What Moved Into Sahuarita's Empty Storefronts This Fall

"We found out that over 10,000 people from our area are driving to Tucson each month to visit theaters like Harkins and Roadhouse," Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy told KGUN 9 in May 2025, a week after Desert Sky Cinemas went dark on Duval Mine Road.

The town got that number from an app its Economic Development department built. It explains why the three biggest vacancies in town were filled two different ways. Two of the empty boxes went back to national discount chains that showed up on their own corporate timelines. The town went after the third tenant, a dine-in movie theater, because it wanted to stop thousands of monthly trips up I-19 for a night out.

Three Dark Spaces, Three New Tenants

Here is where each former tenant's space stands heading into November 2026.

The Errand Spaces Filled on Their Own Schedule

Burlington opened in the former Big Lots space with a 7:45 a.m. ribbon cutting on Aug. 29, according to the Green Valley News. The Sahuarita Big Lots had been one of nearly 300 stores the chain planned to close nationally, the Green Valley News reported.

Five Below took longer. The Green Valley News reported that the chain quietly opened its doors Oct. 17, nearly 10 months after it filed tenant improvement plans with the Town of Sahuarita. The store fills the 12,873-square-foot former Jo-Ann space in Sahuarita Palms Plaza, which had been empty for nearly a year after Jo-Ann announced in February 2025 that it would close 533 stores in 49 states. The grand opening weekend came a few days after the soft opening.

In both cases a national closure created the vacancy and a national expansion filled it. The local part was mostly paperwork and build-out time. Each box sat dark for roughly a year and reopened as a bigger discount retailer than the one that left.

The town's economic development staff expected that pattern. After Big 5 announced plans to close its Sahuarita store in early 2026, Director Victor Gonzalez and specialist Alex Magallanes told the Green Valley News that the wave of national closures was unlikely to leave long-term vacancies, since the town was pitching Sahuarita to businesses big and small. The two of them run the whole department, and they told the paper that AI-powered online tools now do work that used to take a much larger staff.

Newer shopping centers were filling up too. A Green Valley News roundup of new Sahuarita businesses showed a Sherwin-Williams under construction next to Bealls Outlet in The Crossing at Sahuarita Shopping Center.

The Theater Was the One the Town Went After

Desert Sky Cinemas had shown blockbusters and indie films in Sahuarita for more than two decades. When it closed in 2025, KGUN 9 reported that moviegoers in Sahuarita and Green Valley were left driving nearly 30 miles north to Tucson.

Nobody waited for a national chain to fill this space. Town officials confirmed they had opened talks with RoadHouse Cinemas, the Tucson-based dine-in chain, after their app data showed the monthly drive to Tucson theaters. KGUN reported that the building was in disrepair and would need significant investment, and Murphy said the town was exploring incentive options to make the site more appealing.

The deal moved forward. According to the Green Valley News, the RoadHouse group agreed to buy the former Desert Sky 6 to build a smaller version of its luxury theater at Grant and Swan in Tucson. Barker Contracting began gutting the old building in May. On Sept. 3, Town Manager Shane Dille and a group of town staff toured the site with part-owner Josh Snider. Dille said afterward that he expects his family will become regulars.

Half the Building, the Same Six Screens

The Sahuarita RoadHouse keeps the old theater's footprint. That shapes what moviegoers will find inside. Snider told the Green Valley News that the building is about half the size of the Tucson location, so the kitchen had to fit into a much tighter lobby.

Here's what the plans described during the September tour include:

• Seating: Crews removed every other row in each of the six auditoriums to make room for recliners and side tables. Each auditorium will seat 44 to 78 people.
• Screens and sound: New laser projectors, a new sound system, and screens that Snider described as "wall-to-wall" and reaching almost to the ceiling.
• Food and drink: Chef-driven food, a full bar with local craft beers, RoadHouse's gourmet white popcorn, keg root beer, gelato and push-button seat-side service.
• Lobby: A ticket counter, a circular bar, and room for only three or four tables.
• Outside: A small patio by the new entrance, under a steel structure that will carry the RoadHouse sign.

Because of the small lobby, the night happens mostly in your seat, with food and drinks brought to you. Snider left the door open to more. He mentioned possible private screening rooms of 200 to 300 square feet, or something like Roadies, the arcade, bowling and sports bar venue at the Tucson location. "We'll have to see how this one goes," he said.

What's Still Pending on Duval Mine Road

The errand spaces are open. The theater still has a few steps to go:

1. Hiring. At the September tour, Snider said RoadHouse would probably start hiring staff in November.
2. Opening. He did not commit to opening before Thanksgiving. "But it'll be before the end of the year," he said, adding that the timeline depends on the contractor.
3. Showtimes. RoadHouse's Sahuarita page still carries a "Coming Soon" banner for the theater at 70 W. Duval Mine Road.

Until the doors open, the nearest dine-in screens are still the ones Murphy described in 2025: up the interstate in Tucson. A December opening would put a first-run theater back in Sahuarita in time for the holiday movie season, with six auditoriums that seat between 44 and 78 people each.

A Burlington on the frontage road, a Five Below on Nogales Highway and a dine-in theater on Duval Mine Road all change what sits within a short drive of home. If you're thinking about your next move in Sahuarita or Green Valley, Iris Pasos can walk you through how the area is changing street by street. Start your home search or ask for a free home valuation whenever you're ready.