For the first time in over a decade, downtown Tulsa has a grocery store. It’s the newest
location of Oasis Fresh Market in the Historic Arco Building at 6th and Cincinnati. Monday morning at 11, doors opened for a “soft launch” of the new supermarket.
There hasn’t been a full-service grocery store in downtown Tulsa since 2014. That’s when Folks Urban Market closed within 7 months of opening. Before that, you have to go all the way back to when Homeland Grocery at 11th and Denver shutdown around 2001.
Oasis owner Aaron “AJ” Johnson was firing up his staff just before the doors opened Mondat morning with chants, a prayer, and a short motivational speech. Then, as the doors opened, he bellowed, “Come on in, people! Welcome to the first shoppers of the day!”
Among those first shoppers was Pastor Chloe Brown, founder of Chloe House and member of the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame. She says the downtown market means, “that people can come in and be blessed and get the things that they need (like) good healthy food.”
Owner Johnson says the store will feature everything from “fresh produce and fresh meat, to sushi, to Sugar Llama’s donuts and fresh coffee, to Simple Simons Pizza.”
All four Oasis Fresh Markets are in food deserts, neighborhoods where residents would have to commute several miles to buy fresh produce and meats. Johnson says he’s always faced doubters who didn’t believe his stores could succeed in those parts of town.
“Over six years ago,” he says, “many individuals thought (our) north Tulsa (store) wouldn’t even survive, and now here we are, six years later with four stores. We continue to persevere. We continue to push through. And we are here baby!”
When asked why he’s been successful where others have failed, Johnson points to his staff and customers. He says, “I think it’s all about people, incredible people that like serving people at the highest level”
The downtown Oasis Fresh Market’s soft open is from 11am until 6pm through Thursday, 11 until 2 on Friday and then the market opens for regular business hours at 6am Monday of next week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
