Plans Moving Forward For North Tulsa Grocery Store

<p>Big changes are coming to a north Tulsa neighborhood as plans for a grocery store at Pine and Peoria are becoming a reality.</p>

Friday, March 2nd 2018, 7:01 pm

By: Amy Slanchik

Plans Moving Forward For North Tulsa Grocery Store

Big changes are coming to a north Tulsa neighborhood as plans for a grocery store at Pine and Peoria are becoming a reality.

There is a lot of business at the Shoppes on Peoria, and soon, an empty plot of land will be a brand-new grocery store.

"I'm excited to be able to say it's coming, it's coming," District 1 City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper said.

Hall-Harper said it'll be similar to the Save-A-Lot in west Tulsa - full of fresh meat, fruits and vegetables.

She said it may even be a little bigger than that store, but, right now, it's not clear if it will be a Save-A-Lot or another brand.

"Just excited about the opportunity to have a successful grocery store in north Tulsa, and, I think it will be just that," Hall-Harper said.

Lillian Griggs lives nearby and travels to Sand Springs to get her groceries.

"Since I don't drive - I have to ride a bus," she said. “It’s badly needed, seriously.”

She said her choices closer to home are limited.

"Convenience stores - it's all processed. And no vegetables," Griggs said. "Oh I need my vegetables - God knows."

Down the road from the future grocery store location, at Pine and North Midland, a Dollar General just opened. Opposition to that is loud and clear with a “Grand NOPEning" protest planned for Saturday.

"We don't need that," Hall-Harper said.

The City Council placed a temporary moratorium on dollar stores in several north Tulsa neighborhoods last September, but that store already had its building permits so they moved forward.

Now, plans for the grocery store are also moving forward. A groundbreaking is expected in late summer, with the goal for a grand opening by the end of 2019.

The City Council votes soon on whether to give $1.5 million of federal grant money to the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation. The TEDC said it would then figure out how to come up with the rest of the nearly $3 million needed for the project.