Oasis Fresh Market opens doors for soft opening downtown

TULSA, Okla. — Downtown Tulsa has a full service grocery store for the first time in more than a decade.

After 21 months of work, Oasis Fresh Market welcomed customers inside their downtown location at Sixth St. and Cinccinnati Ave. for a soft opening.

"Amongst the shipping delays and the tariffs and all the craziness, today is the soft opening day to test our systems, our new staff to get acclimated, some of many of our vendors are still bringing product in," said owner AJ Johnson. "This week really is about getting feedback from our guests on how we can better serve, what additional products they might be looking for.”

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Ahead of opening, Johnson gathered his staff and said a prayer. He welcomed in eager shoppers, who were peaking their heads in before the doors even opened.

From fresh produce to household items like paper towels and toilet paper, it's a full service store. Oasis downtown will be complete with grab and go meals, Simple Simons and Sugar Llamas Dessert and Coffee.

“It seems like it would be a very small place," said Kristin Simpson. "It’s bigger than I thought it would be. A lot of variety.”

WATCH: 2 NEWS LEARNED ABOUT THE DOWNTOWN STORE IN MARCH

Simpson was among the first shoppers, grabbing a quick lunch before heading back to work. The convenience to just walk over instead of having to go to a restaurant to get a meal in the middle of the day is something Simpson said she's been looking forward to since learning about the store.

“Sometimes I just want fruits and a sandwich or something I can heat up in the microwave at work and having this variety, a grocery store that I can go to that’s right by where I work is perfect," she said.

Johnson said this store was built with the community in mind, looking for ways to best serve the downtown community.

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"We’ve taken over 3,000 responses from downtown residents what individuals want to see in their grocery store, because we say it all the time, the success of a grocery store doesn’t depend on me, but it depends on we, the collective," said Johnson.

The team is still stocking shelves and putting the finishing touches on the grocery store through this soft open week. In the mean time store hours are limited, open 11-6 Sept. 21-Sept. 24 and 11-2 Sept. 25.

Regular business hours begin on Sept. 28 where the store will be open 6AM to 9PM daily. A grand opening ribbon cutting is set to be held on Sept. 30.

After walking around and shopping a bit, Simpson had a message for those who may doubt the sustainability of a grocery store downtown.

“I think this is gonna stick around for a long time," she said.