ENID, Okla. — Two stores from Oakwood Mall will be moving to the new retail development housing Academy Sports and Outdoors, and Oakwood Mall has been listed for sale.
According to a sign in front of Land Run Town Center, Academy, Ulta Beauty, Buckle, Famous Footwear, Maurices and Sprint are coming to the development soon.
Buckle and Famous Footwear currently are located at Oakwood Mall.
Famous Footwear Manager Mike Owings said the store's last day at Oakwood Mall will be Oct. 15. It will reopen in the new location on Oct. 21. He said the move was confirmed in January.
Buckle's last day at the mall and first day in the new location have not yet been announced.
GBT Realty Corp. is constructing the $17 million retail center at the former Wal-Mart store property — most recently serving as a distribution center for Atwoods Ranch and Home — on West Garriott.
On Aug. 26, a spokeswoman for GBT Realty Corp. said the company was not releasing an update at that time — including on when the Academy Sports and Outdoors store was expected to open. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Enid Regional Development Alliance Executive Director Brent Kisling said he has not yet gotten confirmation on the opening date for Academy Sports and Outdoors.
In May, City Manager Jerald Gilbert said the Academy Sports and Outdoors store definitely will be open by November. He recently said the store is slated to open in late October.
GBT Realty Corp. is receiving a $2.85 million incentive package for construction of the development.
"The redevelopment effort on Oakwood Mall, with the current developer, has ended. The owner of the mall is currently marketing the property for sale," Gilbert said.
Rickey Hayes, a Retail Attractions consultant for the city of Enid, said the mall's owners have contacted Colliers International to put a marketing package together on the mall, and to take it out to the market for sale.
The most recent mall developer, S Squared Development, had an Aug. 31 deadline.
Mark Huttner, president of Oakwood Mall managing company, J. Herzog & Sons, confirmed the mall is being marketed for sale, and the deal with the prior developer was not completed. S Squared Development terminated the contract to purchase.
"We've sent it on to several national developers, and there are a lot of tenants looking at Enid, to come in right now. We anticipate a lot of interest in the market," Hayes said.
Colliers International has the property listed for $6.9 million.
There is no longer a Tax Increment Finance District in place at the mall, it ended when the developer declined to proceed, Hayes said. It's his opinion the Enid City Commission would evaluate future development proposals for incentives on a deal-by-deal basis.
"Retailers are in it to make money. Their bottom line is 'can we make a profit?' That's the way retail and other commerce is done in the country. Retailers want to be in a place where their customers can access them, and they want to be open and in the most commercially-friendly environment that they can get," Hayes said. "That is indicative of the strength of Enid's retail market, that the tenants want to put themselves in the best position to access the consumer.
"Academy is a huge deal for Enid because it not only validates the depth of the market, but it's a niche and category of retail that we've not had before. Other retailers want to kind of capitalize on that synergy of the consumers accessing the sporting goods retailer, and that's why you see that movement that you see."
Despite stores moving out of Oakwood Mall, the value of the mall remains, he said.
"The real key to Oakwood's attractiveness is the real estate. That corner may be one of the best pieces of real estate in the state of Oklahoma, certainly in Northwest Oklahoma," Hayes said. "Retail development has in its own, you know, the industry, is giving the retail entities an opportunity to get to a place where they can have visibility and access, and where their consumers can access them. The value of the Oakwood Mall site is the real estate. It's a great piece of dirt, and that's why you see other retailers wanting to be in that area."