In addition to saving old decrepit buildings, preaching about morals and journalism, and sharing awful music from the 1980s on Twitter, one of Steve Lackmeyer's main passions in life is to be remembered as the man who brought a grocery store to downtown Oklahoma City. It's something he's been dangerously obsessed with for a while now. For example, check out this blog post from 2009:
A couple of years ago developers and downtown leaders hoped they could make an impression on Drew Braum and convince him to open a Braum’s Dairy and Fresh Market to the corner of NE 3 and Oklahoma. Sadly, Braum couldn’t be convinced that downtown had the rooftops necessary to make the investment.
History makes me question whether every argument that could be made for a Braum’s was made, or whether the best location was pitched. For years Braum’s had a restaurant at the Agnew exit along I-40 just southwest of downtown and it depended purely on highway travel.
What’s at stake, of course, isn’t just an ice cream and burger joint. The Braum’s market includes fresh meats, produce, dairy, cereal, snacks and bakery goods – all items craved by downtowners.
Here's the deal. I know Steve from my days in a Billy Joel cover band, and he's been kind of enough to share some of his private beat poetry CDs with me over the years, so I'm going to refrain from making any inappropriate Steve Lackmeyer / Braum's jokes. That being said, I do have one question. Who's the one craving a Braum's in downtown? Oklahoman readers or Steve Lackmeyer? Based on this Twitter exchange from April, I vote Lackmeyer:
Yes, Braum's. Please dare to be a trendsetter in the urban core! Nothing screams urban life like buying milk, eggs, bread, jalapeno dip and frozen lasagna from the same place that sells greasy hamburgers, fluffy ice cream and warm biscuits. Perhaps Braum's can open up shop in Bricktown next to other urban trend setters like Domino's and IHOP.