Retail Realignment: What National Closures Mean for OKC CRE
While national headlines focus on closures and consolidations, the real retail story is how those shifts ripple into markets like Oklahoma City. Nationally, more than 2,500 store closures have already been announced in 2025, led by grocery and home goods brands tightening their footprints or pulling out entirely. The impact on Oklahoma City is marginal, but there are a few indications of recalibration that could trickle down.
At Home is the canary in the coal mine. The home goods giant announced a wave of store closures amid falling sales per square foot and no forecasted stabilization. While the 3 metro locations in OKC and Moore are not on the list of closures, if national performance continues to slide, these locations could become vulnerable.
Meanwhile Target is playing defense through remodels, not expansion. They’re leaning into tech-forward upgrades and operational efficiencies, which signals investment in current footprints but not necessarily new ground in the OKC Metro. Walmart remains the heavyweight with high productivity and no major closures, but don’t mistake that for inertia. Their 2025 playbook is focused on automation, fulfillment, and last-mile logistics. We’ve already seen the evolution to majority customer-check-out and an army of in-store associates fulfilling pickup and delivery orders.
On the upswing, Planet Fitness continues to expand nationwide; which isn’t really that interesting considering their nearly saturated coverage in our market. Looking between the data it could mean other fitness concepts, like Crunch, are poised to expand their footprint. The low-cost model and parking-friendly preferences make them a likely backfill candidate for vacated anchors or outdated boxes.
Kirkland’s, on the other hand, is trying to rebrand and recalibrate. The corporation is changing it’s name to The Brand House Collective, Inc to reflect their vertical integration with supply chain and retail operations—but rebranding doesn’t always rescue underperformance. With slowing sales and active closures underway, Kirkland’s locations in OKC are potentially on borrowed time.
Junior Box retailers such as Shoe Carnival and American Eagle Outfitters appear steady, but their reliance on mid-tier retail centers and malls adds a layer of risk; is it sustainable? It appears the existing foot-traffic in our market is enough to sustain these locations. If the pace of national store closures accelerates in the second half of the year Oklahoma locations could be sacrificed to re-direct capital to other markets
And Lululemon? Strong brand, selective growth, and no signs of leaving Classen Curve—but don’t expect more stores unless we see premium co-tenancy pop up on our map. Lululemon is spending just as much on renovating existing stores as they are on opening new stores. Even
with a 2% drop in sales compared 2024 they are still averaging $1,542 PSF in annual sales. Not a bad day to be Lululemon.
So far in Q2 2025 there is little on the national scale that will have dramatic ramifications here at home. One closure doesn’t make a trend—but it signals a change in temperature.
