BC Clark

[HOT ROD]

Nor Vancouver, nor Seattle. Downtown shopping is bigger than ever (especially in Vancouver)!

I think shopping in Downtown OKC iwll be a hit bit it will need the following all at once:

1) PROMOTION - and I don't just mean one store but a full on slot of Downtown Oklahoma City ads on TV, radio, and social media. Downtown Seattle did this (minus the social media) in the 1990s and really helped establish it as a destination. Especially considering OKC would be the only city in the region as a retail destination; would make it easy to market downtown OKC to other cities not just our metro. Eventually the idea of shopping downtown becomes a prize just as it feels when one thinks of shopping in Downtown Chicago.

OKC should only market downtown though once ...

2) FILL STOREFRONTS - storefronts along Park Avenue, Broadway, and adjoining streets need retail anchors. There needs to be choices, say if OKC did get a large flagship that there could be tertiary shopping nearby. Must take advantage of having a captive audience so there must be stores open all at once not just organically like we have today (one here, one there but no critical mass).

To make this truly a success there needs to be ....

3) SUBSIDY - OKC may need to have someone with deep pockets (and/or the city) to spot businesses for a few years. Perhaps building owners could make lease rates with introductory or a reduced period based on sales then at market once the businesses are mature.

The final key to downtown retail is ...

4) TRANSPORTATION - OKC already has the office workers and entertainment downtown but we don't really have transportation resolved. We have parking garages and we have buses and the streetcar - but the transit needs to get worked out AND the parking might need to come up with offers for people to park free validated with receipt. The obvious target is the suburban household so downtown needs to accommodate them via transit (commuter bus/rail + streetcar) and parking.

If OKC can accomplish these 4 issues then we will have hugely successful downtown shopping. There may need to be a probationary period of 2-4 years where we groom everything together and have introductory/reduced rates - but if we can land stores having them all open together promoting downtown as a retail destination and providing transit to and parking within downtown - OKC will be just as successful per capita as city's I live/visited with strong downtowns.

[jonny d]

Nor Vancouver, nor Seattle. Downtown shopping is bigger than ever (especially in Vancouver)!

I think shopping in Downtown OKC iwll be a hit bit it will need the following all at once:

1) PROMOTION - and I don't just mean one store but a full on slot of Downtown Oklahoma City ads on TV, radio, and social media. Downtown Seattle did this (minus the social media) in the 1990s and really helped establish it as a destination. Especially considering OKC would be the only city in the region as a retail destination; would make it easy to market downtown OKC to other cities not just our metro. Eventually the idea of shopping downtown becomes a prize just as it feels when one thinks of shopping in Downtown Chicago.

OKC should only market downtown though once ...

2) FILL STOREFRONTS - storefronts along Park Avenue, Broadway, and adjoining streets need retail anchors. There needs to be choices, say if OKC did get a large flagship that there could be tertiary shopping nearby. Must take advantage of having a captive audience so there must be stores open all at once not just organically like we have today (one here, one there but no critical mass).

To make this truly a success there needs to be ....

3) SUBSIDY - OKC may need to have someone with deep pockets (and/or the city) to spot businesses for a few years. Perhaps building owners could make lease rates with introductory or a reduced period based on sales then at market once the businesses are mature.

The final key to downtown retail is ...

4) TRANSPORTATION - OKC already has the office workers and entertainment downtown but we don't really have transportation resolved. We have parking garages and we have buses and the streetcar - but the transit needs to get worked out AND the parking might need to come up with offers for people to park free validated with receipt. The obvious target is the suburban household so downtown needs to accommodate them via transit (commuter bus/rail + streetcar) and parking.

If OKC can accomplish these 4 issues then we will have hugely successful downtown shopping. There may need to be a probationary period of 2-4 years where we groom everything together and have introductory/reduced rates - but if we can land stores having them all open together promoting downtown as a retail destination and providing transit to and parking within downtown - OKC will be just as successful per capita as city's I live/visited with strong downtowns.

All forgetting one thing - OKC dies after 6pm downtown. Hardly anyone lives there. WE can't even get a CVS or Walgreens down there. Gotta have butts down there in order to shop, and OKC doesn't. I would say incentivize people to build downtown, then have them add about as many units as those other mega cities you mentioned have (aside from SLC, which had help from the LDS), then yes, OKC can have downtown shopping like them. A lot of brick and mortar stores aren't in speculative mode right now, and willing to take a chance on a store in DT OKC, even with funding from the city. Maybe I will be proven wrong, and will eat crow, but I don't see it.

[Rover]

I would like to see a Nordstrom and some otheor retailers open up down on Park Avenue in DT. Just having more shopping around DT so I don't have to drive to different places during holiday shopping would be nice.

Full Nordstrom’s here is a pipe dream. We MIGHT score a Nordstrom’s Local. They are testing it now in the US. It’s about the size of a Starbucks.

[Pete]

The building permit has been issued and work should start soon on their new Classen Curve store.

Note the 2nd floor has a wine bar.

[Pete]

Work has started.

[Pete]

[Mel]

The Bird Poop under the Trees and on the Sidewalks are a bummer.

[mugofbeer]

Full Nordstrom’s here is a pipe dream. We MIGHT score a Nordstrom’s Local. They are testing it now in the US. It’s about the size of a Starbucks.

Until the brick and morter conditions improve greatly, Nordy won't build anything more than a Rack store in OKC. Between the extraordinary costs of their flagship NYC store and the catastrophe of their San Juan, PR store, Nordy is rather overextended.

There is also the important issue of their prices. Does OKC really have enough people willing to pay at Nordstroms price level?

[HOT ROD]

OKC already has a Nordstrom Local: Nordstrom Rack.

[HOT ROD]

Nordstroms price level? come on mug. ....

it's just an upper end department store not a full blown Louis Vuitton. I'm sure OKC has more than enough people to pay at "Nordstrom's price level". My goodness, countless many smaller and far less GDP cities have Nordstrom, sister city Tulsa has a Saks for christs sake (Saks is higher than Nordstrom btw).

and there are only 3 or 4 that perform at the highest price points, in order: Vancouver, Chicago, Seattle Bellevue. And even then it's mostly tourists (from China) that buy the most expensive things in the stores.

Im perfectly sure OKC could support a full blown Nordstrom, whether they want to invest/bring one - OAK may represent the best shot or perhaps a development downtown. I seriously doubt they will come to Penn or Quail, those days (mall expansion) are long gone. OKC could have had a chance at that offering incentives back B.A. (before Amazon - Yes, Amazon is Nordstrom's biggest competitor).

There honestly isn't much in Nordstrom higher priced than Dillards or some other mainstream store anyway. Nordstrom just tends to buy from higher quality vendors and their real high end market is those who want the customer experience not necessarily just the clothes. Speaking from a former Nordstrom Corporate employee (btw).

[jonny d]

Nordstroms price level? come on mug. ....

it's just an upper end department store not a full blown Louis Vuitton. I'm sure OKC has more than enough people to pay at "Nordstrom's price level". My goodness, countless many smaller and far less GDP cities have Nordstrom, sister city Tulsa has a Saks for christs sake (Saks is higher than Nordstrom btw).

and there are only 3 or 4 that perform at the highest price points, in order: Vancouver, Chicago, Seattle Bellevue. And even then it's mostly tourists (from China) that buy the most expensive things in the stores.

Im perfectly sure OKC could support a full blown Nordstrom, whether they want to invest/bring one - OAK may represent the best shot or perhaps a development downtown. I seriously doubt they will come to Penn or Quail, those days (mall expansion) are long gone. OKC could have had a chance at that offering incentives back B.A. (before Amazon - Yes, Amazon is Nordstrom's biggest competitor).

There honestly isn't much in Nordstrom higher priced than Dillards or some other mainstream store anyway. Nordstrom just tends to buy from higher quality vendors and their real high end market is those who want the customer experience not necessarily just the clothes. Speaking from a former Nordstrom Corporate employee (btw).

The Penn Square Dillards are among the nicest in the chain (both the womens and mens/home stores). They have some similar brands to Nordstrom. They are not Nordstrom, of course, but Dillards has a Creed perfume sales area, and it sells well (think $400/bottle EDPs). They are top of the line stores for OKC and for Dillards, as a whole. I think OKC could support a Nordstrom, just not sure there is an area they could go, unless JcPenney decides to close the Penn store (or Macys).

[Pete]

[Pete]

They are moving fast now, still planning a Fall opening.

[Pete]

They should be open in the next few weeks. Gorgeous store:

[Pete]

They are now open in their new location:

[Pete]

Here are some more photos from a press release:

[OkiePoke]

Wow, that looks really nice!

[Richard at Remax]

Not to be debbie downer here, but is anyone really THAT excited about this. I was hoping that they would push for a more national brand in such a promenade space. A crate and barrel here would have killed it. I guess if BC is gonna fork over the $$$ and invest in the space then it was probably hard to say no.

[Pete]

They had courted Restoration Hardware for one of their Gallery stores, but they couldn't make the deal work.

[Richard at Remax]

Oh man don't tell me that

[Pete]

Oh man don't tell me that

They were also looking hard at The Oak (you can see their building in some of the renderings - surprised nobody noticed it) and Chisholm Creek.

I suspect they won't be doing any more of these stores for a while.

[Brett]

I may not watch much television but has anybody heard the BC Clark jingle yet this year?

[HangryHippo]

I may not watch much television but has anybody heard the BC Clark jingle yet this year?

Several times on the radio and twice on TV.

[Ward]

I may not watch much television but has anybody heard the BC Clark jingle yet this year?

I have some far flung family and now with YouTube they can hear it any time they wish.

There are tons of YouTube videos of the BC Clark jingle, including one of the history of BC Clark, the person, and the history of the jingle commercial.

Here is one that always makes me smile, Actress Megan Mullally on the Tonight Show singing it.

[mgharfeh]

They were also looking hard at The Oak (you can see their building in some of the renderings - surprised nobody noticed it) and Chisholm Creek.

I suspect they won't be doing any more of these stores for a while.

I noticed it in both renderings, in Chisholm Creek by the hotel. Also the Trader Joe’s, Eatzi’s and True Foods Kitchen. None of which have come to fruition unfortunately. Do you know if any of them are in the works??