A Reno big-box location that’s stood dark for about two years is under
redevelopment into a new type of retail in the area — a year-round home show.
A 38,000-square-foot building next to Costco at Airport Square, previously
the home of a PetSmart store, is scheduled to reopen in August as Home & Garden
Center Direct. The development is overseen by Steve Ploussard, who also works as
president of Stone Center of Nevada in Reno.
Home & Garden Center Direct, Ploussard says, ultimately is expected to
feature about 250 booths from home-and-garden retailers and contractors. They’ll
rent booths ranging from 20 square feet to 250 square feet.
Booths will be unmanned, Ploussard says. Consumers will carry a
magnetic-strip card embedded with their contact information and will swipe the
card through a reader at any booth where they’d like more information or a
follow-up call.
The slow real estate market provides an opening for the new concept, its
founders say. On one hand, Ploussard says, subcontractors who were swamped with
new construction two or three years ago now are hungry to tap into the
remodeling market and are looking for ways to market themselves. Homeowners who
don’t have the wherewithal to sell their homes and move up instead will be
looking to remodel, he says.
And the softening market created an opening to lease the retail space at an
attractive price. John Mulder of Premier Realty Inc., a specialist in finding
new uses for darkened big boxes, represented Home & Garden Center Direct in the
lease negotiations. Mulder also will represent the company as it looks to expand
the concept into new markets including Las Vegas and California’s Contra Costa
County.
The remodeling work is handled by 2K Construction of Reno, and the center was
designed by Jeff Frame of Frame Architecture in Reno.