“The Ten District” in Jenks rapidly expands business development | News

JENKS, Okla. — The downtown area of Jenks, nicknamed “The Ten District,” is helping to rapidly expand business development in the community.

Only a few years ago, many of the downtown buildings on Main Street in Jenks were either abandoned or in disrepair. Now though, many small businesses have opened in the area with some even being successful enough to expand to a second location.

Nestled near the Oklahoma Aquarium and Tulsa Premium Outlets is the area entrepreneur and businessman Bryan Wilks calls “The Ten District.”

“The Ten is ten blocks of the downtown core, what the City calls the downtown core. It starts at the railroad tracks and it ends at the river exactly ten blocks,” said Wilks.

Wilks said The Ten District has closely analyzed what big cities have done to encourage development.

“There’s an untapped consumer market in Jenks. The reason why Tulsa Premium Outlets came here is because we’re on par with some of the major cities like Phoenix and areas of the twin cities, Minneapolis.”

In particular, The Ten District has modeled itself after Broken Arrow.

“Everyone points to the Rose District, right? Because it’s one of the more recent developments in the last couple of decades.”

After completing a case study of BA’s Rose District, Tulsa’s Utica Square and Brookside, it was revealed the amount of cars passing through Main Street in Jenks were comparable to the amount of cars passing through those areas.

From 2010 to 2022, Jenks’ population has jumped from nearly 17,000 to nearly 27,000 making it a prime area for development.

Only in the last year, several new retailers and restaurants have opened in the area.

“Obviously Elliot Nelson with City Hall, The Lodge restaurant which has been extremely popular, The Social restaurant which has [also] been extremely popular, and now Pure Foods, which is an extremely popular Brookside concept. We also have new retail concepts—brand new retail concepts—such as Cedar & Lily Clothier, Motley Market and Lenny Lane.”

The Ten District is all anchored by Jenks High School to the north, which Jenks parent and coach Danielle Henry said is an advantage for both students and shops.

“I’ve been at Jenks for 16 years and I’ve seen over the last decade downtown grow where it’s a place where students can gather,” said Henry. 

Wilks said the future of the The Ten District looks bright.

“It’s just a matter of time and energy and resources and entrepreneurs and brands like Pure Food really recognizing The Ten is the new place to be.”

To learn more about the businesses and opportunities located at The Ten District, you can visit their website at thetendistrict.com.