Whole Foods in south Tulsa??? (Jenks, Kansas: transplants, sales, neighborhood)

[kyle450rider]

I hear rumors that South Tulsa might get a Whole Foods store. Does anyone know of such a thing?

[Bill236c]

I don't know about a new Whole Foods, but developers announced that Green Acres Market, a Kansas City-based natural food store chain, will open its third location within the Village on Main neighborhood center. Village on Main is the mixed-use development under way near the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. I read that the 12,000-square-foot store is planned to open by the end of this year.

Also, I read that the new shopping area at 81st off Hwy 75 (just north of Tulsa Hills called The Walk) is apparently getting a store called Earth Fare, Sunflower Farmers Market, or else Trader Joes.

[kyle450rider]

Originally Posted by Bill236c

I don't know about a new Whole Foods, but developers announced that Green Acres Market, a Kansas City-based natural food store chain, will open its third location within the Village on Main neighborhood center. Village on Main is the mixed-use development under way near the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks. I read that the 12,000-square-foot store is planned to open by the end of this year.

Also, I read that the new shopping area at 81st off Hwy 75 (just north of Tulsa Hills called The Walk) is apparently getting a store called Earth Fare, Sunflower Farmers Market, or else Trader Joes.

Hey thanks for the reply! I'm in jenks so either place that gets a store will work for me. It would be really cool if we got a trader joes out on HWY75.

[Bill236c]

Originally Posted by kyle450rider

Hey thanks for the reply! I'm in jenks so either place that gets a store will work for me. It would be really cool if we got a trader joes out on HWY75.

Oops, I meant to say The Walk shopping area will be south of Tulsa Hills, not north.

[e_cuyler]

Doubt if OK will ever see Trader Joe's, their distribution system is set up to where they only expand within a certain radius of their current locations. I assume things wouldn't work financially if they opened a store way out of their existing network.

[flyingcat2k]

You will never, ever see a Trader Joes in Oklahoma due to the liquor laws. Trader Joes makes too much money off the sale of full strength beer and wine. Without grocery stores being able to sell that, they will NEVER move into a market. Colorado allows some grocery stores to sell full strength beer and wine (1 out of 10 stores in the state) and Trader Joes still has not moved there.

Yes, I was told at the Plano Costco, of all places, that Whole Foods wants to build two more stores in South Tulsa. I think Costco wants to move into Oklahoma, with Tulsa as the first location, but will not do so without the full strength beer and wine.

Take it with a grain of salt but with people regularly driving 90 miles from OKC to shop at Whole Paycheck here, it has a lot of upscale grocery market/shopping/wholesale chains sniffing around. Akins is probably sweating a little. I personally like them but they don't do a lot to improve their visibility and some of the prices are lower than Whole Foods.

[okcpulse]

Originally Posted by flyingcat2k

You will never, ever see a Trader Joes in Oklahoma due to the liquor laws. Trader Joes makes too much money off the sale of full strength beer and wine. Without grocery stores being able to sell that, they will NEVER move into a market. Colorado allows some grocery stores to sell full strength beer and wine (1 out of 10 stores in the state) and Trader Joes still has not moved there.

Yes, I was told at the Plano Costco, of all places, that Whole Foods wants to build two more stores in South Tulsa. I think Costco wants to move into Oklahoma, with Tulsa as the first location, but will not do so without the full strength beer and wine.

Take it with a grain of salt but with people regularly driving 90 miles from OKC to shop at Whole Paycheck here, it has a lot of upscale grocery market/shopping/wholesale chains sniffing around. Akins is probably sweating a little. I personally like them but they don't do a lot to improve their visibility and some of the prices are lower than Whole Foods.

Very, very bad assumption. Trader Joes has locations in the following states with the following liquor laws...

Minnesota (3.2 beer)
Kansas-opening soon (3.2 beer)
New Jersey (no alchohol sales outside liquor stores in certain counties)
Massachusetts (no alchohol sales outside liquor stores in certain counties)
Maryland (no alchohol sales outside liquor stores in certain counties)
Maryland (no alchohol sales outside liquor stores)
Kentucky (full strength beer only)
New York (full strength beer only)
Pennsylvania (full strength beer only - minimum in cases)
Tennessee (full strength beer only)


Trader Joes Stores that do not carry alcohol period are located in...

Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island

Care to recant? DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

And let's rememnber Whole Foods is opening a location in OKC this fall.

[okcpulse]

Originally Posted by e_cuyler

Doubt if OK will ever see Trader Joe's, their distribution system is set up to where they only expand within a certain radius of their current locations. I assume things wouldn't work financially if they opened a store way out of their existing network.

Ever seen their store listings? Pretty jumpy to support your post.

[e_cuyler]

I don't really see any store listings where they have a single store that is extremely far from any other stores. They are moving into Kansas and are in Missouri already so that may bode well for Tulsa. I was not aware they had moved as close as they have. When we were looking at a possible Northwest relocation we noticed that there were some cities that did not have Trader Joe's despite a lot of local interest, the reason people were given is that they were too out of the way and didn't fit well into the distribution network.

Is there a lot of interest in Trader Joe's in Tulsa? Usually what brings it on are a lot of California or other transplants from areas where they have a foothold. I like them because they are pretty affordable but have a lot of variety, and have a lot of good store brand products.

As far as the liquor laws, if Whole Foods manages to operate in OK despite the liquor laws, there's no reason Trader Joe's couldn't.

[Bill236c]

Originally Posted by e_cuyler

As far as the liquor laws, if Whole Foods manages to operate in OK despite the liquor laws, there's no reason Trader Joe's couldn't.

I'll drink to that!