John A Brown Department Store / Oklahoma Tower

The John A Brown department store was an OKC retail institution. Brown's occupied a single three-story building on Main in 1908 and eventually spread weblike into neighboring buildings along Main and Park Aves between Robinson and Harvey. Known for its wide array of merchandise from all over the globe in a medium price point, Brown's was the most beloved and successful retail enterprise in the state. 

The John A Brown department store was an OKC retail institution. Known for its wide array of merchandise from all over the globe in a medium price point, Brown's was the most beloved and successful retail enterprise in the state. 

While Brown's major competitors built bigger and taller buildings for their stores, Brown's occupied a single three-story building on Main in 1908 and eventually spread weblike into neighboring buildings along Main and Park Aves between Robinson and Harvey. Described as maze on the inside, the store eventually encompassed nearly the entire city block except for the Hales Building on Main and the Cravens Building (Robinson Renaissance) on Park. 

Brown's was a difficult case for urban renewal. The Pei Plan called for a four-block "superblock" retail galleria between Park and Sheridan and Robinson and Hudson. But it was a risky proposition to destroy all Downtown retail and then hope retailers returned when the Galleria was complete. Making matters worse, Brown's refused to move or sell until 1974 when they relocated to Crossroads Mall (they were already at Penn Square Mall) which critically delayed the project, essentially dooming it. 

A restructured Galleria plan by Dallas developer Vincent Carrozza to provide a mixed retail-hotel-office development got underway in 1979, resulting in One Galleria (Corporate Tower) on the Hales Bldg site in 1980 and Two Galleria (Oklahoma Tower) in 1982. But the plan stalled when Carrozza was unable to find retail anchors to take a chance on the site without an established store like Brown's there. Fired from the contract in 1983, Carrozza summed up his frustration, "Oklahoma City tore down too much."

McCarthy, Tom. "Bustling to the Last Brown's Locks Doors." Sunday Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) July 21st 1974. .1.

Reid, Jim . "Brown's Sets Sights on Return to Downtown in '77." Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) February 1st 1974. .1.

Nelson, MaryJo. "Retail Galleria Futuristic Step for Downtown." Sunday Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) November 11th 1973. , Special sec.6.