Best of Las Vegas -- Las Vegas Review Journal

Shopping listing has convoluted history, but dice clocks keep time

By SONYA PADGETT
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Love it or hate it, shopping is an integral part of Las Vegans' daily lives, from treating ourselves to the latest best-selling novel, to finding the perfect souvenir for those relatives in Anywhere, USA.

During the past 20 years, the Review-Journal has tried to keep a finger on the pulse of locals' shopping habits through its Best of Las Vegas readers' poll.

The city has changed dramatically in that time and has become renowned as much for its shopping opportunities as it is now known for fine dining.

But when the poll was unveiled in 1982, there wasn't much in the way of choices for shopping and there was no separate listing. In fact, there were so few opportunities that it was barely mentioned in that first contest. But the poll did manage to include Best Shopping Center (Meadows mall), Best Bookstore (B. Dalton Booksellers) and Best Thrift Store (Opportunity Village).

There were no megaresorts or the specialty stores, such as Tiffany and Co., attached to them. There weren't that many strip malls and when it came to discount shopping, locals were out of luck.

Now, after two decades of unparalleled growth, there's a strip mall on nearly every corner as well as the newest nonhotel mall, Galleria at Sunset in Henderson (a 2000 winner in Best of Las Vegas). Those looking for a bargain have the Belz Factory Outlet World and other name-brand outlets scattered throughout the valley.

Not to mention Desert Passage at the Aladdin, the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, the Forum Shops at Caesars and every major bookstore, video-rental store, drugstore and grocery chain you can think of.

If any contest history has been established during those 20 years, it is the tendency of readers to change their minds about favorite spots as the city grows, with the exception of a few staple categories.

By 1984, the third year of the contest, categories were distinctly divided. Shopping had its own heading but only four categories: shopping center (Meadows mall), swap meet (Broadacres), record store (Odyssey) and video store (Video Tyme).

In video-rental stores, Video Tyme was overtaken by Major Video, which was overtaken by Blockbuster in the '90s as the category moved between the Entertainment and Shopping listings.

The record store category has been a little more competitive from year to year. In the beginning, Odyssey Records got the nod, then eventually lost out to Tower Records. During the 1990s, Virgin Megastore won readers, too.

In 1985, shopping had ballooned to eight categories, including Best Souvenir Shop (World's Largest Gift Shop), which morphed into the Best Las Vegas Souvenir category starting in 1995 (the winner: money). However, it wasn't long until dice clocks ruled the day as winning souvenirs.

In 1986, shopping was back down to five categories and disappeared as a distinct listing in 1987, its categories scattered. Shopping remained conspicuously absent until 1994.

That first year back, we again had a little trouble defining shopping and included such esoteric categories as Best Laundromat (Green Valley Coin Laundromat) and haircut (Zane Michael's). We also tried Best Photo Processing (Wal-Mart) and Best Florist (Dibella Flowers and Gifts).

In 1996, antiques stores became a category (Red Rooster Antique Mall a frequent winner). One that didn't last that year was Best Gun Shop (American Shooters Supply & Gun Club). In 1998, we started the tamer Best Pet Store (PetsMart). Gardening centers were added in 1999 (Star Nursery) along with Best Hardware Store (Home Depot) for all those home-improvement readers.

And for just plain readers, the bookstore category has grown from B. Dalton Bookseller to include Borders bookstores and Barnes & Noble Booksellers. We also included used-book stores, which won multiple prizes for Amber Unicorn and Albion Book Co.

Back to index