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I had a part-time job at TG&Y when I was a senior in high school. It was not a grocery store like Safeway. It was a variety store much like Wal-Mart used to be before they added groceries. When Wal-Mart came to town, TG&Y didn't last long.
The TG&Y where I worked sat right next to a Humpty Dumpty grocery store, if you can remember those. I thought that was a funny name for a store, but we shopped there when I was a kid. Later I would movie to Texas for a while and shopped at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store there. Another funny name, but a pioneer in changing how grocery stores work. They were the first to provide self service shopping with open shelves and self service. Before that, everybody just gave their list to a clerk who gathered all the stuff for them.
Piggly Wiggly still exists and has hundreds of stores, mostly in the South. I'm not sure about Humpty Dumpty. Looks like they are pretty much gone. Even so, you can thank Sylvan N. Goldman the owner of Humpty Dumpty supermarkets for the invention of the shopping cart. He invented it in 1937. The place, well right there in Oklahoma City. The very place that everyone is complaining about lack of good shopping experiences was the place that made shopping as you know it possible.
TG&Y and Safeway were never related that I can recall. TG&Y and Safeway were nothing alike, TG&Y was more like OTASCO. Safeway’s aren’t all that great anyway, I was in one just 6-8 months ago in San Francisco right on the bay and it was pretty crappy.
Homeland is a bad store, I’ve never really noticed the prices. Homeland and Albertson’s dominated the Tulsa market up until about 10-15 years ago, I usually went to Albertson’s. The Homeland stores had formerly been Safeway and Albertson’s was Skaggs Alpha Beta, then Skaggs Albertson’s and then just Albertson’s. It’s been a couple of years since I was in a Homeland, I’m sure they aren’t any better. They’ve been getting worse for a very long time.
I haven’t been in a Buy for Less since I lived in Oklahoma City, it was hands down the worst grocery store I’ve ever been in and I have no reason to ever go back. They are quite a bit worse than Wal-Mart, in fact it’s actually worse than the Warehouse Market chain in Tulsa, which is saying something.
I remember Humpty Dumpty stores. There was a Piggly Wiggly in McAlester within the last 10 years. It was an ok store.
Tulsa feels a bit more "urban" and less stripmallish suburbish endless sprawl. There are cities that are under 500k metros that are doing way better than OKC in this area. Reasors would be nice. I hate how OKC is Walmart dominated. I have never been to a city of such size with such crappy markets. Things have changed a lot, but they have a loooooong ways to go. I really wish Costco and Trader Joe's looked into our state. As always, I'm sure Tulsa will get the first if they ever came. It's ironic that the Oklahomans that say they need the liquor laws to stay to keep local businesses in, also support a corporate regime dominated Walmart chain that has saturated our metro. I hope The Fresh Market opens a store in OKC. Lots of wishful thinking.
I had no idea that Safeway had stores here. Look at the safeways today. They are pretty good markets now.
I agree with you.
One of my top gripes about OKC is the Wal-Mart domination and lack of quality grocery stores. There really isn't any other major city that has it quite as bad as OKC does. OKC was a test market for Wal-Mart to see how much of the grocery market they could capture as well as run out all the competition. They have just about succeeded. OKCitians are quick to blame the liquor laws, but I would only blame them if Tulsa had the same problem but they don't.
As for Costco, I have heard they are currently scouting if not committed to a Tulsa location. If that does well, they will open in OKC.
OKC doesn't have great groceries stores. I've just tried Crest and like it WAY better than Homeland. The good news -- OKC is so much better than Louisiana. The stores there were just the worst - no produce, dirty, lack of variety (BUT they all have great liquor selections). The preference in La is for small mom-and-pop stores and produce stands. Texas, however, had the very very best with HEB and Central Market. I would pay a premium to have HEB here -- along with real beer and wine sales in the grocery.
TG&Y and Safeway were never related that I can recall. TG&Y and Safeway were nothing alike, TG&Y was more like OTASCO. Safeway’s aren’t all that great anyway, I was in one just 6-8 months ago in San Francisco right on the bay and it was pretty crappy.
Homeland is a bad store, I’ve never really noticed the prices. Homeland and Albertson’s dominated the Tulsa market up until about 10-15 years ago, I usually went to Albertson’s. The Homeland stores had formerly been Safeway and Albertson’s was Skaggs Alpha Beta, then Skaggs Albertson’s and then just Albertson’s. It’s been a couple of years since I was in a Homeland, I’m sure they aren’t any better. They’ve been getting worse for a very long time.
I haven’t been in a Buy for Less since I lived in Oklahoma City, it was hands down the worst grocery store I’ve ever been in and I have no reason to ever go back. They are quite a bit worse than Wal-Mart, in fact it’s actually worse than the Warehouse Market chain in Tulsa, which is saying something.
I remember Humpty Dumpty stores. There was a Piggly Wiggly in McAlester within the last 10 years. It was an ok store.
Must have been a bad Safeway. They are redoing most Safeways especially in the more upscale areas. They are making some sort of effort to look upscale. When I lived in the Bay Area, the one I shopped at looked more like this image.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bchris02
I agree with you.
One of my top gripes about OKC is the Wal-Mart domination and lack of quality grocery stores. There really isn't any other major city that has it quite as bad as OKC does. OKC was a test market for Wal-Mart to see how much of the grocery market they could capture as well as run out all the competition. They have just about succeeded. OKCitians are quick to blame the liquor laws, but I would only blame them if Tulsa had the same problem but they don't.
As for Costco, I have heard they are currently scouting if not committed to a Tulsa location. If that does well, they will open in OKC.
True, but I say our strict liquor laws deter businesses that sell a lot of wine. Costco has most of their sales in wine. Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and higher end grocery chains do. Obviously, those laws don't completely deter away businesses. Whole Foods came in and they have been very successful. They totally skipped over us. KC and then DFW haha. At least things are looking up. Five years ago, it was a bit worse than it is today. The thing about Tulsa vs OKC is that they are very different cities. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but that might be one of the reasons more upscale grocery chains invested in the Tulsa market instead of OKC. I just cant take another crapland.
My hope is that one day OKC no longer has to compete with (and lose out to) Tulsa. Nothing against Tulsa but OKC is a good deal larger and is growing a lot faster. The demographics of Tulsa are slightly more favorable but that gap is narrowing and there is absolutely no reason if something is successful there it can't also work in OKC. Tulsa had Whole Foods several years before OKC finally got one, and they only came here because of crazy incentives from Chesapeake. Tulsa on the other hand now has a second store.
It might be interesting to try and identify exactly what it is that you believe OKC grocery stores are missing. I don't mean which companies are not represented. I mean, what is it that you don't like about the local stores? If I were to describe what I think most people are looking for in a good grocery store, it would probably be variety, quality, freshness, cleanliness, service, and prices. I personally don't think it matters much about how pretty the building is. I know it is more pleasing to the senses to shop in an "upscale" store, but that usually means higher prices. I guess that is why Wal-Mart does so well. A lot of people make price their biggest priority. Now, Wal-Mart doesn't dominate on prices in every category, but for a lot of products, it's hard to beat them.
So, what is most important to you: variety, quality, freshness, cleanliness, service, or prices? I know most people want all of these things, but which is the top priority?
For my family, it is price. We shop several stores in order to get the best prices on as many products as possible. Things like coupon policies also play heavily into our shopping habits.
It might be interesting to try and identify exactly what it is that you believe OKC grocery stores are missing. I don't mean which companies are not represented. I mean, what is it that you don't like about the local stores? If I were to describe what I think most people are looking for in a good grocery store, it would probably be variety, quality, freshness, cleanliness, service, and prices. I personally don't think it matters much about how pretty the building is. I know it is more pleasing to the senses to shop in an "upscale" store, but that usually means higher prices. I guess that is why Wal-Mart does so well. A lot of people make price their biggest priority. Now, Wal-Mart doesn't dominate on prices in every category, but for a lot of products, it's hard to beat them.
So, what is most important to you: variety, quality, freshness, cleanliness, service, or prices? I know most people want all of these things, but which is the top priority?
For my family, it is price. We shop several stores in order to get the best prices on as many products as possible. Things like coupon policies also play heavily into our shopping habits.
Wal-Mart is simply lacking in selection and are always understaffed. I get angry every time I have to shop there.
The Crest Fresh Market on SW 104th hits the sweet spot on all the areas you mentioned. It has variety, quality, freshness, cleanliness, service, and good prices, and it doesn't look straight out of the 1980s and smell of rotting food like so many Homelands do. That is the type of store that is standard in any other city. OKC only has one. I would gladly pay a few cents more to not have to deal with Wal-Mart and I'm sure I am not the only person who feels that way.
When you are used to stores like Harris Teeter, Kroger, Publix, etc, Wal-Mart isn't an adequate replacement.
Just so that you are aware, bchris02, Tulsa's original Whole Foods was a Wild Oats, then Whole Foods bought the chain, so naturally Tulsa got a store.
What amazes me about the marketing department of major popular retailers is that they do not learn from history. I will give three examples...
First (but not such a top) example is Starbucks Coffee. They were reluctant to enter the Oklahoma City market with their stand-alone locations, leaving OKC with only the coffee kiosks in supermarkets. In 2002, they opened their first OKC location on Memorial and Penn. Based on their projected sales, they only planned two or three additional OKC locations. When sales far exceeded their expectations, well, the rest is history.
Second example is Whole Foods. For years Whole Foods was reluctant to enter the OKC market. The OKC location as far exceeded the sales that Whole Foods was expecting.
Third example was Anthropologie. Once again, the store has outperformed the company's expectations. And finally, the outlet mall has been so successful that they are now in their third expansion phase. There is a trend here, and stores like Costco, Urban Outfitters, The Container Store, etc are not catching on.
Just so that you are aware, bchris02, Tulsa's original Whole Foods was a Wild Oats, then Whole Foods bought the chain, so naturally Tulsa got a store.
What amazes me about the marketing department of major popular retailers is that they do not learn from history. I will give three examples...
First (but not such a top) example is Starbucks Coffee. They were reluctant to enter the Oklahoma City market with their stand-alone locations, leaving OKC with only the coffee kiosks in supermarkets. In 2002, they opened their first OKC location on Memorial and Penn. Based on their projected sales, they only planned two or three additional OKC locations. When sales far exceeded their expectations, well, the rest is history.
Second example is Whole Foods. For years Whole Foods was reluctant to enter the OKC market. The OKC location as far exceeded the sales that Whole Foods was expecting.
Third example was Anthropologie. Once again, the store has outperformed the company's expectations. And finally, the outlet mall has been so successful that they are now in their third expansion phase. There is a trend here, and stores like Costco, Urban Outfitters, The Container Store, etc are not catching on.
While what you say is true, it doesn't change the reality of the situation. The truth is quality retailers, grocery or otherwise, see Tulsa as a far more attractive market than OKC. Therefore OKC always gets a short end of the stick. I am not sure if its just laziness by their marketing departments or if they see OKCitians as a bunch of yokels who won't support anything better than Wal-Mart, but its the way it is today. Hopefully one day it will change. A lot of great things are happening in OKC and hopefully some national retailers coveted here will take notice.
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