Neighborhood Still Waiting For Grocery Store

The push goes on to get north Tulsans shopping in their own backyards.  The area hasn't had a grocery store since last June.  News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports it was almost  a year ago when Albertson's closed down the only grocery store on the north side.  That structure is still boarded up, but the City of Tulsa vows to get the area back in the grocery business.

While other areas of the city are booming with development, broken promises of progress loom all around north Tulsa.

"The city in the past has always contributed to the lack of growth to north Tulsa by directing people away from north Tulsa to Owasso, Sand Springs, Broken Arrow and all those communities," said Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson.

Henderson says Tulsa's tale of two cities needs to end and he's pushing for a new beginning.  One that starts with a grocery store.

"We have reached out to almost every grocery store chain possible, sent proposals out and I've even driven people out to the property to get them interested so we're not giving up," said Mayor Kathy Taylor.  "It is a hard sell when there is a closed location because somebody has to reanalyze and  say how can I make the economics of it different?"

But, where some people just see an eyesore when they look at boarded up buildings, Jack Henderson says he sees a whole lot of opportunity.

"North Tulsa is a gold mine. A lot of people don't understand it, but once they see the beauty.  Turn around at look at downtown at that landscape. It's beautiful," said Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson.

And he's banking on some developer or group of investigators to capitalize on it.

"Whether it be churches that want to do a co-op situation or people who live here who want to invest in having a store here again," said Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson.

There was talk that a store called Freedom-Mart would move in. Investors even held a job fair for jobs that would begin this month, but as you can see the building is still for sale.

The city says as far as it knows that deal has fallen through.