Why are there no quality grocery stores in OKC? (Oklahoma City: motel, houses)

[bawac34618]

Originally Posted by wxjay

I don't see the issue with the location, especially as an introduction into the Oklahoma market. I see expansion into Tulsa and Norman if this takes off.

Trader Joe's is opening in Tulsa first. That will be their introductory store in Oklahoma. The OKC location will follow in 2016 or 2017.

Trader Joe's confirms plans to build store in Tulsa's Brookside - Tulsa World: Local

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by wxjay

Trader Joe's is not an expensive grocery store - on the contrary, they bill themselves as more "affordable" and bank on the novelty and uniqueness of their stores and products. IMO, the store is good for snacks, pre-pacakged foods, and frozen foods. Their produce and meat selection are just OK to even slightly below average though.

I assume the $3-buck Chuck won't be part of the store, though.

I don't see the issue with the location, especially as an introduction into the Oklahoma market. I see expansion into Tulsa and Norman if this takes off.

Exactly. Trader Joe's has figured out a great pricing approach for many items and it has really hurt its competitor, Whole Foods. They ran an article on this recently.

[pnwguy2]

Sorry if I missed this, but when I lived in OKC in the mid-80's, groceries could only sell low-alcohol beer. Has this changed?

[bawac34618]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Sorry if I missed this, but when I lived in OKC in the mid-80's, groceries could only sell low-alcohol beer. Has this changed?

Nope. Grocery stores can still only sell 3.2 beer. There is currently an effort to get it changed but I'll believe it when I see it. They've tried for decades but the alliance between the liquor stores and the Baptists keep it from happening.

[pnwguy2]

Interesting. Thanks for responding.

[Zachj7]

I like how Trader Joes and Costco are opening in Tulsa firs before OKC... Classic...

[bawac34618]

Originally Posted by Zachj7

I like how Trader Joes and Costco are opening in Tulsa firs before OKC... Classic...

It's a classic example of OKC punching below its weight. Unbelievable that a metropolitan area that is 30% larger than Tulsa, that is the state capital, and that is double the growth rate continually plays second fiddle to its smaller sibling up the turnpike. It is what it is though.

[wxjay]

Based on the latest statistics, it would appear that the prevailing plan of "Tulsa, then OKC" for retail may be changing, especially since median income, income distirbution, and education levels are all on the rise in the OKC metro area demographics. Tulsa, by contrast, seems to have "stalled" in those aspects, and its population growth is quite low.

[flyingcat2k]

Don't believe the OKCtalk homers. Here's the most recent census data using the past 5 years. Since OKC is twice the geographical size of the City of Tulsa, I think County v. County would be a better mark.

Maybe it's just me but Tulsa is growing a little slower because we have fewer people moving here, not because of a lower birth rate. It also has more wealth but not higher property prices which means more disposable income for the average person. Retail stores like to go where there is disposable income and a retail sector not dominated by Wal-mart.

Oklahoma County had a median household income of $45,215, slightly below the state average of $45,339.
Oklahoma County's percentile living below poverty is 18.5% vs. a state average of 16.9%.
Oklahoma County's percentile growth rate is 6.6%
Oklahoma County's percentile under the age of 5 is 7.8% (good measure of birth rate in pop. growth)

Tulsa County had a median household income of $48,181.
Tulsa County's percentile living below poverty is 15.9% vs. a state average of 16.9%.
Tulsa County's percentile growth rate is 4.3%
Tulsa County's percentile under the age of 5 is 7.4%.

Oklahoma County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Tulsa County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau

[wxjay]

Why are showing statistics by county? That doesn't make much sense. Retailers and industries don't care about county borders - they care much more about metropolitan areas and/or cities themselves. Is there a link to similar data for the Tulsa and Oklahoma City MSAs?