Campus Corner's corporate feel irks eclectic shop-seekers, draws more business revenue

By James S. Tyree

Published: December 7, 2006

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a series of stories about business trends throughout Norman. Today: Campus Corner.

NORMAN — Chris Cojean has mixed emotions about the direction Campus Corner seems to be heading.

As owner of Tina's Guitars on Asp Avenue for the past 18 years, he has a vested interest in what happens in the business district immediately north of the University of Oklahoma's main campus.

Cojean said unlike years ago, when anybody with an idea and a little capital opened — and often closed — a business on Campus Corner, stores that move in now tend to be franchises or local ventures backed by much more money.

"I don't enjoy the corporate feel of Campus Corner," he said. "It's lost a lot of its quirkiness, but it's good and bad. I do see more people coming here, and the landlords are taking more of an interest in the businesses coming in."

Local businesses like Louie's and Pepe Delgado's have opened and thrived in recent years, and there is a chance of O'Connell's Irish Pub & Grill joining them early next year on Asp Avenue. Jeff Stewart, the owner of O'Connell's, leased space at the former home of Al Eschbach's Hall of Fame Sports Bar & Grill and said he will open a restaurant there.

Mo's and Jimmy John's could lead the path to more restaurant franchises opening on or near Boyd Street and Asp Avenue, but many visitors are partial to the smaller, unique fare of a Brothers or Cafe Plaid.

Bars, a live music scene and some restaurants bring patrons back to the area at night. Campus Corner also is known for shopping opportunities for clothes, antiques, crafts or, as Cojean would prefer, guitars and accessories.

"It's kind of an eclectic area and I would like to see Campus Corner restored to its former glory where it's a destination for people to shop and not just happen to run across a store because they happen to be going to a restaurant or bar," said Cathy Alexander, owner of the Melting Pot store at White and Buchanan.

Campus Corner is on the upswing for several reasons. It arguably has become the place to be during OU home football games since the city of Norman began blocking off Asp Avenue.

Beyond those days, though, tax increment funds (TIF) paid for historic lighting that has dressed up the district, and some properties have been restored to further enhance the area.

Rainey Powell, a developer and managing partner of 329 Partners, said trees, sidewalk repairs, benches and trash bins remain on the area's TIF wish list.

Powell said that since Campus Corner became a TIF district four years ago, city tax revenue from the area has increased from $360,000 to nearly $700,000 per year.

"It's becoming a retail, dining and entertainment district," Powell said. "All three can work together, and that creates a center with vitality in the morning, noon and evening."

Alexander also is quick to remind people that Campus Corner extends beyond Boyd Street and Asp Avenue. It stretches a few blocks north of Boyd, where a variety of businesses line the narrow streets.

"If you turn (north) on Buchanan, you find Bright Ideas, a gift shop, yarn shop, Hideaway Pizza, Brothers, and on White there's Victoria's and Uncle Donny's Diner, great places" Alexander said. "We're just trying to improve the whole of Campus Corner."

Emilio Salinas, who opened Pepe Delgado's in 1992, said for individual businesses and Campus Corner as a whole to thrive, businesses need to be unique and excel in what they do while recognizing a "need to be on the same page" as a district.

He also suggests catering to OU students and employees because they bring a lot of income to the area.

Opinions are mixed on parking. Salinas said a lack of parking spaces is the top problem on Campus Corner, and that creating more of them will entice even more business to the area.

Cojean, whose main career is in oil and gas, isn't sure where Tina's Guitars ultimately will fit in the future of Campus Corner. But he is enjoying it while it lasts. Despite misgivings he may have on where the area is headed, he still believes in what Campus Corner is about.