I’ve had several curious Yukon people, during the past few months, ask me when we were going to run a story about Yukon’s new Crest grocery store. Now, read it again. Ready? Go. I’ve had several curious people, during the past few months, ask me when we were going to run a story about Yukon’s new Crest grocery store. Do you understand the confusion in the question? Needless to type here in “The Way I See it” this week that it is very frustrating there are so many Yukon citizens who do not realize the Crest grocery store, currently being constructed, on the south side of 10th Street is in Oklahoma City. The giant store being constructed has plans to initially sell $2 million in groceries per week once it opens later this year. Where will all that money come from you may be thinking? The Yukon and Mustang communities first and foremost-but don’t count out El Reno, Bethany, Piedmont and as far away as Elk City, Weatherford and Clinton.
The big picture is the problem our Yukon City Council is facing, as they prepare next week, to watch the sales tax check come in from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. This check will represent sales tax that was collected in Yukon stores from April 15- May 15. This is the period when most stores in Yukon were closed and only businesses deemed essential were open and collecting sales tax. (My bet with Conrad Dudderar is this check will be $1.6 million and I hope I lose the bet.) These monthly checks will be the barometer for the next several months of the effects of the pandemic and could be a prelude of decline leading up to the opening of Crest foods.
I sure hope not-but hope is not a strategy. I have worked too hard to encourage people to shop in Yukon stores, attend all our Yukon events, and have picked up a lot of tabs of my customers when I have seen them eating lunches in our Yukon restaurants.
How can our city council encourage our Yukon citizens (their constituents) to continue shopping for groceries at our Homeland, Super Saver, Wal-Mart neighborhood market, Target, Sprouts and Wal-Mart Supercenter? I am sure Selby, Cacini, Gilliland, Wootton and Yanda have had contact with the store managers of all these Yukon stores to find out what can be done to get ready for the battle that is on the way. Donna Yanda told me a few weeks ago that we needed to help promote our local grocery stores and even thank them for keeping the stores stocked as best they could during the early weeks of the pandemic.
If you have some ideas, contact your council member and give them some ideas.
Crest Foods owner Bruce Harroz is a really, smart operator. I have known him since 1984 when I met him at his dad Nick Harroz’s only store at 7212 E. Reno in Midwest City. We should have all got together and never let that store be built anywhere but inside the Yukon City borders. We could have out-offered Oklahoma City to have landed it here in Yukon since it was coming out here anyway. But since it is already a done deal, it could be time to start thinking about incentivizing a COSTCO store at the Frisco Road interchange that is developing. We will simply have to use the Crest misstep as a lesson learned then make the best of it.
I want all our readers to know and understand that when you shop local, the sales tax collected is returned to our community to provide police and fire protection, better roads and better water for your quality of life. I would hate to see a delay in sending a substandard fire truck to your house in the middle of the night if you ever needed one just because you wanted to save a nickel on a loaf of bread. That’s just the hard truth and how it works folks.
Oh, and by the way, people have asked me when I would start running the CREST FOODS ADS in the Progress informing everyone about the grand opening deals. My dilemma is, would I be quite a hypocrite if I ran ADS from YUKON CITY HALL encouraging people to shop in Yukon then ran weekly Crest Foods ADS that invite our Yukon readers to shop in OKC? E-mail or call me and let me know what you think. It is important to me since the PROGRESS is the only local newspaper actually located inside Yukon City limits and I have always been one to encourage local shopping.
Oh and by the way, read the front page next week and we will reveal the amount of the sales tax check Yukon City hall will receive from the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Think positive! There is a God and he is in control.
Thanks so much for reading. I will see you next Saturday. Would you like a Progress?
Yukon Progress Publisher Randy K. Anderson can be reached at randyk.anderson@sbcglobal.net or (405) 517-5168.
