were acquired through buyout.

[Spartan]

^ That doesn't matter, really..a lot of the bought-out stores that WF acquired ended up being renovated and expanded, such as the case with the Tulsa store, and a lot of the stores that WF decided it didn't want they just closed. The playing field has been mostly leveled by now between stores built for WF and those built for Wild Oats and acquired later.

[Spartan]

Hello Nick,

Thank you for contacting REI regarding a store in the Oklahoma City area.

Customer feedback is our best tool for improvement and we appreciate your input regarding the possibility of a new REI store in your community. As a co-op, we approach our store openings slower than most national retailers, only opening seven to ten stores per year. This allows us to be very thoughtful and deliberate in our real estate selections.

Thank you for choosing REI as your clothing and gear resource and we hope you continue to use our website at REI - Gear, Equipment and Clothing for a Lifetime of Outdoor Adventure and Stewardship. for your online shopping needs.

To stay informed of our latest news and openings, please refer to the link below:

REI: Newsroom

Wishing you happy outdoor adventures!

Brianna P
REI Online Customer Service

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It's worth a shot, I guess..