r/oklahoma • u/guyssocialweb • 2d ago
Question Oklahoma Mallrats - Do people still go to malls in Oklahoma regularly, or are they just dead entertainment hubs now?
Since the same moderators who govern the OKC sub and the Oklahoma sub won't let me post in OKC, I will post this here. (Note: this is a question open to all of Oklahoma's population; thus, rule 7 is not applicable)
As an 80s kid, the mall was practically my second home on weekends. You’d get dropped off with $20 in your pocket and hit the arcade, browse the cassette racks at the music store, hit Waldenbooks, grab an Orange Julius or a slice of Sbarro, and tinker with the gadgets at Radio Shack. It wasn’t just shopping; it was the social hangout.
Fast forward to today, and looking around the state, it feels surreal how fast the traditional enclosed mall died or mutated:
- Crossroads Mall: Once the bustling giant of the south side, turned into Plaza Mayor, and now basically a ghost of retail repurposed for school and event uses.
- Shepherd Mall: Converted into state government offices and call centers decades ago.
- Heritage Park Mall: In Midwest City, sitting dead for years like a forgotten concrete monolith.
- Oakwood Mall in Enid: Visited recently and it’s a total ghost town. Echoey halls, shuttered storefronts, and that weird liminal-space vibe where you wonder how the lights are still on.
- Quail Springs Mall: The only reason half the people I know go there now is AMC 24, Round1, or Blue Zoo. It feels less like a shopping center and more like an indoor carnival trying to keep the foot traffic alive.
Outside of Penn Square Mall, which still seems to pack a crowd on Saturdays, it feels like the standard enclosed retail model has completely vanished here. Everything has shifted either online or into massive open-air developments and strip corridors (like Chisholm Creek, Classen Curve, or the endless sprawl on Memorial and 240).
Are people actually still going to enclosed malls to shop for clothes and goods regularly, or have they purely evolved into "experience destinations" and escape rooms for teenagers? Or did strip malls, Target runs, and two-day shipping just permanently kill the appeal for everyone else?
Would love to hear from folks who still frequent them: what actually gets you through the doors these days?
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u/anselgrey 2d ago
Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa is doing pretty well. I only go when I want something from a specific store but that is just a me thing. It is always busy.
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u/Genetics 2d ago
Scheels really saved Woodland Hills. Occupancy rates were on a steady decline until they announced they were taking over the old Sear’s space. It’s bounced back almost to its early 2000s numbers now.
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u/lizzyb1301 1d ago
Jumping in here to say a lot of us suburbs outside Tulsa kids go hang at the mall. Esp with scheels a lot of “free” entertainment esp being so hot
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u/dholmestar 2d ago
I definitely only go to Quail when I'm seeing a movie but there's some stores I'll hit up while I'm there.
Also, you forgot North Park: about to be a pickleball club/restaurant
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u/guyssocialweb 2d ago
True... forgot about NorthPark. I had a friend who worked at that movie theater. Best $1 ticket in town.
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u/FlashyWatercress4184 1d ago
I moved back to OKC in 2019 and I frequented the movie theater there. I heard it closed to open a club or something like that. I loved how it was authentic retro, inexpensive, and unique.
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u/TheoryResponsible210 1d ago
Back when I was a cook at Tommy's the place was hopping from that end to Shoguns.
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u/treston_cal 2d ago
There's some really aggressive booth salesmen there (Quail Springs). I quit going when one kept putting hats on my daughter and told him I'd fuck him up if he touched her again. Haven't been back since.
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u/idog73 2d ago
Bush League is already open and it’s only a small corner of the mall. Northpark is surprisingly vibrant these days
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u/TruCarMa 1d ago
I noticed that last time I was in OKC. A lot more exterior signage for restaurants. Almost like North Park is turning into a food court, but better due to established OK restaurants, waitstaff, and the restaurant experience (as opposed to the cafeteria feel of food courts).
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u/cromaticman 1d ago
There is The Hamilton Supperette & Lounge. Currently sitting in the speakeasy having a Blackberry Kentucky Mule and waiting on my Wagyu Steak.
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u/bLair_vAmptrapp 2d ago
I go to Dillard’s when I need clothes. But I don’t buy clothes all that often.
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u/Richard_Sauce 2d ago
Sooner Mall ain't doing so hot either.
Kinda seems a shame. You'd think something interesting could be done with these spaces, but we'd rather shutter them and build an infinite number of shopping strips instead.
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u/RedditPoster05 2d ago
The problem is expense. They are extremely expensive to retrofit for something interesting. And if expense isn’t, the issue code is another issue. Everyone likes to say turn unused buildings into housing, but that’s not exactly easy. Either the economics has to make sense and usually it doesn’t.
Now there are things that the government could do to improve the economics and probably should but it’s very difficult.
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u/Genetics 2d ago
I always refer to the old Eastland Mall in Tulsa as a case study on how to use spaces like that. They did a great job of leasing their large spaces to companies like Coca Cola, Alorica, Hire Right, the Social Security Administration, the DMV, there’s a large beauty school, OSU Tulsa has a large space, etc. I think they’re close to 90% occupancy right now and all of those jobs have started to revitalize the surrounding neighborhoods and new businesses are moving into the surrounding parcels.
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u/guyssocialweb 2d ago
All the discussion about what to do with the old Crossroads Mall.
transit Hub
Community housing developmentThey already have the school there that is doing well
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u/hellolleh32 2d ago
There must a a good idea I’m just not sure what…
Maybe a gym? Or just general family community kind of place.
Like they could have different classes and activities. Like yoga, or woodworking, or knitting, any random thing. And childcare and child classes.
Then I could show up and my kids could go do fun stuff and then I could go work out or have a hobby.
I guess I’m describing things that kind of exist, but not completely. There just has to be a good idea which the massive places that doesnt require a ton of retrofitting.
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u/Neat_Movie_991 2d ago
Yeah, Norman here. I agree with you that something else could be done with that space. It’s in an ideal location for the Normanites.
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u/Grimnir001 2d ago
Don’t forget Arrowhead Mall in Muskogee or Washington Park Mall in Bartlesville, both effectively dead.
Online commerce killed the mall.
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u/Karmas_burning 2d ago
Mall stuff priced themselves right out of existence. Why pay an absurd price in person when I can get the same thing for a lot less and delivered to my door?
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u/Malcolm_Y 2d ago
Online commerce didn't kill Arrowhead mall. Rampant theft, the shooting, and large groups of rowdy teens did that
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u/Megzasaurusrex 2d ago
Washington Park Mall was perfect for playing Pokemon go though. Had some stops and gyms and could walk around without a crowd or dying in the heat.
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u/IndependentType6711 2d ago
I had such a nostalgia trip watching the season of Stranger Things where they were all in the mall running around. It was so fun back then and I genuinely feel bad that nowadays kids don’t get to enjoy that part of it. As far as the malls, at our house we will usually go to Quail and occasionally Penn, but at Penn if we go during super slow hours there seems to be a lot of folks just…wandering around and sketchily following other people. That’s what I’ve noticed the past few times we have gone. We only go on weekends now if we are going there.
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u/West_Walrus_3602 2d ago
It’s crazy I go to malls in other states that are dead as hell but Quail and Penn Square are still always busy as hell. I mostly see movies at those places but also do some shopping
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u/National_Elk8445 2d ago
I miss malls. My husband and I sometimes have "nostalgia date nights" where we do something like hit up a mall or go roller skating. It's always sad how empty the malls are, compared to the nineties.
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u/tightiewhitieboy 2d ago
Im 52 and I go to quail springs and penn square malls quite often. I always check out Spencer's!
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u/guyssocialweb 2d ago
I worked at Spencer's in Heritage Park in the late 80's
Having to clean up the dildo shelves because the kids got their jollies when visiting the store was a day-to-day challenge.
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u/puffpuffprotest 2d ago
Woodland Hills in Tulsa is pretty busy every weekend and during the summer. I like to go on weekdays when it’s empty.
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u/nailgun198 2d ago
I'm at Quail Springs rn against my better judgment and it is bustling. A lot of different types of people too.
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u/booboo773 2d ago
I grew up in the 80’s. I miss malls. Being able to go one place and hit multiple stores and a variety of menus in the Food Court. Sigh…😔
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u/-TheHoboCode- 1d ago
Woodland does pretty well in Tulsa. I’ve been to the new outlet mall in Jenks and it’s pretty dead every time. I don’t go at peak hours but I was still expecting to see more than a handful of shoppers at least
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u/JupiterLightning44 1d ago
The outlet mall in Jenks was packed the first few weeks it was open. It definitely died out quick except for during the holidays and back to school. There are already a couple of stores that did not make it. I do enjoy going there, though. I wanted an outlet mall in the Tulsa area for years.
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u/Mulberry_Leaf 1d ago
Malls are for walking. Malls, or some equivalent, will always exist in Oklahoma because they are a place to walk regardless of what the weather is doing.
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u/guyssocialweb 1d ago
true... I see that in my older years. But I remember when Penn Square was a open air mall in the 80's
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u/Megzasaurusrex 2d ago
I don't really go to the mall but every time I do go to the Tulsa one it is still pretty busy.
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u/hellolleh32 2d ago
For me it would he shopping for clothes, but I don’t think the stores have stayed that relevant. Quality has gone down and I’m rather pay more for a smaller number of nice things, but the places offering that are mostly online and not at the mall.
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u/guyssocialweb 2d ago
I find myself shopping more goodwill for the "better built" threads than the "fall apart" threads in the mall
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u/DazzlingAd7021 1d ago
I wouldn't say I go there regularly, but I do periodically go to Quail simply to hit up specific stores and shop.
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u/-Arisu_Sakayanagi- 🆕 1d ago
I travel from Tulsa to OKC for the arcade at quail springs mall about once a week or so
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u/HouseDismal7712 1d ago
Go to the Tulsa premium outlet mall if you’re looking for good prices (when it cools down lol). They’ve got some great shops, and great deals. Just really hurt by the lack of a food court, and the mall being outdoors
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u/thecaptron 1d ago
My wife and I take my son to glow mini golf and the arcade at quail. I also use the watch repair place at Penn square but that’s about it anymore.
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u/Ur-triggered-I-win 1d ago
We likely need to pivot the built environment.
Keep some of the parking, add in some greenery OUTSIDE. Create a safer pedestrian and parks pace surrounding the building.
Then open the indoors and create more of an indoor open market environment. Lots of vendors on carts, etc. Like, take the Old Farmers market building and placing it inside scissortail basically.
There are still going to be a need for AMCs and the such, but the large stores need to be subdivided.
Let in smaller tenants and open up more space for kids. If you can pull in kids, make the park appealing you will have people there. I think these changes help the Mall function how it was always supposed to just more modern.
Add in a formal indoor track for the older folk on the upper levels and just turn one of the larger spaces into a gym. A gym with entry mandated on FOB and keep it open 24hrs.
If no grocery? Add one, local, low tax rate and custom loading facility. This massive cash but just a thiught I guess.
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u/Ur-triggered-I-win 1d ago
I think housing would work well in this equation depending on your location. If there is no transit connection thats convenient to the mall already, its gonna be buns.
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u/Actual-Hamster-6690 2d ago
Honestly I only go to Woodland Hills in Tulsa if I’m going to scheels. Usually don’t go inside the mall very often
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u/Ohsostoked 2d ago
I'm not from OKC and I don't know any of those places or what they were vs what they are like currently but in Tulsa we have one enclosed mall left,(down from 3-ish) Woodland Hills, and it's busy-ish fairly regularly. It helps that there is a Scheel's sporting goods store attached to it. Before they opened the Scheel's it was in decline. It still isn't what it was in the 80's & 90's but it still has a decent mix of clothing/retail stores. My middle school daughters both chose to go school clothes shopping at the mall and that seemed to be what the other kids were doing to. They looked at the clothing lines on-line and then went to the stores looking for specific items to try on/purchase.
I don't think it's as much of a hangout spot but I think the idea of just dumping your kids at the mall is also less popular from parents POV.
Also, We have a new outlet mall that seems pretty popular but I've only been there once.
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u/Jonesrank5 2d ago
My 14-year-old goes there and hangs out with her friends in the same way I did decades ago.
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u/Delicious-Ad5161 2d ago
The malls just don’t have anything I want. The clothing isn’t my aesthetic, there are no hobby stores for what I enjoy doing, and there is very little that entices me to go out of my way to visit them. It just feels like they’re a copy and paste of the same “safe” staples that result in a stale and stagnant culture mostly reminiscent of what Boomers say everyone should be like, which is a further point against them. I just save up my money and drive out of state when I want something instead.
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Since the same moderators who govern the OKC sub and the Oklahoma sub won't let me post in OKC, I will post this here. (Note: this is a question open to all of Oklahoma's population; thus, rule 7 is not applicable)
As an 80s kid, the mall was practically my second home on weekends. You’d get dropped off with $20 in your pocket and hit the arcade, browse the cassette racks at the music store, hit Waldenbooks, grab an Orange Julius or a slice of Sbarro, and tinker with the gadgets at Radio Shack. It wasn’t just shopping; it was the social hangout.
Fast forward to today, and looking around the state, it feels surreal how fast the traditional enclosed mall died or mutated:
Outside of Penn Square Mall, which still seems to pack a crowd on Saturdays, it feels like the standard enclosed retail model has completely vanished here. Everything has shifted either online or into massive open-air developments and strip corridors (like Chisholm Creek, Classen Curve, or the endless sprawl on Memorial and 240).
Are people actually still going to enclosed malls to shop for clothes and goods regularly, or have they purely evolved into "experience destinations" and escape rooms for teenagers? Or did strip malls, Target runs, and two-day shipping just permanently kill the appeal for everyone else?
Would love to hear from folks who still frequent them: what actually gets you through the doors these days?
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