Oasis Fresh Market offered a sneak peak Monday of Tulsa’s first downtown full-service grocery store in over a decade. Located on the first floor of the ARCO apartment building, it’s set to open in June.
“We’ll have a fresh produce department, a fresh deli, fresh butcher, everything that you need that you would find in your traditional grocer,” said AJ Johnson, founder and CEO of Oasis.
Downtown has been classified as a food desert — an area where access to affordable and nutritious food options are limited. Oasis already has a location in north Tulsa that Johnson opened in 2021 to address food insecurity. He said “eradicating food deserts” is the grocer’s mission.
Since then, Johnson has started fundraising campaigns and provided food to help feed residents during times of extreme crisis, like October’s government shutdown and Winter Storm Fern.
The downtown location at 119 E. 6th St., will be roughly 14,000 square feet — slightly smaller than the original north Tulsa store, which is 16,000.
The center of the new store will offer a grab-and-go section while the back will feature a production kitchen for people wanting a hot meal. The grocer will also utilize Instacart and Uber Eats alongside its own delivery system.
The acquisition of the property and construction was done in conjunction with the owners of the building, Price Family Partnerships.
Johnson said the store would be the country’s first “independently” minority-owned grocer in a downtown metroplex.
“The American food system is really unique, and so there’s several different barriers, but we’ve got a resolve in us, or we might be a little crazy,” he said. “Crazy people change the world.”
Downtown Tulsa has been without a grocery store since Folks Urban Market closed in 2014 after only seven months of operating. Before then, Oklahoma City-based retailer Homeland closed in 2002.
When asked how he plans to ensure the store will be sustainable for the future, Johnson emphasized community partnership.
In February, the grocer held a community gathering, where over 350 people made recommendations on what they would like to see in the store. Johnson said he will continue to meet with tenants of the ARCO building on a monthly basis leading up to the store’s opening.
Johnson said he plans to employ over 100 people and expects to serve over 1,000 customers per day. The store, which doesn’t have a specific opening date, will operate from 6 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
