QuikTrip @ I-44 & Peoria

[Hoss]

My guess is that they could probably do gas-less, but they can't do giant parkinglot-less.   And it isn't really their fault, it is just the state of the average consumer.   If they offered a location with limited parking, "Urban" if you will, people in cars with expectations about QuikTrip will go there and leave angry if they are inconvenienced in the process of parking, getting in, and getting out.  People, even in their own ignorance about what QuikTrip would be trying to do with an urbanized location, leaving with a bad impression about QuikTrip is bad for QuikTrip.   And I'm sure they've already done this math.  And that is why they keep adding parking capacity and space to maneuver in and out at every location they can (see 21st & Harvard or 36th & Peoria for instance).

At the very least they would have to use different branding for an urban shop to differentiate expectations and lasting impression.

They already do have at least one gasless store guys.  Inside the Sprint Center in downtown KC.  May not be the best example, at least one exists.

[Townsend]

Oklahoma Central Credit Union opens new headquarters at former Camelot Hotel site

Oklahoma Central Credit Union celebrated its new headquarters and branch Tuesday at the former site of the Camelot Hotel, which was torn down nearly five years ago.

The new facility on the northwest corner of 51st Street and Peoria Avenue will have banking services on the first floor. The second and third floors of the 22,000-square-foot building will house Oklahoma Central Credit Union's administrative and executive offices.

"The new branch keeps us on track to meet several of our long-range goals," President and CEO Gina Wilson said in a statement. "This is a unique opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to the people and the businesses in the area, and to help bring commerce back to the old Camelot Hotel site."

Oklahoma Central Credit Union has been operating in the Brookside region since 1969. The new facility replaces an old branch which was one mile south on Peoria Avenue.

"The old building has been a mainstay in the community and in our credit union for over 40 years but we have outgrown it," Wilson said.

Oklahoma Central Credit Union's current headquarters at 11335 E. 41st St. will continue to operate as the OCCU's flagship branch. The financial firm has nearly 33,000 members and nine branches in the Tulsa area.

The nearly six-acre lot at 51st and Peoria was home to the historic Camelot Hotel, built in the mid-1960s. The eight-story building was considered Tulsa's most distinctive hotel for decades, but it fell into disrepair and was razed beginning in September 2007.

QuikTrip Corp. bought the site in June 2007 with plans to build its 500th store to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The Tulsa-based chain delayed its construction plans due to the long-term widening project on nearby Interstate 44.

Oklahoma Central Credit Union bought four acres from QuikTrip in 2009. QuikTrip finally began construction of its nearby store in April.

"Our plans are to have the store up and operating in the middle of October," QuikTrip spokesman Michael Thornbrugh said, noting the local boost of having two new building projects in that part of Brookside. "I really think it'll help the area."

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=51&articleid=20120711_51_E1_CUTLIN575085