Penn Square Mall

[Shortsyeararound]

Yes - Williams Sonoma left after that sewer backed up. They left mid lease and could not open another location until the lease ran out. I can only imagine how bad that store smells now since the wood is still in place from the day it happened. It plagued that whole wing. Gap was shut down for a bit while they repaired and remodeled. Stores on the first level can always hear flushing/water running through pipes and some stores will have drip issues from above. Go down in the basement and you will hear and see the drips from the first floor pipes.

The roof has had leak issues for decades. When it rains, you will see bucket placements all over (the buckets are kept in the back hallways on standby).

[PhiAlpha]

Yes - Williams Sonoma left after that sewer backed up. They left mid lease and could not open another location until the lease ran out. I can only imagine how bad that store smells now since the wood is still in place from the day it happened. It plagued that whole wing. Gap was shut down for a bit while they repaired and remodeled. Stores on the first level can always hear flushing/water running through pipes and some stores will have drip issues from above. Go down in the basement and you will hear and see the drips from the first floor pipes.

The roof has had leak issues for decades. When it rains, you will see bucket placements all over (the buckets are kept in the back hallways on standby).

Yeah the part of the mall from the Men's Dillard's over to that wing smells a bit like a big fart from time to time. Not enough to avoid it but certainly enough for everyone in a group to look disgustedly around and play the blame game before realizing that it just smells that way.

[Dob Hooligan]

I was talking to a Rooter professional a few years ago and he was telling me about rooting at Penn Square the week before. He opined that there were some number of sewer lines from the original, single level, open air shopping center that were not of a size and configuration capable of the flow needed for the current set up and capacity.

[Rover]

I was talking to a Rooter professional a few years ago and he was telling me about rooting at Penn Square the week before. He opined that there were some number of sewer lines from the original, single level, open air shopping center that were not of a size and configuration capable of the flow needed for the current set up and capacity.

Are people just going to the mall more and flushing? Seems to me there aren’t more bathrooms, restaurants, etc than there has been the last 40 years there. What has increased the load? Is traffic much greater now? That goes against the narrative on here.

[Dob Hooligan]

Are people just going to the mall more and flushing? Seems to me there aren’t more bathrooms, restaurants, etc than there has been the last 40 years there. What has increased the load? Is traffic much greater now? That goes against the narrative on here.

I think the inference was that 60 year old lines are breaking down and failing on a more frequent basis. Some lines run straight under the retail store public spaces and should be dug p and replaced. Management is (understandably) reluctant to do that, so we get major backups that flood wood flooring. That causes tenants to not want to stay or renew.

[Rover]

I think the inference was that 60 year old lines are breaking down and failing on a more frequent basis. Some lines run straight under the retail store public spaces and should be dug p and replaced. Management is (understandably) reluctant to do that, so we get major backups that flood wood flooring. That causes tenants to not want to stay or renew.

He was referencing size and configuration of the system with current mall, not condition. That's why I asked the question. Didn't seem to be an issue until an incident a couple of years ago with a flooding, Didn't think it was a sewer backup.

[Shortsyeararound]

Water leak with sewage in it. Poop water.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...l/60589903007/

[Brett]

Water leak with sewage in it. Poop water.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...l/60589903007/

Above referenced article from Oklahoman is from 2017.

[Shortsyeararound]

Yes - that is when the major leak was from what has been discussed affecting that wing and it’s lingering smell.

Forgot to reply to above.

[Shortsyeararound]

Above referenced article from Oklahoman is from 2017.

Yes - that is when the major leak was from what has been discussed affecting that wing and it’s lingering smell.

[jn1780]

Water leak with sewage in it. Poop water.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...l/60589903007/

I'm no plumber so maybe someone can enlighten me, but back when this occurred I thought this was an underground water line break and that brownish red we saw was just dirt mixing in. How can they 'shut off' a sewer line?

I see youtube videos of people casually hanging out and watching, but wouldn't the smell be horrible and everyone would get the heck out there?

[Rover]

I'm no plumber so maybe someone can enlighten me, but back when this occurred I thought this was an underground water line break and that brownish red we saw was just dirt mixing in. How can they 'shut off' a sewer line?

I see youtube videos of people casually hanging out and watching, but wouldn't the smell be horrible and everyone would get the heck out there?

Hey, that wouldn't be nearly as good of a story if it was just a water line.

[Rover]

Water leak with sewage in it. Poop water.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...l/60589903007/

Where does it say sewer?

With sewage, it would have been a whole other level of clean-up.

With the amount of water, one would suspect a water main, or even the fire riser.

[Dob Hooligan]

Where does it say sewer?

With sewage, it would have been a whole other level of clean-up.

With the amount of water, one would suspect a water main, or even the fire riser.

I am confused. Are you saying it was sewage?

Saying it wasn't sewage?

Saying you need video to believe anything happened?

I am lost as to what your point is?

[jn1780]

I am confused. Are you saying it was sewage?

Saying it wasn't sewage?

Saying you need video to believe anything happened?

I am lost as to what your point is?

That flooding a few years ago looks more like a water break.

The sewage talk originated here: That was either a separate incident or there was a miscommunication.

Just came across the lawsuit where W&S sued the mall over sewer line problems -- it had nothing to do with the roof.

[Pete]

Can we please move on???

We don't need 10 pages talking about sewer and water issues from years ago.

[Soonerinfiniti]

Paramount Jeweler's moving into former Godiva space

[Bowser214]

Cool another Texas retailer new to market for Oklahoma!

[bombermwc]

Something I also noticed the last time I was there, was that a lot of the retailers closed quite a bit earlier than the actual mall close time. Department stores were at least an hour earlier. So instead of being able to walk through to my car, we had to walk around the department store (fyi, there was no sidewalk around that side of Penny's either) to get to the little lot between Pennys and Whiskey Cake. But we also noticed quite a few regular stores had their doors pulled down well before 9pm too.

To me, that normally indicates a feeling of lack of safety or theft protection in the last hours of the business night. Am I totally wrong?

[Rover]

Something I also noticed the last time I was there, was that a lot of the retailers closed quite a bit earlier than the actual mall close time. Department stores were at least an hour earlier. So instead of being able to walk through to my car, we had to walk around the department store (fyi, there was no sidewalk around that side of Penny's either) to get to the little lot between Pennys and Whiskey Cake. But we also noticed quite a few regular stores had their doors pulled down well before 9pm too.

To me, that normally indicates a feeling of lack of safety or theft protection in the last hours of the business night. Am I totally wrong?

Or that people just aren’t shopping much during the latter hours. No need to stay open if people aren’t spending money at that time.

[jn1780]

Something I also noticed the last time I was there, was that a lot of the retailers closed quite a bit earlier than the actual mall close time. Department stores were at least an hour earlier. So instead of being able to walk through to my car, we had to walk around the department store (fyi, there was no sidewalk around that side of Penny's either) to get to the little lot between Pennys and Whiskey Cake. But we also noticed quite a few regular stores had their doors pulled down well before 9pm too.

To me, that normally indicates a feeling of lack of safety or theft protection in the last hours of the business night. Am I totally wrong?

No, that indicates to me that there are still labor shortages and they are electing to close earlier in order to make it easier to staff the store at peak times.

[OkieBerto]

Something I also noticed the last time I was there, was that a lot of the retailers closed quite a bit earlier than the actual mall close time. Department stores were at least an hour earlier. So instead of being able to walk through to my car, we had to walk around the department store (fyi, there was no sidewalk around that side of Penny's either) to get to the little lot between Pennys and Whiskey Cake. But we also noticed quite a few regular stores had their doors pulled down well before 9pm too.

To me, that normally indicates a feeling of lack of safety or theft protection in the last hours of the business night. Am I totally wrong?

I noticed this when we went there for dinner one night. We walked around afterward and Dillard's was closing all its stuff up way before closing time. Seemed odd to me.

[Bill Robertson]

Seemed odd to me that they also open an hour after mall opening time.

We did make it to dress shop for my wife. Noticed that Dillards was absolutely fully stocked. However my wife found a dress she liked better at Macy's even though they 1/4 or more of the store is empty space. Felt kind of odd walking around Macy's.

[Pete]

I'm sure the early closures are due to staffing and the desire/need to only have to have one shift of personnel. This started during the pandemic.

If you open at 10 AM, unless you close by 6 or 7 PM you have to deal with a 2nd shift. The mall stays open until 8 PM; 9 on Fri & Sat and 6 on Sunday.

Currently, it's terribly hard to fill one shift let alone two or more.


BTW, when I lived in Southern Cal none of the malls stayed open that late, especially on the weekends. Now that many of them have more entertainment options (big theaters, more restaurants, other non-retail) the malls that survived have gradually expanded their hours but many of the pure retailers within have not.

[FighttheGoodFight]

I worked in the mall in the early 2000s at a fairly popular shoe store. We would open until 9pm but hardly sold anything after 7pm. Mostly just did stocking during those last few hours. Makes sense.