![]() ![]() Under a soaring ceiling, diners packed into booths made from old church pews and gazed at posters showcasing Ms. Crowds of McEntire fans - many of them dressed in glittery tops and tasseled jackets to mimic her signature style - lined up outside a stolid three-story brick building whose only trace of glitz was a tall red electric sign reading “Reba’s Place.” The wait time for a table was four hours. On a Saturday afternoon this month, that star power was on display in downtown Atoka. She has starred in films, Broadway musicals and several TV series, including her own hit sitcom, “ Reba.” 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. McEntire, 67, is arguably a bigger attraction than the others, with a 47-year career and 24 No. The country singers Blake Shelton and Toby Keith own bars within a two-hour drive of Atoka.īut Ms. In Pawhuska, where the Osage Nation is headquartered, the Pioneer Woman Mercantile, a restaurant opened seven years ago by the Food Network star Ree Drummond, draws about 6,000 guests a day. The project is not so far-fetched in Oklahoma, which has a number of other celebrity-fronted businesses. McEntire headlined the grand opening with a performance of her greatest hits. Front and center is a concert stage, where Ms. Upstairs is a gift shop selling Reba shot glasses and her clothing line for Dillard’s. In a once-dilapidated former Masonic temple, she opened a restaurant, Reba’s Place - a 50-50 partnership with the Choctaw Nation, whose reservation includes Atoka. Reba McEntire, the country-music star, grew up in Atoka County, and in January, she made good on a pivotal investment here. The reason can be summed up in four letters: Reba. In the past two months, half a million guests have come to this southeastern Oklahoma community of 3,000. ![]() Carol Ervin, its economic development director, began to plot how the city might lure even a small fraction of those drive-by travelers to visit. Almost none of them stopped.Ītoka had fallen on hard times: Residents had moved away, and downtown buildings were decaying. Highway 75, which stretches from Texas to Canada. Year after year, eight million vehicles drove through this sleepy town just off U.S. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |