Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional listing of businesses other than restaurants and bars that have opened, are about to open or have closed in the Tulsa metro.
Opened
WeStreet Ice Center: The $25 million, 140,000-square-foot entertainment and dining center held its grand opening on March 9.
With two full-sized ice rinks, a large bar/eating area and virtual games upstairs, a pro shop and concessions, the center is expected to be a regional draw for Tulsa, local officials said.
The ice center was the result of a team including Tulsa Oilers hockey team owner Andy Scurto, WeStreet Credit Union and a unique renovation by Thompson Construction of Tulsa of a former Macy’s department store at Promenade mall.
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“Everything that we need to be a great city is here,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said at a ribbon-cutting for the new center.
“What very well could have easily been a vacant eyesore … is going to be an epicenter for families and folks to have a wonderful time in our city for years to come,” he said.
Openings upcoming
Twisted Tea Golf: Owasso’s new virtual golf venue, 213 E. Fifth Ave., Ste. 207, is set to open in conjunction with Masters week, April 8-14.
The 4,800-square-foot facility, located in the city’s newly developed 5th Avenue Business Park, will feature six golf simulator bays, a putting green area and a bar and dining space for patrons of all skillsets to enjoy.
River Spirit Casino Resort sports viewing area: The casino/hotel is converting its former buffet into a massive sports viewing area that will have the state’s largest indoor video screen, 54 other TVs, 104 stereo speakers, a 157-seat bar area, a VIP room and other features.
The buffet area at the casino, 8330 Riverside Parkway, was shuttered in 2020 after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the space had remained vacant.
Cost of the 14,000-square-foot renovation is about $17.5 million.
The new area is expected to be open by July, in time for the summer Olympics.
Tulsa Premium Outlets: The 340,000-square-foot center, planned with more than 75 retailers and restaurants, is under construction just south of the Creek Turnpike (Oklahoma 364) and east of Elm (Peoria) Street in Jenks.
Discussions about the planned outlet mall began in at least 2018, with a groundbreaking in early 2020. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Tulsa Premium Outlets will include four large buildings in which retail and restaurants will be located and a “figure eight” partially covered and uncovered walkway area for visitors around those buildings.
A large fountain at the center of the outlet mall is also planned, along with a 20,000-square-foot children’s play area.
The mall’s opening is planned for August.
New Scheels store: The first of its kind in Oklahoma, the sporting goods store with an indoor Ferris wheel, a “wildlife mountain” and a saltwater aquarium will open Oct. 19 at Woodland Hills Mall.
The retailer plans to hire 500 people for its flagship Oklahoma store in Tulsa and is currently conducting interviews.
Scheels currently has a 32-store operation with stores in 14 states, including Colorado, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Nevada, Illinois, Utah, Kansas, Arizona and Texas.
The new Tulsa store will be home to more than a million products ranging from hunting gear to home decor.
Closed, but revamped
Dillard’s at Promenade mall: The department store is now a clearance center with “deeply discounted prices.”
“Under our Clearance Center format, Promenade Mall will ... receive clearance merchandise from other Dillard’s locations in the area and offer it to Tulsa-area customers at deeply discounted prices,” Dillard’s spokeswoman Julie Johnson Guymon said in an email to the Tulsa World last fall.
Former Holiday Inn downtown: A Kansas City-based real estate development firm has purchased the former Holiday Inn building downtown with plans to turn it into market-rate apartments.
ApartmentVestors recently closed on the purchase of the property on the northeast corner of Seventh Street and Boulder Avenue for $8.6 million, according to county records.
“It’s nice to be part of that movement of creating more housing downtown,” said Spencer Cullor, owner and principal of ApartmentVestors. “We see Tulsa downtown as a really core growth area for Tulsa.”
Plans for the West 7th Apartments call for completely renovating the 224-room hotel into 117 apartments comprising 55 one-bedroom, 40 two-bedroom and 22 junior one-bedroom units. The complex will include an underground parking garage, an outdoor grilling and lounge area, and a heated indoor/outdoor pool.
Cullor said the apartments are expected to open in approximately 18 months and that rental rates have yet to be determined.
Closed
Promenade mall: The interior of the mall closed on Sept. 19.
The decision was made by the property owner after the company was cited for fire code violations. The owner is Tulsa Realty 126 LLC in Rochester, New York, according to city records. A $7,200 past-due water bill has been paid, a city spokeswoman said at the time.
The fire code violations had nothing to do with Dillard’s, the WeStreet Ice Center under construction at the time, or any of the other businesses operating on the perimeter of the mall. The CREOKS Health Services and TruHealth Integrated Care were not to be affected by the closure, officials said.
“They are actually considered separate buildings, even though they are connected,” Tulsa Fire Department spokesman Andy Little said at the time.
The closure affected roughly a dozen businesses, including nail salons, clothing stores and a jewelry store that remained in the mall.
Rue 21: Rue 21 in Owasso closed at the beginning of 2024.
The store was formerly located in Smith Farm Marketplace at 9002 N. 121st East Ave., Ste. 500. The current space remains vacant.
Rue 21, headquartered out of Warrendale, Pennsylvania, is an American specialty retailer of women’s and men’s casual apparel and accessories.