Downtown Tulsa's Brady Arts District Sees Grocery Store Open

People living downtown have been waiting for a grocery store to open for years.

Friday night, it finally happened in the Brady Art's District. It was a test run, but the store is officially open.

The Folks Urban Market and Pantry, 305 East Archer, opened its doors to a neighborhood that's ready to jump in and grab a bite to eat.

Chris Zenthoefer of Folks Urban Market, said, "This is like the farmer's market for the other six days of the week."

Curbside grocery pickup and prepared meals are just a few things this downtown market hopes to offer to those who live, work and play in the Brady Art District.

"Can't wait to be able to run down, pick up anything I need last minute. It's going to be great," said Aaron Miller, a Brady resident.

Miller is happy to walk downstairs from his downtown apartment into a grocery store.

"It's what you need to attract more housing. It's what you need to keep more people downtown. It's real exciting to have this," said Miller.

This store will have all of your essentials, but the owners say the focus is on items that are grown locally.

"We hope to be a hub for the local foods movement," Zenthoefer said. "So as many things as we can source locally we will do so."

The owners knew there was a demand for a downtown grocer.

"My wife and I always wanted to see a market come down here and we've heard lots of talks about these things happening so it kind of became a great opportunity for us," said Zenthoefer.

Shoppers like Brian Martin have been waiting for this kind of place.

A lot of the midtown grocery stores are moving further and further south, 31 and Harvard, 41 and Peoria. If you live downtown, that's a long ways to drive," said Miller.

Laura Hassell, a downtown resident, said, "Everything is delicious, I'm so happy they're here."

"They'll be able to come by here and buy one or two meals worth of stuff, go home, swing back by because it's on their way home or it's next door," Zenthoefer said.

Tony Russell: "Is this a game changer for you?"

Laura Hassell: "Absolutely. I live downtown. To have a place to get some good stuff, wonderful."