East Charleston Boulevard and Burnham Avenue
Las Vegas, Nevada
The story of Nevada's first shopping mall begins in September 1959. A combination Thriftimart supermarket and Skaggs Drug Center open for business at a 30-acre site, located 1 mile southeast of downtown Las Vegas.
In 1961, a strip-type shopping center was added. Developed by Las Vegas' William P. "Bill" Peccole, its largest store was a (23,000 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10. Soon after, it was decided to add a fully-enclosed shopping concourse to the south side of the existing strip center. This opened in 1963, making CHARLESTON PLAZA the first shopping mall in Las Vegas, as well as the state of Nevada. With this addition, the structure encompassed approximately 184,800 leasable square feet.
Charter CHARLESTON PLAZA tenants included Mode O' Day Frock Shop, Pizza Den, Karl's Shoes, The Bank of Nevada, Maxi's Famous Deli & Restaurant, Lullabye Shops, a well as the aforementioned (18,300 square foot) Skagg's Drug Center and (30,900 square foot) Thriftimart supermarket.
The next expansion brought 19,900 square feet of new inline store space. The single-screen Fox West Coast Theatres Fox Theatre showed its first feature on March 5, 1965. A 1-level (104,500 square foot) Woolco discount mart was dedicated in October of the same year. CHARLESTON PLAZA now housed around 320,000 leasable square feet. Its tenant list of thirty-six included Williams Photography, M.J. Christensens Jewelers, Kinney Shoes and Garheim's Music. The center was heralded as the "largest shopping center mall in Nevada."
Unfortunately for CHARLESTON PLAZA, bigger and better malls evolved in Greater Las Vegas. THE BOULEVARD {2.1 miles southwest, in Clark County} was officially dedicated in 1968. It was joined by MEADOWS MALL (1978) {3.8 miles northwest, in Las Vegas} and THE FASHION SHOW (1981) {3.1 miles southwest, in Clark County}.
Unfortunately for CHARLESTON PLAZA, bigger and better malls evolved in Greater Las Vegas. THE BOULEVARD {2.1 miles southwest, in Clark County} was officially dedicated in 1968. It was joined by MEADOWS MALL (1978) {3.8 miles northwest, in Las Vegas} and THE FASHION SHOW (1981) {3.1 miles southwest, in Clark County}.
With all of the competition, CHARLESTON PLAZA entered a downward spiral. Woolco was shuttered in January 1983 and was followed by a California-based HomeBase (a home improvement store). The mall's Skaggs Drug Center was rebranded as an Osco Drug in November 1984. By mid-decade, CHARLESTON PLAZA was a semi-vacant, dilapidated property.
The complex was demolished in 1988, leaving only the HomeBase store standing. The moribund mall was replaced by a 254,800 square foot power center of the same name. The new CHARLESTON PLAZA included a (46,100 square foot) Lucky Stores supermarket and (21,400 square foot) Sav-On Drug.
Lucky Stores was absorbed -and rebranded- by the Albertsons chain in November 1999. HomeBase closed in early 2001. It was followed by the Rodeo Discount Mall, which eventually morphed into the Bonanza Indoor Swap Meet.
Sources:
Sources:
The Las Vegas Sun
Description of Charleston Plaza by Mark A. Curry
https://special.library.unlv.edu / University of Nevada, Las Vegas / University Libraries / Special Collections & Archives
https://www.classiclasvegas.com
www.eforum.reviewjournal.com
"A Desert Paradise" / Ralph Roske / September 1986
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.safcocapital.com / Safco Capital Corporation
FAIR USE OF CHARLESTON PLAZA IMAGE:
The image from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries / Bill Willard Photograph Collection illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the image in any way. The images is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
