The new Wal-Mart in Douglas
County held its much-anticipated
grand opening last week, while its
vacated store just down the street in
Carson City remained vacant.
The 120,000-square-foot Carson
City store now is owned by Wal-
Mart, which bought it just months
before it planned to vacate the site.
"We did it to be a good corporate
citizen," said Amy Hill, a spokeswoman
for Wal-Mart in Reno. Hill
said the giant retailer felt a responsibility
to find another tenant for the
store, the largest space in a mall that
still includes PetSmart, Payless Shoes
and several other retailers. Wal-Mart
has yet to secure a tenant, although
several businesses have expressed an
interest, said Hill. In that mall, several
stores lease space from
Glenbrook Co., while nearby
Mervyn's and J.C. Penney's own the
buildings that house their stores.
Wal-Mart moved to its new
224,000-square-foot space on U.S.
395 in order to sell food, something
it couldn't do where it was
previously located near grocer Raley's.
