Park Lane Mall, originally known as Park Lane Centre, holds a historic place in Reno’s retail landscape. As the city’s first regional shopping center, it marked a major shift in how Northern Nevadans shopped, socialized, and spent their weekends.
The opening of Park Lane: a mall in phases
The mall’s development was strategic and ambitious. According to the Nevada State Journal (1967):
Phase I: The opening of Sears in September 1965, relocating the store from downtown Reno.
Phase II: The grand opening of the mall’s core structure in March 1967, featuring over 50 stores and expansive parking for 3,000 cars.
Phase III: The addition of the Weinstock’s-Hale department store, which opened on July 31, 1967.
Park Lane Centre’s open-air layout and modern design made it a shopping destination for locals and tourists alike.
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| Park Lane mall map from the Nevada State Journal, March 9, 1967. |
This mall map displays the original layout and stores. The caption under the mall map reads “Parking for 3000 cars. When completed Park Lane will have over 50 fine stores to serve you.”
Exciting new stores included Thom McAn, Roos/Atkins, Joseph Magnin, Singer, Woolworth's, and World of Toys.
By the late 1970s, competition was heating up. Reno got its first enclosed mall, Meadowood. In response, by March of 1979, Park Lane was roofed over and fully enclosed.
2005 floor plan
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| 2005 floor plan of Park Lane Mall in Reno, Nevada, showing Gottschalks occupying the former Sears anchor space. This layout reflects the mall’s final configuration before its closure in early 2007. |
Closing of Park Lane Mall
M&H Realty Partners, the owners of Park Lane Mall, announced the closure of the Reno landmark on January 31, 2007. M&H says the it'll probably be demolished. What's next, no one knows. Since Gottschalks and the Century Theatres will remain, it's likely a power center, with other big box retailers, may be built. Another theory is an office park, since the central Reno location near the airport is highly desirable.
The loss of another mall is a sad day in retail history. The opening of The Summit Sierra surely was the nail in the coffin of this mall. Speaking of coffin, since this mall is listed as haunted, what happens to the ghost? Will it inhabit the new structure? Maybe move in to Gottschalks?
Share your memories of Park Lane here.
Related posts
- Lost department stores of the West: Gottschalks (1904—2009)
- Exploring Meadowood Mall in Reno – a look back at 1989 with the vintage directory
Comments
I know little of the Reno market, but it would appear that Park Lane probably should have disappeared a long time ago and probably would have had Gottschalks not stepped in. (I'm assuming they took over the Sears spot)
Yes, it would have been great to see them pick up stores like Old Navy, Ross, and the like. But those retailers and any smaller tenants attracted to them are likely going to want visibility from the parking lot, making the existing design impratical.
Had the mall remained an outdoor faclity, it would have been much easier to renovate via a partial teardown.
I wonder what will happen with Shopper's Square across the street and the dead mall, Reno Town Mall, just down the street.
Scott
I'd love to know why Sears left. Sears stores quite often stay put no matter what happens to the rest of the mall. (Florin Mall is an example) In fact, I know of a mall in Houston, TX(Westwood) that was converted entirely to an office complex EXCEPT FOR SEARS which is still there to this day.
With TWO anchors,(Sears and Gottschalks) Park Lane could have stood a better chance, though it wouldn't have gotten the theatre.
Which brings me to this question. We see a lot of older malls acquiring multiplexes as anchors, yet they very often wind up separate and across the parking lot from the main mall. You'd think that these theatres could attract restaurants and other tenants to the adjacent mall spaces if they were actually PART of the mall itself.
Is it a security issue, or the theatres wanting parking lot frontage? Either way, those don't sound like insurmountable design challenges to me.
Park Lane did the same thing... and yes, taking the old Sears land. I once found a picture showing a plan for an expanded Park Lane, with the mall being pushed out, and curved, to the cinema. Although, the expansion may not have been enclosed. It probably would have had the usual power center restaurants (Texas Roadhouse, etc). In fact, we may still see something similar in a new shopping center that may replace Park Lane.
One place where the cinema was done properly: Eastridge Mall. The lines for movies stretches into the mall, which gives lots of exposure to nearby shops and the food court.
Sometimes they do it right, sometimes not.
Scott
Did you know back in 1999, that Max Baer Jr.(that's right, Jethro!) looked into buying Park Lane to develop a Casino/Hotel on the property? I can just see it now....
JETHRO: Hey Uncle Jed, I just done bought me a SHOPPIN' MALL
JED: Welllll Doggies! Now don't you go tearin anything down until we talk to Mr. Drysdale.
Unfortunately, Uncle Jed is no longer around to talk the new owners out of tearing down Park Lane.