A downtown developer recently asked what type of retail downtowners want to see in the lower level of the Candy Factory. Please go vote on Home | Urban Neighbors .

I really wouldn't mind seeing a scaled down CVS or Walgreens. Especially with more hotels, conventions, basketball tournaments, ect plus the addition of more people moving down there, I really think it would be a hit.

DEFINITELY a pharmacy as in CVS or Walgreens. This would be a great central location in the middle of the hotels and the residential. We need one BADLY.

o gawwwwd noooooooo! not a chain pharmacy. looooooocaaaaallll!

I'd love it to be local but it needs to have the same kind of selection (we could do w/out the photo lab) and be 24-hours or at least be open very late. I don't know of any local pharmacy like that anywhere in OKC.

A chain pharmacy would be a much bigger catalyst to further retail development as others potential tenants would look at it much more closely than a no-name local pharmacy would. There are already some local pharmacies around the medical center areas and there was one in the First National Center but yet most people don't know about them or could care less.

Sometimes chains are a necessary thing, just look at what Spaghetti Warehouse did for Bricktown.

I completely agree. Think of it as an anchor.

i was only poking fun at every one that says they hate chains and we need more local blah blah....i could care less what goes there, but thats just me.

I kinda thought that might be the case with the exaggerated words, I thought I would post up the reasons why a national chain would be a good thing anyway.

Steve's blog mentioned crossroads mall today and the stroes with month to month leases and maybe trying to get some of them to bricktown.... so i was thinking why not American Eagle?

I think we need another specialty boutique that caters to a very limited, very elite consumer base that will show how diverse, cultural and "urban" downtown OKC can be and which will shut down within 3 months of opening due to a complete lack of customers willing to pay 300% markup for something they can already get online.

I made this same suggestion in a thread a few weeks back and everybody pooped on it.

i no poop on you

Oh? I don't recall Firefly or Lit Clothing closing down. They're doing steady. And now Envy Collections just joined them. Now bring in the mainstream stores, American Eagle, Pac Sun, Urban Outfitters and I'll be good.

I think a magnet store like Restoration Hardware. Something on the upper end that is not in the rest of OKC.

Definitely a Walgreens! They have won several urban design awards and have some incredible urban locations.


Pittsburgh:



Columbus, Ohio (Under Construction):



New Orleans:



Walgreens would be dream for the Bricktown Design Committee. They would do it right.

Good idea and should work, but I believe Restoration Hardware is rumored to go in Classen Curve.

Its good to have hope, but I think we are no less than 5 years away from getting these national retailers to locate downtown. There just arent enough downtown residents yet.

If we do it right, we won't have to have "enough downtown residents yet", if a visionary could put a development in place that would allow tenants to cluster together, (a larger, and hopefully more tasteful version of the centennial) then we could easily support it by tourism and conventions given the proximity to Ford Center and COX Center as long as we get a good tenant mix. There are plenty of cities (some smaller) who have more downtown retail then we do and less downtown residents then we do, you can cater to other crowds such as conventioners and events fans and be successful without having to have tens of thousands of downtown residents (omaha and wichita come to mind).

And if it's national retailers that are unique to the metro, such as Urban Outfitters, Crate & Barrel, Anthropologie, etc, then locals will come from all over the city and surrounding areas.

Yes, some people would come from farther distances to shop at a store that has no other locations in the metro area. The problem though is that the retailers locate where the people already are, not where they hope they will drive to.

Not necessarily. It's called destination retail, or regional retail. When Quail Springs was built, it was built very much in ANTICIPATION of housing growth. Sound familiar?

Absolutely. People will drive across the state for Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

I hate to keep sounding negative, but if people will drive from all over to go to Anthropologie in downtown, they will also drive from all over if Anthropologie went in Penn Square. And which one would make the most sense for Anthropologie? Penn Square obviously would.

For big time retail to come to downtown, first there needs to be a collection of successful local, specialized retailers that create a small, yet thriving retail district. Then downtown might be able to catch the eye of national retailers