Reno Town Mall (Old Town Mall); Reno, Nevada

Reno is most famous as “The Biggest Little City in the World,” and the west’s original gambling town and the place long ago where wealthy easterners came to get divorced. With around 400,000 people in the metropolitan area, it has long since faded as the main gambling destination in comparison to Las Vegas, though it still has many casino resorts and still does a decent tourist trade. In recent decades, like many western cities, it has become more of a bedroom community for people seeking a high standard of life for a relatively low cost.

As Reno’s tag would suggest, some of the physical form of the city is still suggestive of a small place. The main commercial drag through the city, Virginia Street, cuts a roughly north-south swath through the middle of downtown, and on the south side it long ago became the city’s main suburban commercial corridor, home to several newer (mega?) resorts and all 4 of the enclosed malls to ever call Reno home.

Of the four enclosed malls, one, the Park Lane Mall, is long gone, demolished years ago and replaced by a rather lovely barren windswept lot. Another, the Meadowood Mall, is the only truly large super-regional mall in the metropolitan area, though several newer and fairly large “outdoor malls” have sprung up either further south on the strip or over in Sparks. That leaves two more enclosed malls along South Virginia St., and both of them are small, strange, dated little centers.

The Reno Town Mall opened in 1972 as the “Virginia Center,” at the corner of South Virginia Street and Peckham Lane. The original anchors were a Raley’s-owned “Eagle Thrifty” superstore and a Breuner’s furniture store, at opposite ends of the center. The owners would quickly declare bankruptcy, however, and in 1975 the mall as sold and renamed the “Old Town Mall” instead. During this time a movie theatre opened in the center and Gray Reid, a popular downtown Reno retailer, moved into the mall. But its fortunes refused to turn around and by the early 80s the center was mostly vacant and dubbed the “Ghost Town Mall” by many in Reno.

In 1982, the mall began a renovation to reposition itself, adding a Marshalls store as a new anchor, and attracting more tenants to bring occupancy up to 23 retailers. The mall continued to falter through the 80s however, and fills vacancies with non-traditional tenants such as a Washoe County Library, which opened in the rear of the mall in 1987, or a community college that opened in 1989. Around the same time, a small strip of outdoor stores was tacked on to one end of the mall.

In 1989, Marshalls left the mall and it quickly fell into foreclosure, failing yet again. Roter Investments of Nevada snatched the mall up in 1992, leasing as much of its 280,000 square feet as possible, and brought the Old Town Mall up to 100% occupancy by 1995. In 1999, Burlington Coat Factory replaced now-defunct Breuners as the largest anchor in the center.

In 2000, deciding that “Old Town Mall” had bad connotations (good thinking), the center was renamed to its current moniker, the “Reno Town Mall.” More recently, Raley’s converted their store to the budget-oriented, warehouse-style “Food Source” concept.

The Reno Town Mall’s design and architecture is actually very strange. From the outside, the center appears to be a fairly small strip center, with a tiny enclosed portion wedged between the Burlington Coat Factory and Raley’s anchors. Once inside, however, it becomes apparent that the mall slices lengthwise between the two stores–going back a ways from the front–and splits almost immediately into two separate levels, giving it quite a bit more of significance than it would appear from the street. The interior is also deliciously ’80s garish, a sea of browns, coppers, and oranges with planters and fountains galore. I thought it was a real treat.

As you can see from the pictures, the decidedly mixed-use center (there are still a ton of civic functions inside, including a library, community college, civic center, dmv, and more) actually generates a fair amount of foot traffic, and the collection of mostly mom-and-pop shops seem to do at least somewhat okay. Granted, things seem a bit more hopping than you’d expect in these photos because there was a little girl dance-off, or something, so I had to try harder than usual to not look like a creep. (A creep walking around by himself photographing little girls). The center is a bit small to be a real destination–and the collection of stores is just a bit too weird to encourage much cross-shopping–but it’s a pretty unique one of a kind gem nonetheless.

Carson Mall; Carson City, Nevada

carson-mall-08Carson Mall is the only enclosed mall serving Carson County, Nevada, home of Carson City, the state capital. Anchored by a soon-to-be-dark Gottschalks and Boot Barn, this tiny mall was almost completely deserted on the Sunday afternoon I visited. I mean, literally, creepily deserted–see these photos? Notice that there’s no one else in most of them? Yeah, I was in there all by myself. There were a *few* other people; an older woman with a Florence Henderson haircut windexing the slot machines in a tiny slot parlor in the middle of the mall, a few oversized men pumping quarters into said machines, and one lone elderly gentleman limping down the center of the mall.

carson-mall-12 carson-mall-08

All of the sad retail news of late has added a sense of urgency to our normal travel. Especially for me, out here in California, I’ve felt some degree of pressure to get out and photograph malls before Mervyn’s went away (a futile mission if there ever was one; there were just too many stores), and of course now I want to get shots of as many Gottschalks as possible.

What’s unusual about Gottschalks–and what makes this more urgent–is that they’re located in an awful lot of very marginal malls or, in some cases, are the only anchor for a small, rural mall. There was one mall in particular I knew I had to get to before it was too late–the tiny Carson Mall in Carson City, Nevada. As you’ll see from the photos, I’m sure glad I did! I really have no idea what is going to happen to this poor little place once Gottschalks turns out the lights for the final time.

Carson Mall is the only enclosed mall serving Carson County, Nevada, home of Carson City, the state capital. This is a fairly dusty, out of the way (though not exactly remote) region that still evokes a feel of the old west, even as Carson City itself has grown fairly explosively.

Many of the retail establishments lining the main drag along US 395/50 feel a bit forgotten–there were abandoned boxes for Super K and Mervyn’s, along with some other, less identifiable spaces, although there was also a shiny new center at the south end of the strip. The Carson Mall itself is no different. Anchored by a soon-to-be-dark Gottschalks and Boot Barn, this tiny mall was almost completely deserted on the Sunday afternoon I visited. I mean, literally, creepily deserted–see these photos? Notice that there’s no one else in most of them? Yeah, I was in there all by myself. There were a *few* other people; an older woman with a Florence Henderson haircut windexing the slot machines in a tiny slot parlor in the middle of the mall, a few oversized men pumping quarters into said machines, and one lone elderly gentleman limping down the center of the mall. Even the tantalyzingly-named “Get Nailed” nail salon didn’t waste any payroll on opening, there was no one puttering around except in Gottschalks, where a few dozen Nevadans were picking the bones from its not-yet-corpse. I got these photos and took a peek around, and ate some weird curry chicken at a Hawaiian place, and moved along. Truth be told, there was a creepy ennui about the area, a highly dramatic slice of “Nevada Noir.”

Truth be told, I can’t find anything about the history of this place. Maybe it’s too small and out of the way for anyone to care about it. Similarly, Carson City used to have another mall–the Southgate Mall–included in a few exterior shots here. The entire mall shut several years ago and was turned into a half-empty big box center, leaving only JCPenney from the original configuration. (Actually, Carson City’s other mall was the Silver City Mall. The Southgate Mall was never enclosed. ) Again, no clue what the place was like, or what used to be in either of these malls. Nevadans; if you can fill us in, please do.

Update 5/13/2009, 10:31AM PST: Scott Scrantz of AroundCarson.com paid us a visit and filled in a lot of details about the history of the mall. Apparently it was originally anchored–at both ends–by JCPenney, who stuck housewares on one side and clothing on the other, but moved to Southgate around 1990. He also had a set of photos of the old Silver City Mall from 2000, before it was demolished, and was kind enough to post these to Flickr to share with us.

More on Carson Mall: BigMallRat

Park Lane Mall; Reno, Nevada

Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV

Reno, Nevada is the second largest city in Nevada, with a population of about 210,000 people and a metropolitan population of about 450,000 (including Carson City).  It is not only the second largest urban area in the state of Nevada, but the only significant population center in the state other than Las Vegas, which is over 430 miles away.  Reno is known as “The biggest litle city in the world” and is famous for its gambling venues, and its historical importance in gold mining and transcontinental travel have poised it for tremendous growth during the 20th century and beyond.

The predominant retail strip in Reno is Virginia Street, leading south from downtown to the outskirts of the city.  On it, most of Reno’s major shopping venues, including Meadowood Mall, Old Town Mall, The Summit, and the now-defunct Park Lane Mall all stood.  Today, Virginia Street is still the focal point of Reno’s retail scene, with several miles of box stores, restaurants, and strip malls.

Park Lane Mall in Reno, NVPark Lane Mall was one of Reno’s first modern shopping centers, opening as Park Lane Center in 1967 approximately 1 mile south of downtown along Virginia Street.  Situated on 44 acres, Park Lane Center opened with 448,000 leasable square-feet and was anchored by a 138,000 square-foot Sears and a Sacramento-based Weinstock’s.  Other stores included Woolworth’s, Joseph Magnin, Rose Sporting Goods, and Kinney Shoes.  A major focal point of Park Lane Center was a 25-foot clock, constructed many decades previous by Joseph Mayer of Seattle using parts from Howard Company of Boston.  The clock once stood in downtown Reno since 1920, but the developer of the mall wanted to bring a piece of history to the new Park Lane Center, inspiring a sense of place and community in the new shopping center.

In the late 1970s, Taubman announced they were building a newer, larger enclosed mall less than two miles south of Park Lane Center at the edge of town.  As a response, Park Lane owner Macerich decided to fully enclose their mall in 1977-1978, a year before Taubman’s Meadowood Mall opened in 1979 featuring Hawaii-based Liberty House, JCPenney, and Macy’s.  This enclosure allowed Park Lane Mall to remain competitive with the new mall, for the time being.

In 1987, Macerich unveiled a new set of renovations for Park Lane Mall, in order to keep it up to date, featuring new entrances and an interior facelift.

Park Lane Mall Gottschalks in Reno, NVHowever, by the mid-1990s all of Macerich’s efforts couldn’t hold back competition from the bigger, better mall to the south, and Park Lane Mall fell into serious decline.  Sears left in late 1995, Weinstock’s closed in 1996, and Woolworth closed in 1997 amid a nationwide liquidation.  Taking these issues in stride, Macerich quickly replaced the fallen Sears with Fresno-based Gottschalks in 1996, and demolished the vacant Weinstocks for a new theater which opened in 1998.  The Woolworth’s remained vacant.

The first decade of the new millenium brought more hardship for Park Lane Mall.  With an increasing number of vacancies, the mall was already not doing well when a brand new Lifestyle Center development called Sierra Summit opened in 2005.  Featuring Dillard’s as well as the finest dining and upscale retail establishments in the entire Reno area, this outdoor mall even posed a competition problem for Meadowood Mall, so Park Lane was no match.

Running from the sinking ship, Macerich gave up the ghost and sold Park Lane Mall to M&H Realty Partners – based in San Francisco – in 2006, but not before making an odd decision to repair the historic clock.  The new owner decided it was time to close the doors, and all the remaining tenants (not many) were kicked out at the end of January, 2007 and the mall was locked for good.  Gottschalks, the theatre, and a few outlot businesses stayed open following the mall’s closure and eventual demolition in late 2007.  However, Gottschalks finally decided to throw in the towel itself and is closing on December 27, 2008, with its demolition to follow.

So what’s next for Park Lane Mall?  A mixed use development is planned, but as it is Reno a casino component is also rumored.  However, with the economy in the state it’s in, we really don’t expect anything quickly.

We took the pictures featured here in August 2004.  Leave some messages and let us know what you think, or your own experiences with Park Lane Mall.  Also, what on earth happened to the clock?

Downtown Reno, NV Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV

Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV

Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV Park Lane Mall in Reno, NV

Las Vegas Outlet Center; Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV

It’s time to wrap up my Las Vegas series with this relatively unremarkable little bonus, the Las Vegas Outlet Center. Located on South Las Vegas Boulevard a few miles south of the strip, this half million square-foot, fully enclosed outlet center strays a bit outside of the kind of thing we’d usually devote inches to on Labelscar, but it does have a few neato indoor mall features that merit inclusion. I’m probably being a bit of a completist here, but I feel that it’s part of the overall picture.

Since this is an outlet mall, it doesn’t have any real anchors… apart from a VF Factory Outlet (the anchor of outlet malls everywhere!) and a Nike store and some other miscellany. The Las Vegas Outlet Center does host many of the common players at outlet malls everywhere, including Van Heusen and Music For Less and Nautica, many offering items at a dubiously small discount from what they’re sold for at full-priced stores. Like a lot of outlet malls, the decor leaves something to be desired, with exposed girder rooflines and a general lack of true decor. Unlike the pretty-cool Mills Malls, the Las Vegas Outlet Center is pretty cut-rate. The floorplan is almost like two “E”s stacked on top of one another; judging by the different roofing colors from the satellite photo and the fact that the mall is designed as a mirror image of itself, I wouldn’t be surprised if its two halves were constructed at different times. But maybe not.

But, you know what? The Las Vegas Outlet Center has two food courts, and a weird neon rainbow ceiling, and those are both worth something, right? This ends my trek to Nevada: beginning with the next post, we’ll return to the good ol’ chilly, stodgy northeast.

Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Outlet Center in Las Vegas, NV

Galleria at Sunset; Henderson, Nevada

Galleria at Sunset sign in Henderson, Nevada
Opened in 1996 in the far-flung southeastern Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, The Galleria at Sunset was constructed to capitalize on the growth spurt of the Las Vegas area, and was an attempt to move more retail out to where people were moving. The area around the mall today is one of the largest retail districts in all of suburban Las Vegas, and serves a relatively affluent corner of the metropolitan area. The mall is owned and managed by Forest City Enterprises.

Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada

The Galleria at Sunset is a two-level, “Y” shaped mall with just over a million square feet of floor space, including 110 stores and 5 anchors: JCPenney, Mervyn’s, Dillard’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Robinsons-May (soon to be Macy’s). Unlike its twin mall, Meadows Mall, located on the city’s northwest side, The Galleria at Sunset sports a bright and airy decor complete with pastels and tropical plantlife. Its architectural highlight is a large series of fountains in the center court, which is something of a rarity in newer malls.

Of course, being only ten years old, there isn’t a ton of drama to the Galleria at Sunset either, which makes my job pretty boring. However, if you want more, there’s a good photo set of the Galleria, including a page devoted entirely to the mall’s grand opening ceremony. Enjoy the pictures!

Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada

Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada Galleria at Sunset in Henderson, Nevada

Meadows Mall; Las Vegas, Nevada

Meadows Mall sign in Las Vegas, Nevada
Other than the malls of the strip and the nearby Boulevard Mall, the vast suburban expanse of Las Vegas, Nevada–much of which has been built in the last decade or two–is covered by only two full-line enclosed shopping malls, on the southeast and northwest sides of the city. The Meadows Mall, which is a 900,000 square foot, two level enclosed mall located in the city of Las Vegas itself but which serves the large and sprawling suburb of Summerlin (the largest planned community in America) as well, is the one on the city’s northwest side.

Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall Macy's in Las Vegas, NV

Perhaps because so much of Las Vegas’ first tier shopping is clustered in the center of the city, and because so much of the city is so new that it contains many big box plazas, lifestyle centers, and other newer styles of development, the malls don’t feel as important as they do in many older and more established cities. Meadows Mall is certainly functional, with anchor stores like Macy’s (a former Broadway store), Sears, Dillard’s, and JCPenney, but for the most part it is a functional and unremarkable suburban mall, neither high nor low end but comfortably treading middle ground. The decor inside and out is pretty standard, though I give high marks to the mall’s sign, with its faux-grass scheme.

Apparently, many local residents think even less of it, often referring to it as the “Ghetto Meadow” or “The Ghettos,” possibly because of its relative proximity to downtown Las Vegas. It’s also about to face new competition from the proposed Great Mall of Las Vegas in Centennial Hills, a 1.6 million square foot, hybrid indoor-outdoor mall planned to be built in the northwestern suburbs of Las Vegas.

Judging by my experiences in Las Vegas, they seem to have pretty high standards. While the Meadows Mall may have been the least successful of Las Vegas’ enclosed malls, it wouldn’t be considered as such almost anywhere else. It seems that maybe the pace of change in the valley is determined to swallow this one up before its time.

Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall food court in Las Vegas, NV Meadows Mall in Las Vegas, NV

The Boulevard Mall; Las Vegas, Nevada

Boulevard Mall sign in Las Vegas, NV OK, so you already knew all about the Strip in Vegas, you said? Of course you did.

Labelscar readers know that we’re not afraid to trek off the beaten path, and when people tell me that one seven mile stretch of tar is all there is worth seeing in a city, it only encourages me to venture away even more. This is the first in a string of posts about the malls where Las Vegas area residents actually shop.

The Boulevard Mall is a General Growth Properties mall located approximately 2 miles east of the strip at the corner of Desert Inn Rd. and Maryland Parkway. With approximately 170 stores including four anchors and 1.2 million square feet of floor space, it is the second largest mall in the valley and the oldest continuously operating one (the long-defunct Charleston Plaza Mall was the oldest). Built at what was apparently the “outskirts of town” at the time, the Boulevard Mall is now positioned pretty much in the middle of the city, near the popular tourist regions and much closer to the center-city than many of the area’s other malls, especially the Galleria at Sunset, which is its other competition on the city’s southeast side and is located way out in Henderson.

The Boulevard Mall was my favorite mall in Las Vegas by some measure, both because of its unusual floorplan and unusual decor. Judging by the time capsule (!) located outside of Macy’s store (which was a time capsule in and of itself!), it seems the mall was originally constructed in 1966. Note the cheerful optimism that the mall itself would still be standing in 100 years, which is something that the odds seem to generally be against:
Time capsule in front of Macy's at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV

However, judging by the unusual floorplan and differences in decor inside and out, I think only half of the mall dates to the 1960s. My guess is that the Boulevard Mall was originally constructed as a simple “dumbell” style mall in 1966, with a single hallway connecting the Macy’s and Sears buildings, and the JCPenney store halfway along the corridor. I believe that the mall was later almost doubled in size via the corridor built parallel to and behind the original corridor, connecting JCPenney and a new Dillard’s store with an entrance to Macy’s midway. Essentially, this new wing created a mirror image of the old mall, and made it possible to pass through both Macy’s and JCPenney to access one part of the mall from the other. Of course, this is all speculation, but check it out:

Boulevard Mall directory in Las Vegas, NV

I also think it’s worth mentioning the crazy, swooping supports in the front mall and the super-jazzy exterior. I thought this was a really fun mall, and if you know something else about it, please tell us!

Someone else thought to take some pictures too, so check theirs out. I’ll be honest, it would really hurt my feelings, but you just might like them better.

Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Macy's storefront at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Older, “Front Mall:”

Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Sears at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Food court at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV JCPenney store at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV

The passageway between the two halves:

Passageway between

Newer, “Rear Mall:”

Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Dillard's at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV Macy's at Boulevard Mall in Las Vegas, NV

The Las Vegas Strip; Las Vegas, Nevada

Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV The Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV

Dan Savage once famously decided not to answer his regular string of profane letters in his advice column, interrupting them to ramble on about his recent vacation to Las Vegas. I have every intention of doing the same.

OK, no, not really. While the magic of the internet has allowed me to fool you all into thinking I wasn’t away, I actually spent the last week in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, vacationing in America’s city of sin. While my vacations would not normally be topic du jour here at Labelscar, I found more than enough in Las Vegas to bother mentioning to all of you–even those (all?) of you who’ve been before.

“The Strip,” which runs along Las Vegas Boulevard south from downtown Las Vegas for approximately 8 miles, is perhaps America’s greatest suburban retail strip. What’s that–this isn’t suburban, you say? Actually, it is: the core of the strip itself–everything south of Sahara Avenue–is in fact located in the unincorporated town of Paradise, not in Las Vegas at all! And despite that The Strip is known for its over-the-top theme casinos and gambling, it’s also home to no less than five enclosed shopping malls–and that’s not even including some of the smaller collections of shops located in some of the hotel lobbies, or two more enclosed shopping malls currently under construction on the same stretch of road.

Of these malls, most are attached to a theme casino–there is the Shops at Desert Passage, which is part of the Aladdin (and is slated for a major makeover soon, to be turned into the LA-themed “Miracle Mile” when the Aladdin is transformed into the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino), the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (Roman-themed), and the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian (Venetian-themed, obviously). On top of that, there’s also The Showcase by MGM Grand and the massive Fashion Show Mall, the largest mall in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and a more “traditional” mall in style and design, anchored by Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Robinson’s-May, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s Home, and Dillard’s. The Fashion Show Mall’s dramatic, futuristic facade and sharp break in decor and layout mid-mall–which suggests to me that it was doubled in size at some point, though I have no proof of this–made it into a true find by any stretch.

What’s even better is that the casinos themselves offer the same kind of thrills you can pull from dead mall hunting. Because Las Vegas is a city that seems to almost have a vendetta against history, denizens are quick to implode anything showing even the slightest bit of decay. That means that Las Vegas Boulevard is a surprisingly dynamic stretch of roadway, changing frequently and offering a great many see-them-before-they’re gone sights along the way. Many of the street’s most famous hotels–the original Flamingo, The Hacienda, The Sands, The Boardwalk–are already gone, and more (Stardust is next on the block, and rumors circulate about the aging Tropicana almost constantly. Even the relatively modern Flamingo-where I stayed–is often cited as being an implosion possibility) may not be long for this world. The adventurous traveler may find some real thrills by traveling off strip–and particularly downtown–to see some of the older and shabbier casinos about town. I made a trip to both The Western and The Gold Spike, two of the most notorious joints in town, simply to soak up some color. Surprisingly, neither was as threadbare as some malls I’ve seen, though both had more “characters.” Some other divey casinos, such as the Key Largo and the Bourbon Street, have bit the dust recently. If you go, be sure to visit some of the older casinos downtown, and for a bit of vintage Vegas, you can’t do wrong with a real fan favorite–the Barbary Coast. This small, classic casino is dwarfed by the big boys in its center-strip location, but it’s well-maintained and offers cheaper tables and more vintage flavor, making it a prime stop for the modern commercial architecture enthusiast.

The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas, NV Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV

Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, NV Bally's in Las Vegas, NV Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV

Caesar's Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV

You can read more about the casinos in Las Vegas from CheapoVegas, which is one of my new favorite websites. They review casinos with the kind of sharp pithiniess that I wish I could only muster for malls. Similarly, check out these photos of the strip’s historic casino properties, and swing by Casino Death Watch, a site that tracks news and history surrounding casinos that die or get blown to bits.

Unlike most Vegas tourists, however, I traveled off the strip–and how could I not!?–to check out the rest of the enclosed malls in Las Vegas. There are only four others (and one of these four is an outlet mall) and only one is truly remarkable, but they’ll all be showing up here in the very near future. Without further ado, here are the on-strip malls:

Grand Canal Shoppes (Venetian)

Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas, NV Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas, NV Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas, NV

Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace

Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV

Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV

Shops at Desert Passage (Aladdin)

Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV Desert Passage Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Fashion Show Mall

Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV

Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, NV