"Talk amongst yourselves … I'll give you a topic"
I’m out chasing news for you folks today, so for now, I’m going to borrow a tactic from Coffee Talk’s Linda Richman. Here’s a question to ponder this morning, especially for those of you who work and/or live downtown:
If given the choice, would you rather have a small specialty grocery store (maybe a half-size local version of Whole Foods) or would you rather have a full size Walgreens and Braum’s with a fresh foods market?
-Steve
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Comments
Half a Whole Foods? I’m not good at math questions…
But any portion of a specialty grocery would be good.
I wouldn’t be opposed to a Walgreens or CVS downtown, if it were in the right context, such as in a retail space of a multi-story development, and not in the typical corner store+parking lot format. But obviously something like Whole Foods would be preferable.
Even downtown Norman has more than one small, local specialty grocer- Native Roots Market on Main and The Earth Foods (on Flood?). Certainly downtown Oklahoma City’s new population can support a small grocery store of some kind.
Maybe instead of going after national chains, the city and developers should be communicating with Sara Kaplan and Matt Runkle, owners of Native Roots in Norman, and seeing if they would be interested in opening a second branch in Oklahoma City.
Half a loaf is better than total starvation.
There is a new specialty store in downtown Norman, Native Roots, that is carrying a variety of Oklahoma produced foods. It’s still too early to know if their store works out, but there should be enough of a market to make it profitable.
I often pick up a few necessities at the 18th and Wester Homeland and of late I run into more and more Mesta Park and Heritage HIlls residents using the store as a result of improved selection. The store has added a nice specialty cheese section along with good choices of organic produce and dairy items. They now have about twenty feet of isle devoted to organic items available. With a little encouragement to management, it could become a very nice little neighborhood store.
Expanding the store 15′ to 20′ to the north, using up some of the always vacant parking area, would add about 25% bigger of floor area and still leave plenty of parking.
Downtown OKC needs a small store like City Grocers – a charming grocery store/deli, in a historic building, smack in the middle of downtown St. Louis. Visit it at 10th and Olive next time you’re there. It’s not a chain store, but is owned by a local developer who saw the need as he was restoring buildings for housing. Missouri liquor laws allow for a great import beer and wine selection.
I am looking for information on a old theater on NW 39 in the 2400 block, called the Log cabin theater, in the 30s and 40s, the name changed to Frontier theater around 1950, the theater burned down around 1953or54. I would like to find some pictures of it,
Ron
rwr5@cox.net
Downtown is going to have to have grocery in order to sustain what it has and to evolve into a true residential area. Residents will get tired of traveling to various parts of the city to pick up necessities. I feel like a small locally owned grocery store would be great. Keep with the local feel and not a big box retailer. The whole point of this is to gain an identity for downtown OKC, a locally owned store would be great for that. A Wal-greens or CVS would be great too but not to serve as the grocery outlet. I think having a drug store in the area will help with the local residents that want to walk or drive a short distance. The Walgreens or CVS would have to adapt to the architecture and fit into where they are building however. A typical looking one wouldn’t look right. There is still plenty of available land and old buildings downtown that can be used for all these. Retail must move forward for the area to continue to grow and become a tourist destination.
Definitely a small specialty grocery store, for several reasons.
First, how many restaurants do you think we can cram into downtown and still be able to support them all? Every time I look, it seems like a new one is proposed. Therefore, the Braum’s idea is out.
Second, Walgreens and CVS carry some grocery items, but they are so overpriced that it only makes sense to pick up something in a crunch.
Third, I just moved back to OKC from Portland, Ore. Specialty niche grocery stores like Trader Joes thrive there, and it becomes obvious why that is as soon as you walk inside. They offer items you won’t find in Homeland or Wal-Mart at competitive prices, and you can get everything you need for a meal in one trip.