What’s ahead?
Readers had questions about the future of Plaza Mayor, Quail Springs and Penn Square malls during this month’s installment of Jack Money’s Retail Chat.
Readers asked what was coming for a closed mall, an ongoing commercial project and other retail establishments during October’s Retail Chat held by Jack Money on NewsOK.com. Here’s a partial transcript, edited for style and space requirements.
Q. When I drive on Memorial Road past Chisholm Creek, it looks like they are creating a lake. What are they doing with it?
A. According to Chisholm Creek’s master plan, that is part of their project that’s called The Pointe. It will consist of a collection of buildings featuring retail and offices that will be built in a V shape around a centerpiece lake on the development’s north side, west of Cabela’s.
Q. What is next for Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads?
A. Tammy Fate, the manager of retail development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, said her organization is working with its owner to pull together information that can be used to market the property for other purposes.
Q. What kind of retail would you like to see added to some of Oklahoma City’s popular districts, such as the Plaza, Automobile Alley, Midtown, Bricktown, or Uptown 23rd?
A. I feel like each of these areas already have a pretty decent mix between shops, restaurants/club-bars, and entertainment venues. But certainly, there’s no such thing as too much retail, so more would be welcome just about everywhere.
I would just hope it’s local, homegrown and interesting enough to bring people out into those areas. That’s what benefits our economy, and all of our independent business owners, for sure!
Q. What is preventing a Great Wolf Lodge in Oklahoma City or Tulsa? We have to drive
four hours each way to Kansas City, or Grapevine, Texas, and there always are lots of Oklahoma license plates in their parking lots.
A. The cities’ overall size, I’d suspect. The population counts for greater Kansas City and DallasFort Worth are way bigger than they are for Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Q. I always enjoyed Crossroads Mall growing up. Do you still see older malls still going the way of services, institutional uses and call centers?
A. It is a tough environment for malls. Some still do a pretty good job of keeping attractive retail inside their walls, and they always are looking for innovative ways to stay relevant. Unfortunately, yes, we’ve had some that have headed that direction, and I hope we don’t see more go down that path.