ENID — As Enid pursues a retail development strategy, Oakwood Mall expects to be a key player in that plan.

In 2009, the city of Enid hired Rickey Hayes with Retail Attractions as a consultant to help the city identify the strengths and weaknesses of the city’s retail market, and he is helping develop a plan to maximize the city’s potential as a shopping center.

Oakwood Mall, on West Garriott, offers 543,027 square feet of space and is anchored by Dillard’s, J.C. Penney, Sears and Dickinson Theaters. The outlying area of the mall also is home to Pizza Hut, IHOP, McDonald’s, a dentist’s office and a new Walgreen’s and also has other development space available in the outer perimeter.

The mall is owned by J. Herzog and Sons with corporate offices in Denver. J. Herzog owns 14 shopping centers, including Arrowhead Mall in Muskogee.

Local mall manager Kelly Goodwin has been active on the local retail committee working with Hayes on the study of retail opportunities in Enid. He said he is excited about the potential for new retail development in Enid and the role the Oakwood Mall can play.

“There are good things going on in Enid,” Goodwin said. He said there are a number of factors that will contribute to retail growth in Enid and also in the mall. One of the most important factors will be the 2010 census.

“The census will be the single most important thing in retail that happens,” Goodwin said.

Merchants looking at mall opportunities will depend a lot on the population numbers and demographic numbers provided through the census.

Goodwin said the retail committee is active in trying to help make sure the Enid and northwest Oklahoma counts are accurate.

Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce also has identified retail development as a key strategy and agrees the mall area has a lot of potential for new retail.

“This consultant has come in and identified some gaps,” said Jon Blankenship, president and CEO of the chamber. Blankenship said some of the retail gaps identified include electronics, apparel, furniture, sporting goods and full-service restaurants.

The mall is very much in the mix in attracting this kind of future retail development in Enid, both Goodwin and Blankenship said.

In the past year, more than $1 million has been spent on mall and tenant improvements, Goodwin said. Those improvements are made with an eye toward making the mall an attractive option for retail and potential service businesses. Much of the improvements have included painting, upgrading the infrastructure, making Americans With Disabilities Act changes and adding seating and carpeting.

Even though the recession has slowed development plans for some retailers, Goodwin thinks the mall’s relationship with the city of Enid and the Hayes retail development team will pay off.

“I am excited about the new potential that the renewed relationship with the city of Enid and Retail Attractions will bring,” Goodwin said. “Enid is a fantastic marketplace for retailers and serves over 129,000 shoppers in the area with over 160,000 total shoppers in a secondary trade area.

The recession hasn’t stopped Herzog and Goodwin from working with local businesses in an “incubator-type” situation to help retailers grow their businesses.

Goodwin points to Sugar Rush as an example of a homegrown local business that has expanded its space in the mall. It’s location in the old Rex electronic store has added to traffic in the mall, Goodwin said.

“They have grown from a small business into a thriving business that is now licensed to franchise into other areas,” he said.

The mall also has a new, free WiFi area in the J.C. Penney court of the mall, thanks to new tenant Oklahoma Office Systems. Goodwin hopes that service can be extended to other areas of the mall.

The recent addition of Extreme Sports, a paintball store that offers reball and laser tag courses inside the mall, has brought in 200 to 300 people every weekend since they opened to play the games.

“We get around 160,000 visits to the mall a month,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin said his management team has the opportunity to work with businesses with leasing in a way to help make the business successful. In that order, some new concepts are being tried.

A new realty storefront, J&J Realty, is locating in the mall and offers a different concept than traditional realty companies. The storefront concept for realty is like any storefront — foot traffic to walk by and see a display of real estate that interests them, then perhaps inquire inside.

The retail committee also has been active in helping develop the content for a new Enid Web site called www.growenid.com.

“The climate for retail (development) is very favorable,” Blankenship said.