Commercial center slated to open after 10-week closure

By Sara Thompson

Nevada Appeal News Service

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. - It's no April Fools' joke. On April 1, Ski Run Center in South Lake Tahoe will close down in preparation for a move, to right next door.

The new Ski Run Shopping Center is scheduled to open June 15 in what was a vacant lot between the current shopping center at Ski Run Boulevard and Highway 50, and Chevy's Fresh Mex Restaurant. The new structure has been under construction for months.

This is the beginning of Phase One of the project, said Bill Edwards, president of Gersick Enterprises, which owns the center. The next step in this phase will entail demolishing the current building site on Ski Run, paving and some landscaping.

Construction of the Ski Run Shopping Center parking lot must be completed before the new center opens, forcing current businesses to close early. Leases are up April 1.

Construction will force the current center's businesses to close for 75 days.

Edwards expects five of the center's existing businesses to move to the new site, including Ski Run Coin Laundry and Goodfellas Pizza. Hot Gossip Wireless Internet Cafe might be moving to the new site, too, Edwards said. The owner of the cafe could not be reached for comment.

But some are choosing not to move.

Former Pazazz Boutique owner Lois Yuzbick closed her doors after 18 years. "I just think this town is dying," she said.

She said her business has been decreasing for five years, and the cost of doing business has risen.

Yuzbick also owns Pazazz Fashions in Gardnerville and said the store is three times larger there than her South Lake Tahoe boutique, plus the rent is cheaper.

She said she didn't think a clothing store would do well in the new center, so she's focusing on her Gardnerville store.

"I do just as good of business down there," Yuzbick said.

Other owners are more optimistic.

McCarthy said he thinks the new center's fresher design will attract customers.

"The area won't be such a hole in the wall," he said.