CARSON MALL
South Carson Street / US 50 and South Stewart Street
Ormsby County (Carson City), Nevada
Ground was broken for Northern Nevada's first climate-controlled shopping mall on May 11, 1965. Built on a 13.2-acre plot, located .3 of a mile south of the Nevada State House, CARSON MALL was developed by real estate entrepreneur Francis Carrington and designed by Reno's Seldon & Stewart Architects & Planners.
The shopping hub encompassed approximately 165,000 leasable square feet and housed thirty-two stores and services. Anchoring the 3 million dollar facility was a 1-level (60,000 square foot), Reno-based Gray Reid's. This store opened for business on March 17, 1966. A mall-wide dedication was held on March 24th. The Master of Ceremonies was Ted Stokes (Ormsby County district attorney). The grand opening was attended by Lieutenant Governor Paul Laxalt (R), James Robertson (Mayor of Carson City) and developer Francis Carrington.
Charter tenants included Bobby Page's Dry Cleaners, Mode O' Day Frock Shop, Muller's Rexall Drug Center, Farrell Barber Shop, Carson Travel Center, Smart Set Beauty Salon, a Swensen's Ice Cream Parlor, (10,200 square foot) Sprouse-Reitz 5 & 10 and (25,000 square foot) Safeway supermarket.
The mall site was originally located in unincorporated Ormsby County, just south of the Carson City limits. On April 1 1969, the political jurisdiction of Ormsby County merged with Carson City, forming the Consolidated Municipality of Carson City.
Gray Reid's was in business at the mall for only 3 and-a-half years, with the store being shuttered on September 1, 1969. It was quickly replaced by a Disco discount mart. This Beverly Hills-based store made its debut on December 3, 1969. Disco closed in March 1975 and was followed by J.C. Penney, who opened for business in November of the same year.
Safeway pulled out of the mall in 1983, with J.C. Penney using the vacancy to create a double-header store. The old Safeway Penney's was devoted to furniture and home merchandise, with the original store selling men's, women's and children's apparel.
Shopping centers in the immediate vicinity of CARSON MALL were SILVER CITY MALL (1976-2000) {.2 of a mile south, in Carson City}, SOUTHGATE CENTER (1994) {1.6 miles south, also in Carson City} and CARSON VALLEY PLAZA (2007) {3.1 miles south, in Douglas County}. Farther out of town were MEADOWOOD MALL (1979) {21 miles north, in Reno} and SUMMIT SIERRA (2006) {16.2 miles north, in Washoe County}.
J.C. Penney shuttered their dual-store CARSON MALL operation in August 1994. The north anchor space was divided between two tenants. A (10,800 square foot) section was leased as an Urgent Care facility, which opened in June 2000. The remaining (12,800 square foot) area was occupied by a Corral West Ranchwear store. This was rebranded by the Boot Barn chain in January 2009. Meanwhile, Fresno-based Gottschalks had leased the south anchor space. They expanded it to 72,500 square feet and opened for business in March 1995.
CARSON MALL was given a 12 million dollar renovation in the early 2000s. Existing store space adjacent to the western wear store was gutted and rebuilt as Carson Cove, a small streetscape of restaurants. These were L & L Hawaiian Barbeque, Schat's Bakery, Charley's Grilled Subs and Paradise Cove Cafe. L & L Hawaiian Barbeque welcomed first customers in January 2009, but closed in January 2011. Schat's Bakery opened in October 2010. Paradise Cove Cafe began business in April 2010 and shut down in February 2012.
It seemed that CARSON MALL was on a commercial rebound following its early 2000s renovation. However, the shuttering of its Gottschalks, on December 27, 2009, left it anchor-less. Tenants such as The Labyrinth (a maniacal maze) and Spirit Halloween filled the space on a temporary basis.
A permanent leasing arrangement was finalized in July 2013, with Midvale, Utah's Sportsman's Warehouse. Their (42,000 square foot) store was dedicated on March 28, 2014. The remaining space was occupied by a (24,000 square foot) Houston-based Bealls ["belz"], whose store commenced operation on April 24, 2014. Boot Barn shuttered their CARSON MALL store in February 2016. The 3-year-old Bealls went dark on June 24, 2017. The vacant building was leased to Carson Home Furnishings, which opened its doors on August 23, 2018.
