Target at SW 44 and S. Western

[BBatesokc]

The Target at SW 44 and S. Western is set to close for good in Aug.

Employees were notified in the last couple of days.

Too bad as that's pretty major retail for that area of town.

Employee I talked to blamed it on CVS taking over their pharmacy. No idea how accurate that is.

[Pete]

Aw, bummer!

I shop there quite a bit as it's actually the closest Target to downtown.

CVS bought all the Target pharmacies which gave Target a ton of money. Don't think that has anything to do with this.

[SomeGuy]

That's a shame because I actually shopped there more than the May Ave Target ( which is quite hectic on weekends). I hope the Ace hardware attached isn't affected by the closing.

[BBatesokc]

I shop there at least once a week. I've been going there so long a couple of employees give me a heads up via text when stuff I'm interested in goes on clearance - or is marked down even more.

[SouthSide]

What is the reason for closing? It is always busy.

[Pete]

I know the building was constructed in 1969...

Anyone remember if it was always Target?

[Bobby821]

I know the building was constructed in 1969...

Anyone remember if it was always Target?

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

[Bobby821]

If anyone finds out the reason for the closing please post it. As I recall this Target was remodeled not long ago, I wonder what will happen to the building? This all seems strange because there is not really another store of it's kind in this general area.

[Martin]

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

yep... this is correct. -M

[Martin]

if this location does go out, i really hope that something takes its place. my concern is that this isn't perceived as a prime area of the city and therefore the corner will sit vacant. -M

[SoonerDave]

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

It might actually have been more into the 70's, but I won't swear to it. Big, splashy grand opening with someone like Debbie Reynolds or Carol Channing as I recall, believe it or not. Big names back in that era, obviously.

Just another death knell for retail in that area. Can't fathom how much longer Sears will remain open; fully expect it to either be spirited away in the night by felons or simply boarded up by the company and going unnoticed for weeks...

For a location that still seemed to be reasonably busy, makes me wonder if they got some sort of offer on the land itself that was too good to pass up. No idea if Target owns that property or leases it. The hospital has always been eager to grab land in that area as it becomes available to expand their own campus - they eventually gobbled up most of the long-gone Reding Shopping Center years ago, and I vaguely recall some rumor of them having first option on the Sears land across the street should it ever actually go.

BTW, that location is *not* a Super Target. Never has been.

Makes me wonder if there are plans for another Target store somewhere between that location and the one way the heck south in Moore....used to be lots of rumors about one going in around SW 104th and I-44, but with Walmart going in there it may change the equation on that...

[Roger S]

if this location does go out, i really hope that something takes its place. my concern is that this isn't perceived as a prime area of the city and therefore the corner will sit vacant. -M

I don't drive this area much anymore since I moved to Moore several years ago.... Is that Sears across the street still operating?

[Martin]

I don't drive this area much anymore since I moved to Moore several years ago.... Is that Sears across the street still operating?

yes, as far as i know... i would've thought that it would go out before this target. -M

[Bobby821]

I have heard something undocumented as of yet, but supposedly the Wal-Mart at I-240 and Santa Fe will be closing and moving to the I-44 and 104th location. anyone else heard any rumors of this actually happening?

[SoonerDave]

I have heard something undocumented as of yet, but supposedly the Wal-Mart at I-240 and Santa Fe will be closing and moving to the I-44 and 104th location. anyone else heard any rumors of this actually happening?

Last story I heard was that WalMart was going to close it, but some leaders in the SE part of OKC got wind of it and begged them to keep it open. Don't know if the city was involved (officially or behind closed doors), but supposedly something persuaded them to keep it open. Take that for what it's worth. Zero claim to the story's veracity offered!

...however...

That puts three big WalMart stores within just a few minutes of each other...I-240 and Santa Fe, I-44 and SW 104th, and the I-35 location in Moore...and, if you stretch things a bit, there's also one down I-44 about five minutes in Newcastle....which is why OKC was so happy to get a WM at that 104th location - keeping people in that area from driving to the Newcastle location and sending sales tax dollars down there instead of OKC....

More broadly, however, I'm sure WM has some sort of magic saturation/density distance numbers in their head that governs their store placement, but I'd have to think that kind of density in a relatively small area is bound to be hitting that limit.

[SoonerDave]

I don't drive this area much anymore since I moved to Moore several years ago.... Is that Sears across the street still operating?

Yes, amazingly.

[Pete]

I can't believe that Sears is going to last much longer.

Monstrous parking lot that is virtually empty every time I go by.

[Martin]

It might actually have been more into the 70's, but I won't swear to it.

practically the 70's... i found an advert from 1969 (and maybe one from '68) that included the location. county assessor's site says that the location was built in '69. in the back of my mind, the place also did time as a 'dayton hudson' (same company) before it was branded as target but i may be wrong. -M

[baralheia]

Yes, the Sears at SW 44th and S Western is still operating. I'm extremely sad that this Target is closing, as it's only about a mile and a half from the house and I shop here on a regular basis. And yes, they did just recently add the grocery side within the last year or two. They never seem to be as busy as Walmart but they have done consistently steady business as far as I'm aware.

As far as the Ace Hardware - they appear to be leasing that space from Target, who owns the entire building according to county assessor's records.

I'm not going to lie - I hope they knock that building down and build a new Target store - hopefully a Super Target. I don't know if the parcel is big enough for a ST and it's associated parking lot, though.

[SoonerDave]

practically the 70's... i found an advert from 1969 (and maybe one from '68) that included the location. county assessor's site says that the location was built in '69. in the back of my mind, the place also did time as a 'dayton hudson' (same company) before it was branded as target but i may be wrong. -M

Nope - it transitioned from an Arlans directly to Target. As a kid I was fascinated (for unknown reasons) with that building and used to build scale models of it and tracked it as it transitioned...

[SoonerDave]

Yes, the Sears at SW 44th and S Western is still operating. I'm extremely sad that this Target is closing, as it's only about a mile and a half from the house and I shop here on a regular basis. And yes, they did just recently add the grocery side within the last year or two. They never seem to be as busy as Walmart but they have done consistently steady business as far as I'm aware.

As far as the Ace Hardware - they appear to be leasing that space from Target, who owns the entire building according to county assessor's records.

I'm not going to lie - I hope they knock that building down and build a new Target store - hopefully a Super Target. I don't know if the parcel is big enough for a ST and it's associated parking lot, though.

That Ace space used to be a grocery store. When the Target first opened, it was a partitioned space, but it was the "Target Grocery Store" as I recall. I also think the old local "Humpty Dumpty" chain operated it for a while - and my fuzzy memory is recalling that it was Humpty Dumpty first, they "lost their lease," and then it became the "Target Grocery." Much later, they shuttered the space for some time and left it vacant, then the hardware store went in.

Since they own that building, I've got to believe they got some sort of mad offer for the land. I'd be really surprised if they razed the building just to put up a Super Target in the same spot. The key, it seems to me, would be if the Ace Hardware stays in business. If they suddenly go out, that would tell me the building was going to go. They have built some new retail outparcels there, with the bank and the cellphone store, so maybe there's some sort of long-term development plan at hand...

[BlackmoreRulz]

It was Arlan's in the 60's I believe

I thought that it opened up as a 'Trade Mart". We lived in a house (no longer there) at 48th and Western, my parents won a dishwasher in their grand opening drawing, huge noisy thing that you had to hook up to the kitchen faucet.

[Pete]

http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r...arget-to-close

[Martin]

I thought that it opened up as a 'Trade Mart". We lived in a house (no longer there) at 48th and Western, my parents won a dishwasher in their grand opening drawing, huge noisy thing that you had to hook up to the kitchen faucet.

i believe that trade mart was at i-240 & shields. -M

[SoonerDave]

I thought that it opened up as a 'Trade Mart". We lived in a house (no longer there) at 48th and Western, my parents won a dishwasher in their grand opening drawing, huge noisy thing that you had to hook up to the kitchen faucet.

Nope. TradeMart opened up over at what is now the Walnut Square Shopping Center along SW 74th on the west side of Penn. When TradeMart closed in the early 70's, Service Merchandise took its place and was there for the duration until that chain went bankrupt (sadly), and that space now holds BigLots...quite a departure from Service Merchandise