A long-vacant Big Lots store at Glenbrook Shopping Center in Sacramento's La Riviera neighborhood could soon be filled with trampolines, foam pits, and dodgeball courts. Sky Zone has filed plans to open a roughly 34,900-square-foot indoor trampoline park at 8700 La Riviera Dr, taking over a space that has sat empty since the discount retailer pulled out.
According to WhatNow, the site previously housed a Big Lots store and was being marketed for lease before Sky Zone's plans emerged. If the deal goes through, Sky Zone would become Glenbrook Shopping Center's largest occupant, joining a lineup that already includes Dutch Bros Coffee, Taqueria Ay Jalisco, Diamond Nails, and a mix of independent local shops. The shopping center itself sits on La Riviera Drive in a neighborhood situated just southeast of downtown Sacramento, between the American River and Highway 50.
Property owner Ethan Conrad Properties owns the space occupied by the planned Sky Zone. Leasing materials described the area as having a strong daytime population and steady evening and weekend traffic, and characterized Glenbrook as serving a College Greens area with limited nearby retail options, per CommercialSearch, which notes the 50,595-square-foot center was built in 1972 on 6.84 acres with 111 parking spaces and EVgo fast-charging stations. The property sits roughly 0.7 miles from the Watt/Manlove Light Rail station and about 3 miles from California State University, Sacramento — a location that could draw both student and family foot traffic.
A Vacancy Rooted in Big Lots' Collapse
The anchor space became available after Ohio-based Big Lots included the Glenbrook location on its nationwide store closure list in July 2024, part of a wave of more than 300 closures ahead of the chain's September 2024 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to CBS News. That collapse left landlords across the country, including Ethan Conrad Properties, searching for tenants capable of filling large-format retail boxes. The Sacramento-based firm's portfolio exceeds 11 million square feet across Northern California and Nevada and was valued at more than $2 billion as of October 2024, according to the company's own figures.
Sky Zone's interest in the site fits a broader pattern of trampoline and active-entertainment operators moving into dead retail space. Competing operator Fun City has opened locations in former Big Lots and 99 Cents Only stores in Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova, a trend the Sacramento Business Journal has tied to shopping centers replacing e-commerce-vulnerable retailers with attractions that generate sustained foot traffic.
Permit Filed, but Lease Still Not Signed
On July 21, Sky Zone filed a conditional use permit application with the City of Sacramento for the La Riviera Drive space, proposing a maximum capacity cap of approximately 300 guests. Lease negotiations remain ongoing, and the deal is not yet finalized. Sky Zone plans to open a new indoor trampoline park at the address inside Glenbrook Shopping Center, and its attractions typically target kids, teens, and adults with wall-to-wall trampolines, foam pits, ropes courses, and dodgeball courts.
If approved, the location would expand Sky Zone's footprint in the Greater Sacramento region, where the company already operates parks in Roseville, North Highlands, and Elk Grove. Founded in 2004 and now operating under parent company CircusTrix Holdings, LLC, Sky Zone is the nation's largest indoor active entertainment chain, running more than 270 locations with over 500,000 active members nationwide as of 2024. The company has continued expanding nationally even as it pursues the Sacramento project, including an August project transforming a 54,000-square-foot former Nordstrom at Oregon mall into an adventure park.
Safety Rules Loom Over Indoor Jump Parks
Any new trampoline park arrives alongside a well-documented set of safety concerns tied to the format. Consumer Product Safety Commission data cited by Cutter Law shows nationwide trampoline-park-related emergency room visits climbed from 2,500 in 2013 to roughly 18,000 annually in recent years, a rise that has pushed operators toward standardized ASTM padding and supervision rules. Under California Civil Code § 1714, indoor trampoline parks face strict premises liability requirements, and California courts generally hold that pre-injury liability waivers signed by parents or guests cannot shield operators from claims of gross negligence or child safety rule violations, according to KAASS Law.
For now, the Glenbrook project remains in the permitting stage, with the City of Sacramento reviewing the conditional use application before any lease is finalized. Whether the roughly 300-person capacity cap holds and when construction might begin remain open questions tied to the outcome of ongoing negotiations between Sky Zone and Ethan Conrad Properties.
