SHOPPERS SQUARE: A REMNANT OF SOUTH RENO'S PAST

The corner of South Virginia Street and East Plumb Lane really doesn't feel like "South Reno."  In fact, it's technically at the southern end of Reno's Midtown District.  http://midtowndistrictreno.com/map.html

However, when Shoppers Square opened in 1964, this location was considered the outskirts of town. 

Obviously, a lot has changed.  The huge, sleek and modern Summit shopping center is now on the far south end of Reno.   But Shoppers Square is still standing and holding its own, which is more than can be said for the now-razed Park Lane Mall across the street. 

There's something kind of sad and poignant about Shoppers Square.  It's almost like "the shopping mall that time forgot."  

According to its Web site, in its heyday in the '60s and '70s — before Meadowood Mall came along — this was a bustling place, with amusement park rides in the summer and live reindeer at Christmas time.  It was always, and still is, aimed at middle-income shoppers.  http://www.shopperssquare.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34&Itemid=30

That is evident from the mix of chain stores such as Marshall's, Radio Shack and Staples and also the smaller "mom and pop" businesses hawking jewelry, toys, Hawaiian shirts, muffins and more.  It's a bit of a weird hodge-podge, like the Port of Subs sandwich shop that shares a dining room with a Vietnamese Pho shop. 

And a onetime anchor of Shoppers Square, a Ben Franklin crafts store, went out of business earlier this year and now stands vacant. 

Sheplers Western Wear now seems to be the high-profile tenant here, with its large selection of authentic cowboy hats, jeans, boots, belts and fancy buckles. 

I do love seeing the "old school" McDonald's at Shoppers Square.  

It reminds me of the Original McDonald's Museum in DesPlaines, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. 
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcdonalds_history_timeline/museums/mcdonalds_number_one_store_museum.html
Unfortunately, as I was shooting the photo of the Shoppers Square McDonald's, an aggressive panhandler approached me and asked me to buy her a bus ticket to Winnemucca.   So much for the good old days.

Wandering around Shoppers Square and contemplating the fact that this was Reno's "new" shopping destination in the early 1960s has also left me wondering if downtown Reno was ever more of a traditional downtown with department stores — not just casinos, hotels (and tattoo parlors and pawn shops). 

I'm hoping that someone at the Nevada Historical Society might have some good stories to tell.   I've visited this historical society just once and was disappointed that the main attraction — a collection of showgirl costumes from a Reno revue called "Hello Hollywood Hello" — was removed a couple of days before the show's advertised closing date.  I was told that the owner of the collection just decided it was more convenient for her to pack up her costumes ahead of schedule.  Trouble is, no one bothered to announce that to the public. 

Still, there may be valuable resources at the Nevada Historical Society, to give me a better view of what the community was like, even before places like Shoppers Square existed. 
I'm eager to see what I can find.