Downtown Tulsa Grocery Store: Inside the New Oasis Fresh Market

Oasis Fresh Market started its regular daily hours on Monday, Sept. 28. It sits on the ground floor of the ARCO apartment building at 119 E. Sixth St., near Sixth Street and Cincinnati Avenue. Downtown has not had a grocery store since Folks Urban Market closed in 2014 after seven months, and before that Homeland closed in 2002.

The reason this one matters is its size and layout. The store is 14,000 square feet, and its center is a grab-and-go section. The last major downtown grocery plan, approved in 2017, called for a 32,000-square-foot Reasor's near Third and Cincinnati. The store that actually opened is less than half that size. It's built around lunch, coffee and getting dinner on the way home, not a big weekly shopping trip.

Every downtown grocery attempt since 2001

If you've lived downtown for a while, you've probably heard a grocery store was coming more than once. Here's how those plans turned out.

1. 2001 to 2002. Homeland's store at 1110 S. Denver was on the company's 2001 list of Tulsa closures. Homeland was reorganizing and planned to close 16 stores and sell 10. Tulsa Flyer dates the downtown store's closing to 2002.
2. 2011 to 2012. Two smaller downtown proposals, Cam's Grocery and Archer Market, were announced in summer 2011. By April 2012, Cam's was still waiting on funding and Archer Market was waiting on plumbing and electrical work.
3. 2014. Folks Urban Market, near ONEOK Field, closed after seven months. Its owners didn't give a specific reason. They said only that the business had faced difficult circumstances from the start.
4. 2017. The PAC Trust approved the Reasor's proposal, which included the store, 240 apartments and a parking garage. In May 2026, The Oklahoma Eagle reported that downtown development still hadn't produced a grocery store, apart from the short Folks run.
5. 2026. Oasis held a soft opening on Sept. 21, began regular hours Sept. 28 and had its ribbon cutting Sept. 30.

Why the gap lasted this long

Back in 2014, News On 6 reported that grocery and pharmacy operators were hard to attract until downtown's apartments proved they could fill up. City officials had offered developers $4 million for mixed-use retail and residential projects.

The obstacles are still there. PartnerTulsa has pointed to thin grocery profit margins, limited walkability and transit, relatively few homes nearby, and the city's car-oriented layout. A full-size supermarket has to draw shoppers from a wide area to cover its costs. Downtown offers a smaller pool of nearby customers who shop more often, and many of them are on foot.

That's the problem the Oasis layout tries to solve. Before it opened, a downtown couple told The Oklahoma Eagle that they don't own a car. Their regular grocery run was a walk to Warehouse Market at 301 S. Lewis Ave. that took more than an hour. They also said that downtown residents sometimes have to find other ways or places to get groceries, and that rain can make it impossible.

They said a store this close makes the trip much easier.

What's on the shelves, and what isn't yet

KTUL's opening coverage lists groceries along with prepared meals: salads, sushi, salmon, hot entrees and pizza. You can get breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee there. Plans shared in March also included produce, a full-service deli, a butcher counter, lattes, matcha, shakes and juices.

Owner Aaron "AJ" Johnson talked about saving shoppers time. Oasis plans to deliver groceries through Instacart and Uber Eats, so people who work or live nearby can order without making a separate trip.

"What we can do is be intentional with our time. And Oasis gives everyone that opportunity." AJ Johnson, to KTUL

As of the Sept. 21 soft opening, some features were still on the way. The salad bar and the hot-food deli were set to be added in the following weeks, and the bike lanes in front of the store are planned to become parking spaces. The March plans also mentioned curbside help and dedicated parking. If you shop in the early morning, check the hours before you go. FOX23 and The Oklahoma Eagle reported 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, and News On 6 reported a 7 a.m. opening.

Why it took 21 months

The store was first expected to open in June. Johnson said the downtown project took 21 months. The Oklahoma Eagle traced the delays to code and historic-building requirements, health department clearances, and equipment shipments slowed by tariffs.

Oasis owns the business and leases its space from Price Family Properties, which owns the ARCO building. Johnson credited the Price family with helping him through the nearly two-year process.

Johnson has opened stores like this before. Oasis started in 2021 at Pine and Peoria, focusing on neighborhoods without easy access to fresh food. That first store is at 1725 N. Peoria Ave. In August, Oasis took over the former Cox Cash Saver at 6207 S. Peoria Ave. It also runs a small micro-store inside the downtown Western Supply apartments. FOX23 counts Sixth Street as the third full store. Johnson told The Oklahoma Eagle that keeping it going depends on building a good team that gives downtown residents quality service.

The other stops on a downtown weekday

Oasis opened the same month as two other changes that make it easier to handle food without leaving downtown.

On the south side, Wildflower Cafe moved from the Pearl District to 913 S. Boulder Ave., in the former First Christian Church. The church's original lighting, architecture and pews are still part of the room. Owner Heather Linville's cafe is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and serves all-day breakfast and lunch. Downtown Tulsa Partnership calls it the Cathedral District's first full-service restaurant. A grand reopening and the debut of its full coffee bar are set for this Thursday, Oct. 8.

On the north side, the Downtown Midweek Market moved this season to Santa Fe Square Plaza, 415 E. 2nd St. S., in the Blue Dome District. It runs Wednesdays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. through Nov. 4. That leaves five Wednesdays this season, starting Oct. 7. The market has up to 30 local vendors, live music, and accepts SNAP/EBT and Double Up Oklahoma.

Put together, a downtown weekday can now include breakfast in the Cathedral District, grocery basics at Sixth and Cincinnati, and a Wednesday evening at Santa Fe Square, all on foot.

What's next

PartnerTulsa's next goal is a downtown pharmacy, according to The Oklahoma Eagle. In the 2014 coverage, pharmacies were in the same hard-to-attract group as grocery stores. Over the coming weeks at Oasis, watch for the salad bar and hot deli, the delivery service, and the new parking out front on Sixth Street.

Living close to the errands you run every day affects how a home works for you, whether that's a loft a few blocks from Sixth and Cincinnati or acreage north of town where the grocery run is planned ahead. If you're weighing how daily convenience fits into your next move, Tasha Bates is glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.