Published: March 21, 2008 02:12 pm         

In the cycle: Oakwood Mall works to update look, improve offerings

Oakwood Mall uses a variety of strategies to recruit new businesses, according to Betsy Mittelstet, the mall’s marketing director.

“Our leasing department (J.Herzog & Sons, Inc. of Denver, Colo.) works on recruiting at a corporate level,” she said.

According to the company’s Web site, J. Herzog & Sons Inc. (JHS) owns 14 malls, including Arrowhead Mall in Muskogee. One of their recruiting strategies involves offering package deals with other JHS malls to prospective tenants.

Local recruitment is something Mittelstet does as part of her job. Events hosted at the mall, like the bridal fair on Jan. 26, help to bring people into the mall, she said.

Prospective tenants, especially national chains, look at the community demographics when considering leasing a space in the mall. Populations, median household income and distance to larger cities are common criteria.

“Sometimes we just don’t meet their standards,” Mittelstet said, adding many stores look for a population of 50,000 or above.

In 2007, Waldenbooks and Hancock Fabrics closed their Oakwood locations. Mittelstet said those decisions were made at the stores’ corporate levels.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” she said.

Recent efforts to bring people to the mall include renovating public restrooms and working with an interior designer to update the mall’s look.

Oakwood Mall was built in the early 1980s, during the oil boom, Mittelstet said, and it was “overbuilt.”

When the boom was over and people moved from Enid, stores in the mall left because their population criteria was no longer met.

“It’s been long enough since that happened,” Mittelstet said. “We’re kind of rebuilding now.”

Anchor stores — JC Penney, Sears, Dillard’s and Steve & Barry’s — keep traffic up and help promote the mall, she said.

Brad Waken, Oakwood Mall manager, has said it is the cycle of malls to open and close stores throughout the year, and the mall is competitive in terms of rent with any other location in Enid.

Oakwood Mall encloses 652,000 square feet on 70 acres, plus outparcels north of the building that line Garriott. Currently, there are 55 stores in the mall, including restaurants in the food court.