How the 3 oldest shopping centers in the OKC area hung on for so long

How the 3 oldest shopping centers in the OKC area hung on for so long

Stores slog through slumps, or slip into oblivion.

Restaurants rally or rest in peace, eventually.

Entertainment? Even venerable venues vacate premises sometimes.

It can get rough out there for retail. So how did the three oldest, continuously operated shopping centers in the Oklahoma City area hang on for generation after generation? They’re about as different from one another as Neiman Marcus is from a Hobby Lobby, or McDonald’s is from, say, P.F. Chang’s.

They are:

  • Campus Corner in Norman, dating to 1917.
  • Mayfair Village Shopping Center, NW 50 and N May Avenue, which was Oklahoma City’s original retail corridor, started in 1948.
  • Park Estates, at NE 36 and N Kelley Avenue, started in 1951.

Each one withstood the test of time for different reasons, and The Oklahoman reviewed the history, and memories, for each location.

View of part of Campus Corner, Norman, 1947.

Campus Corner has been a retail boomer for Sooners just off the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman for 105 years

More than a century ago, Campus Corner started to develop to meet the needs and desires of the closest market: OU students and faculty. And over 100 years later, many are still enjoying the district and hold fond memories from their time in Norman.