Tag: walmart

Rehabilitation work on the old Wat*Mart building didn't end with the demolition of the southern half. They're still working on the remaining part of the building to convert it to a Burlington Coat Factory. Here you see work on making the facade larger.

And here you see a couple of fellows inside working on the floor.

And yep, the southern half is still demolished. Supposedly they'll be starting on the Sportsman's Warehouse soon.

I didn't see this one coming. We've known for a while that the old Wal*Mart building in Carson City was going to be remodeled to make room for a Burlington Coat Factory and Sportsman's Warehouse. And I posted pictures last month of the work they had done already, building a dividing wall to split the old cavernous building into two slightly less cavernous spaces. I thought the north space would be for Burlington, and the south space would be for Sportsman's Warehouse. It looks like I was half right.

Bam!

Boom!

The south half of the building is actually being demolished so that Sportsman's Warehouse can build a new structure. I didn't see this coming at all. The north half is being retained and converted to Burlington, but the south half is going bye-bye, and going fast.

The new wall they built is now an exterior wall.

Burlington Coat Factory is now hiring.

This is the most action this site has seen since 2002, when the new Carson Valley Wal*Mart opened and this building was vacated. It was bought almost immediately by Max Baer Jr., to convert into the Beverly Hillbillies Casino, but a dispute with JC Penney and the shopping center owners prevented that from happening. He finally sold the building last year (and made a $4 million profit) and now, finally, after six years, something is happening.

The back wall is still standing...for the moment.

So this is the reason that the Sportsman's Warehouse isn't going to open until a year from now, while Burlington is supposed to be opening in late summer. It takes a long time to build from scratch.

And remember, all this construction is being paid for with your tax dollars, Carson City, so enjoy!

Update to the Wal*Mart story from a couple of days ago. They're currently remodeling the building to house Burlington Coat Factory and Sportsman's Warehouse. I swung by to get pictures of the remodeling.

I had been noticing for the last couple of weeks that there were some work trucks clustered around the building, specifically around this gaping hole in the wall. I never stopped to take pictures; slacking off on the job, I know. And from glancing at it when I drove by, I thought this was maybe an access door that was already there. But when you see it up close, you can see that no, it's a new door that they carved out of the wall. Big honking door, too.

So what's inside the door? Armageddon.

It looks like a giant block wall came crashing, fully-formed, through the ceiling. The same space aliens that built the pyramids are remodeling Wal*Marts now. Or the more mundane explanation is that this is the new dividing wall between the two stores, splitting the building in half. They didn't want this to be just some quick cheap subdividing job, though. They were pretty thorough here, building the new wall all the way up to, and through, the roof, with new roof joists and everything. It's a lot of work, but when you want to do it right you want to do it right.

Rubble, trash, and various detritus is piled up on the other side of the room. It's hard to believe this is the same Wal*Mart we used to shop at. I think we're looking at the hardware and housewares department here. The work on the Burlington Coat Factory was supposed to be finished in March, but they just are starting now. The coat factory should be done by August; Sportsman's Warehouse in about a year.

The good news is that after six years work has finally started on remodeling the old Wal*Mart building at the south end of town to get it ready for new stores to move in. After Jethro sat on that building for so long, it was starting to look like it would never get fixed up again.

That bad news is that the stores were supposed to open in March, not start construction. Oops. And this is after Carson City gave the stores a $4 million incentive to come to town. Double oops.

Remember two months ago, when Jethro sold the old Wal*Mart building at the south end of town? It was bought by a company that specializes in getting retailers into used spaces like that, but back in May there were no announcements about what kind of retailer might move in. Well, now we finally have an announcement on that front. Burlington Coat Factory has signed a letter of intent to move onto the premises, opening as soon as next February.

So just in case you thought this latest announcement by Jethro about moving his casino project was just his usual hot air, now comes the news that he's sold the old Wal*Mart building in South Carson. This is the same Wal*Mart about which he said, "I can wait in perpetuity." I guess perpetuity is about two and a half years.

Actually, this is a good move for Jethro. It shows that he's not really the stubborn fool that he's made himself out to be over the last four years. Who knows how long he's been working on a deal to get rid of the Wal*Mart. Even as early as 2005 he was talking about the possibility of moving to Douglas County. So behind all of his bluster, he really did realize that the battle for Carson City was lost and was trying to move forward. His timing was a little off ("I'm going to put a shovel in the ground in June [2006], one way or another"), but even back then I think he knew he would have to sell out.

And even if he never built his casino, the building turned out to be a good investment. Jethro (or his partner, John King) bought the building for $4.3 million and sold it for just about twice that, $8.5 million. So it was a smart deal even if the place sat empty for four years. And now the money from the sale can go into the new location in Douglas County. Maybe this time all the stars will finally line up for Jethro.

And what about the Wal*Mart building itself? The new owner is a developer that specializes in taking old empty buildings and putting new tenants in. It's too early to speculate what stores might be moving in, or even if it would be one big retailer, several small ones, or even an "outlet mall" like the article says. All I know is that this same kind of company bought the old K-Mart building at the north end of town, and was supposed to be working out the same kind of deal for it. They were even supposedly getting Kohl's to move in there. Well, now Kohl's has picked Riverwood in Douglas County, and the K-Mart remains empty. So maybe this news really means nothing for the old Wal*Mart building, and it will stay like it is for the foreseeable future.

But at least Jethro has moved on, proving himself to be not quite so much of a grandstanding fool. Even the Letters to the Editor are on his side now.

It seems like every six to eight months we get an update on the saga of Jethro and his Wal*Mart. Today we got another report, and it's almost identical to every other one we get. JC Penney still won't let Jethro build his casino, but he still won't give up and sell the building to someone else. This years-long standoff is going nowhere fast, and it's just making Jethro into more of a joke the longer it lasts.

At least the building isn't completely empty. The article also catalogues the many uses that the building has been put to over the years, including a garden center, haunted house, batting cages, and even church services. But none of that blunts the fact that there is a list of stores stretching around the corner that would be a good fit for that building, and that the Casino Fandango, right across the street, has pretty much killed any kind of competition in the gaming space in that part of town. And soon the Fandango will have a movie theater, and hotel rooms, just like Jethro wanted for his place.

I think it's far past time for Jethro to give up and sell. I'd heard last year that he was looking at land in Douglas County to build his dream casino. Who knows? It might fly there. But any chance he had to put it in the old Wal*Mart building is gone, and the longer he keeps trying to make it happen, the worse it makes him look.