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`It's been a jewel': Oasis Fresh Market quenching thirst in food desert

Rhett Morgan Aug 28, 2021 Updated 6 hrs ago



Owner A.J. Johnson fist-bumps customer Angel Ogundare as she shops at Oasis Fresh Market on Friday. Ogundare works at Waffle That and was buying items for the restaurant.

Mike Simons, Tulsa World

Oasis Fresh Market debuted to copious fanfare in mid-May, with backers confident it had the framework to be a long-term success in an area not known for economic stability.

Three months into the project, advocates say the store is meeting those expectations.

“We’ve heard good things; we’ve heard bad things,” Oasis owner A.J. Johnson said. “But overall, people love Oasis, and it’s making a difference in the community.

“If trash is blowing across the parking lot, you see people pick it up. That’s what we want, because the success of the grocery store doesn’t depend on me. Welcome to your neighborhood grocery store. This is theirs. I am just fortunate to be a catalyst with some amazing people that brought this together.”

The roughly $5 million, 16,500-square-foot store on North Peoria Avenue was built to target the area’s food desert. Before Oasis arrived, 93% of the population in City Council District 1 had limited access to fresh, affordable and quality food, compared to 19% of other Tulsans, data showed.

But of equal value to the groceries are the wraparound services the store provides, Johnson said. Every first Saturday of the month, about a dozen or so vendors congregate to offer tips on things such as job training, proper diet, financial literacy and health care.

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