Shopping booming in Nevada

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:33 a.m.

The International Council of Shopping Centers' Economic Impact of Shopping Centers report for 1996 says Nevada gained 3.4 million square feet of new retail space last year, giving the state 38.9 million square feet of shopping center facilities.

The council's findings for 1996 were boosted by the presence of the Galleria at Sunset mall in Henderson, which opened in the early spring last year.

About 54 percent of the state's total nonautomotive retail sales took place in shopping centers, the New York-based council stated.

It reported that there were 315 shopping centers in Nevada as of last year, up 4 percent from 1995. Seven of the state's 10 largest retail centers are in Las Vegas. They include the Boulevard, Meadows, Galleria at Sunset and Fashion Show malls. But most of the state's centers are less than 200,000 square feet, compared with about 1 million square feet for malls.

In 1996, there were nine new shopping centers under construction, eight of which were in Las Vegas, with a total contract value of $62 million.

About 1.1 million adults shopped in Nevada centers each month last year.

The centers employed 65,600 workers in 1996, a 12 percent gain compared with the 58,600 employees in 1995. Shopping center employment represents about 8 percent of the state's nonagricultural work force, the council said.

The centers generated $378 million in state sales tax revenue.

Nationally, shopping centers took in about $973.6 billion in retail sales in 1996, up from about $920.1 billion a year earlier -- a 6 percent increase in sales, according to the council.

Employment rose to more than 10.1 million jobs, a 3 percent increase over the 9.8 million jobs in 1995.

The nation has about 42,000 shopping centers with 5.1 billion square feet of space, the council reported.

California, Florida and Texas have the most shopping centers. Combined, they account for nearly 30 percent of all shopping center space in the country.