Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jul 20, 2009 by Kirby Lee Davis
To the surprise of some Tulsa real estate professionals, start- up retailer Tulsa Liquidation has landed one of Oklahoma’s most attractive locations, the former 28,000-square-foot CompUSA on 71st and U.S. Highway 169.
This will mark the second outlet for the two-month-old overstock and refurbished-product retailer, following a 7,200-square-foot shop opened June 1 at 51st and Harvard. Owner Mohanad Al Sawaf hopes the 71st Street store provides a foundation for statewide expansion.
“This one sits in the middle of everything, and it’s big scale,” said Al Sawaf, who made his name selling phone calling cards over the Internet. “I want to see how this store works. If it works well, next we will be in Muskogee and Oklahoma City. I want to cover all of Oklahoma.”
The 71st Street lease demonstrates changing landlord responses under this recession to the growing number of empty “big box” sites across the nation. Centro Property Group of New York owns about half of the Marketplace Shopping Center along Tulsa’s most active retail corridor, including the former computer footprint.
“They’re more desperate for tenants and willing to accept tenants they wouldn’t accept in the past,” said Mark Rooney, a retail specialist with CB Richard Ellis of Oklahoma.
Tulsa finished the first half of 2008 with a 15.09-percent retail vacancy rate, the highest since Coldwell Banker recorded 16.5 percent in 1992, the first year of its Tulsa survey.
“The CompUSA space is one of the most visible and valuable spaces in town,” said Bob Parker, vice president of leasing for GBR Properties of Tulsa. “I’m very glad to hear people are doing deals to fill these big spaces. That’s very aggressive for a national REIT.”
Al Sawaf, who opened his first liquidation shop as a teenager in Saudi Arabia, sees an opening for such outlets in Oklahoma. He studied many such operations from his work in New York and Florida, but noticed few succeeding in the Sooner State.
Tulsa Liquidation started with an 11,400-square-foot warehouse at 5444 S. 108th East Ave. Al Sawaf will use it as a product conduit to his stores and Web site, www.tulsaliquidation.com.
Turnover proves the key – buying merchandise in bulk, then moving it quickly, his overhead often just 10 percent or less. His warehouse stands filled to overflowing with shipments acquired from China, Canada and across the United States, everything from big- screen televisions and refrigerators to no-brand paint buckets and boxes of department store closeout clothes and shoes.
Al Sawaf will focus on three areas: overstocked products bought in bulk, returned items and refurbished products. Tulsa Liquidation maintains a staff to test and repair computers, air conditioners and other devices
real estate comps