metro
09-27-2010, 08:01 AM
Retail refill
Planned restaurants, stores to counter downtown OKC vacancies
By April Wilkerson
Journal Record
OKLAHOMA CITY – Retail square footage in downtown Oklahoma City has declined somewhat in the last few years, but new stores and restaurants scheduled to open over the next year stand to send the number back up.
Contributing to the decline was the closure of three clothing stores in Bricktown – Lit, Firefly and Envy – but new tenants have been found for those spaces.
“Although we have had some vacancies and turnover, it seems like we’ve done a pretty good job of back-filling those spaces with some new concepts,” said Alison Oshel, director of community redevelopment for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Most of the new retail spaces scheduled to open later this year and next year are restaurants. Sammy’s Pizza is opening in Bricktown, and a new cupcake store, Pinkitzel, is scheduled to fill the space occupied by Envy in the Santa Fe train station, Oshel said. Hideaway Pizza will make its Automobile Alley debut next year, she said, along with Kamp’s 1910 Cafe. Midtown newcomers are Ludevine Restaurant and Kaiser’s American Bistro.
Non-restaurant retail space includes International Riders, a motorcycle rental store moving into the Bricktown space that was occupied by Firefly, Oshel said.
“That should go over very well with visitors who want to hop on a motorcycle,” she said.
In addition, the florist Floral and Hardy will open its second store on Oct. 1 in the Oklahoma Tower, said Tom Verploegen of Downtown OKC Inc.
Restaurants and services tend to lead the way toward other types of retail, Oshel said. Downtown has attracted a good mix of everything from fast-casual eateries to white-tablecloth dining, she said, and more hard- and soft-goods retailers should follow.
When the new stores open, retail will occupy nearly 200,000 square feet across downtown.
Rawhide, a high-end clothing and furniture store that opened earlier this year in Automobile Alley, is finding success after relocating from Norman, owner Angie Bailey said.
Bailey brought a customer base with her – people from across Oklahoma City, Edmond and Norman and other places – but her overall traffic has increased as well, she said.
“On Saturdays, we have couples and families come in who say it’s cool to come downtown,” she said. “We’re a destination store.”
Bailey said she looks forward to the opening of other Automobile Alley restaurants so that more of a walking corridor is created.
Although Bricktown lost some of its clothing retailers, the Red Dirt Marketplace filled 6,000 square feet this year. Jeannette Smith, executive director of the Bricktown Association, said the shops are doing well and offer a mix of items.
“The (marketplace) fills a niche that is much-needed in this area,” Smith said. “Retail is what most people say they’d like to see more of. There’s a lot of potential, and we’re a growing district. It takes a little time to find those right merchants.”
The recruitment of new retail to downtown involves many people. Verploegen, vice president of marketing and development at Downtown OKC Inc., said Project 180 – a downtown streetscaping project – will affect the timeline for new retail to look at downtown. But the organization is using this time to look at all properties for lease and sale and analyze what the area does and doesn’t have.
“We’re trying to get a comprehensive database so we know exactly what’s out there and what condition it’s in and who the players are so we’ll know what type of business we would be trying to recruit,” he said.
Oshel said shops with superior customer service also should have a good future downtown. Clothing stores like Teena Hicks and Nancy Farha have done well despite not being in prime retail space, she said.
“It speaks to the consumer attitude that we want good customer service, and both of those retailers have good customer service,” she said. “I think if we can get that kind of retailer downtown – also like Rawhide, which has a customer base and is all about customer service – I think that kind of retailer survives downtown. They need their own local customer following and, to some extent, they need to appeal to visitors because we have so many visitors downtown.”
Planned restaurants, stores to counter downtown OKC vacancies
By April Wilkerson
Journal Record
OKLAHOMA CITY – Retail square footage in downtown Oklahoma City has declined somewhat in the last few years, but new stores and restaurants scheduled to open over the next year stand to send the number back up.
Contributing to the decline was the closure of three clothing stores in Bricktown – Lit, Firefly and Envy – but new tenants have been found for those spaces.
“Although we have had some vacancies and turnover, it seems like we’ve done a pretty good job of back-filling those spaces with some new concepts,” said Alison Oshel, director of community redevelopment for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Most of the new retail spaces scheduled to open later this year and next year are restaurants. Sammy’s Pizza is opening in Bricktown, and a new cupcake store, Pinkitzel, is scheduled to fill the space occupied by Envy in the Santa Fe train station, Oshel said. Hideaway Pizza will make its Automobile Alley debut next year, she said, along with Kamp’s 1910 Cafe. Midtown newcomers are Ludevine Restaurant and Kaiser’s American Bistro.
Non-restaurant retail space includes International Riders, a motorcycle rental store moving into the Bricktown space that was occupied by Firefly, Oshel said.
“That should go over very well with visitors who want to hop on a motorcycle,” she said.
In addition, the florist Floral and Hardy will open its second store on Oct. 1 in the Oklahoma Tower, said Tom Verploegen of Downtown OKC Inc.
Restaurants and services tend to lead the way toward other types of retail, Oshel said. Downtown has attracted a good mix of everything from fast-casual eateries to white-tablecloth dining, she said, and more hard- and soft-goods retailers should follow.
When the new stores open, retail will occupy nearly 200,000 square feet across downtown.
Rawhide, a high-end clothing and furniture store that opened earlier this year in Automobile Alley, is finding success after relocating from Norman, owner Angie Bailey said.
Bailey brought a customer base with her – people from across Oklahoma City, Edmond and Norman and other places – but her overall traffic has increased as well, she said.
“On Saturdays, we have couples and families come in who say it’s cool to come downtown,” she said. “We’re a destination store.”
Bailey said she looks forward to the opening of other Automobile Alley restaurants so that more of a walking corridor is created.
Although Bricktown lost some of its clothing retailers, the Red Dirt Marketplace filled 6,000 square feet this year. Jeannette Smith, executive director of the Bricktown Association, said the shops are doing well and offer a mix of items.
“The (marketplace) fills a niche that is much-needed in this area,” Smith said. “Retail is what most people say they’d like to see more of. There’s a lot of potential, and we’re a growing district. It takes a little time to find those right merchants.”
The recruitment of new retail to downtown involves many people. Verploegen, vice president of marketing and development at Downtown OKC Inc., said Project 180 – a downtown streetscaping project – will affect the timeline for new retail to look at downtown. But the organization is using this time to look at all properties for lease and sale and analyze what the area does and doesn’t have.
“We’re trying to get a comprehensive database so we know exactly what’s out there and what condition it’s in and who the players are so we’ll know what type of business we would be trying to recruit,” he said.
Oshel said shops with superior customer service also should have a good future downtown. Clothing stores like Teena Hicks and Nancy Farha have done well despite not being in prime retail space, she said.
“It speaks to the consumer attitude that we want good customer service, and both of those retailers have good customer service,” she said. “I think if we can get that kind of retailer downtown – also like Rawhide, which has a customer base and is all about customer service – I think that kind of retailer survives downtown. They need their own local customer following and, to some extent, they need to appeal to visitors because we have so many visitors downtown.”