OKLAHOMA CITY -- Fleming Cos. here said last week it plans to relocate its offices to an undetermined site, possibly even to a different city.
over a three-year period beginning in 1969 and moved into its current headquarters -- the 140,000-square-foot Waterford office building here -- in 1984.
Shane Boyd, a company spokesman, told SN the existing headquarters is too expensive. "Both the expense of the Waterford office building, along with its image as a posh, Class-A office property, is inconsistent with Fleming's culture of thrift," he said.
"It's too costly for our current economic circumstances and low-cost mind-set, and it symbolizes what Fleming is not."
Boyd said Fleming is still trying to determine where to move and when. "Our options are not limited to Oklahoma City or the state of Oklahoma," he explained.
Fleming's offices, located in an upscale area of the city, cost the company $18 per square foot. To indicate there are less expensive options available in Oklahoma City, Boyd noted that the former offices of Scrivner Inc. -- located in a 96,000-square-foot building a mile and a half away -- cost Fleming $5 per square foot. Fleming acquired Scrivner in mid-1994 and uses the building for various corporate functions.
Fleming also has three smaller offices in the city -- a training center, an advertising and production facility and a central trades payable office.
However, the company's focus is on relocating out of the Waterford facility, Boyd said, "though if it makes sense, we could redistribute any people or functions from the other offices to the new facility," he added.