Crown Uptown Theatre situation prompts a neighboring business to move

Designer Vicki Flores said she’s loved having her Designs for Life business in College Hill, but she said she feels compelled to move.

“I’m doing it mainly because of the situation with the Crown,” she said of the Crown Uptown Theatre.

“I’m right next door,” Flores said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen over there, but one way or the other, it’s not going to be good for me for a while.”

The theater has been in the news for the last year because Tulsa businessman Mike Brown bought it and demanded an increased occupancy from the city with the threat to demolish the 1928 building if he didn’t get it.

The city has not increased the occupancy. Nor has Brown announced his next steps.

“I am sure he has plans to . . . tear that down and build something different,” Flores said.

She said there are a lot of unknowns or she likely would have stayed.

“If everything had stayed the same there, probably I would have.”

Flores has been a designer for more than four decades, three of which were at Accent Interiors as the lead designer and buyer.

She’s had Designs For Life for about five years, four of which have been in its current spot near Douglas and Hillside.

“I can work from home,” Flores said. “I’ve done it before.”

That means she needs to sell about 800 square feet of inventory, such as furniture, bedding and some home decor items. Everything now is 70% off or more.

The sale officially is noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, but it’s starting now for anyone who stops by.

Though she’s confident her clients will follow her to her home, Flores said it was convenient to have a showroom.

“I’ve enjoyed it, and it’s been good,” she said. “I love that neighborhood, and I love College Hill.”