Developments To New Uptown Grocery Store In NE OKC At A Standstill

A sign at an anticipated Uptown Grocery Store in northeast Oklahoma City says coming soon, but the City of Oklahoma City said the company has not applied for any permits needed to begin renovating the vacant store.

“I hope they are getting something together soon because we need grocery stores in this area,” Kyea Thomas said.

“We are still waiting for broken promises from others in the community to meet the promises they have made as far as opening a new store,” Oklahoma City Councilman Nikki Nice said last week. “We are still waiting on those promises.”

Five months ago, Hank and Susan Binkowski announced a new store would go in at 1124 Northeast 36th Street after they suddenly shut down the area's only source for fresh produce.

“I get groceries on the northwest side because they don’t have a grocery store near here, but I live near here,” Dandrea Higgs said.

The city says 11,000 people live in what is designated a food desert.

“We have to strategically figure out how we are going to get from ‘A’ to ‘B.’ If we don’t have transportation options, we have to rely on other people,” Nice said. “How are we going to get those needs met?”

Homeland announced they are building a store about a mile from the Uptown location. Homeland said that should be open by the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021.