Main Street Pizza & Noodle served its last slice at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 5, after 35 years at 530 Main Street. Owner Rick Smith told KPCW the reasons were rising rent and pressure from national tenants, and said his rent had climbed from $70 per square foot to double that. By August, TownLift reported that the Los Angeles activewear brand Alo was taking over the space. Alo joined lululemon, Vuori and Patagonia on the upper part of the street.
Since 2017, Park City has had a law meant to slow exactly this kind of change. It caps how many chains can be on Main Street, and a full cap and steady turnover can happen at the same time. The decisions most likely to change Main Street next involve public land, not the cap.
The south side ran out of slots four years ago
The city's conventional chain business ordinance was approved on August 17, 2017. It limits chain storefronts to 17 in the Historic Commercial Business district, which is Main Street south of, or uphill from, Heber Avenue. North of Heber, in the Historic Recreation Commercial district, the limit is 7.
The upper Main Street cap filled in October 2022. According to the Park Record, Chip Cookies at 523 Main took the last open slot south of Heber, two years after 7-Eleven moved into the former Main Street Deli space. Alo arrived at 530 Main nearly four years after that, with all 17 slots still taken.
In 2022, the Park Record's description of the south-side chains included the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company and The North Face. Neither is on the city's list updated October 9, 2026. That list shows Alo at 530 Main and Marine Layer at 515 Main.
Who holds the 17, as of October 9
Here are the 17 south-side storefronts on the city's current list, grouped by type:
- Outdoor and apparel: Helly Hansen, Lululemon and Gorsuch Ski Shop at 333 Main; Shirt Off My Back at 405; Roots at 408; Vuori at 440; Marine Layer at 515; Alo at 530; Overland Sheepskin Company at 545; Arc'teryx at 570; Patagonia at 632
- Home goods: Gorsuch Home at 355
- Food and convenience: Chip Cookies at 523; 7-Eleven at 525
- Real estate offices: three slots, at 354, 545 and 625 Main
North of Heber Avenue, five of the seven slots are taken: a real estate office at 693 Main, Free People, Sunglass Hut and Arhaus at 675, and Relevant Galleries at 692. Two are open.
Chip Cookies and 7-Eleven are the only food or convenience businesses among the south-side 17. Pizza & Noodle closed under the cap, and so did the Main Street Deli before 7-Eleven took its space. In both cases a local restaurant gave way to a national retailer. The cap set the number of chains but not what kind of business they replaced.
Rent was never part of the cap
The 2017 debate was about rent from the start. When the city first looked at the idea, the Park Record reported in May 2017 that officials and small merchants were worried chains could outbid smaller retailers as rents rose steeply, and that this would wear away the street's historic character. Jonathan Weidenhamer, then the city's economic development manager, said L.L.Bean's planned arrival "turned up the Bunsen burner" on the issue. In the same article, planner Hannah Tyler said the effects of regulating chains were uncertain: a ban might help small retailers but could also leave storefronts empty. She said the council considered the spread of chains the bigger concern.
The ordinance that passed limits a type of tenant; it does not cover rent. Smith's description of his rent doubling from $70 a square foot is a rent problem.
Property owners on the street have said the same thing. In August 2025, the Park Record reported that Matthew Prince, after buying the Town Lift base, said Main Street lease rates were "scaring away talent." He said he wanted to offer spaces at "incredibly affordable rents" and did not plan to change rents for existing Town Lift Plaza tenants. That is one owner's plan for one group of buildings, and it is a private decision, separate from anything the cap requires.
The next decisions are about public land
With the chain count fixed at 17, the parts of Main Street that can still change most are the public spaces around the storefronts. Two areas are under discussion.
The Brew Pub lot. Top of Main Brew Pub at 250 Main closed in the spring after 37 years on upper Main Street, and by late July the Park Record reported that the building was listed for lease. The city owns the parking lot next door. Ideas for that lot appear in Park City's Main Street Area Plan, which dates to late 2024 and which the council never formally adopted. The plan describes a Brew Pub Plaza meant to "draw people to the top of the street," with restrooms, a winter skating area and a mining tower. It also floats a gondola to Deer Valley Resort, noting that 23 percent of Main Street visitors come from Deer Valley. According to the minutes of the council's August 20 work session, council members raised family-friendly uses for the lot. Mayor Ryan Dickey summed up the planning work they wanted as including the lot and focusing on Swede Alley.
Swede Alley and China Bridge. On October 22, the council took up the aging China Bridge parking garage. Its uphill southern section opened in 1986. City project manager Steven Dennis said replacing that section before the 2034 Olympics could cost $16 million to $22 million, according to KPCW. Councilmember Bill Ciraco suggested spending $30 million to redevelop both the garage and Swede Alley. City economic development project manager Matt Lee put the broader project at $100 million to $120 million. Councilmember Diego Zagarra asked how a new project would affect the city's workforce housing goals. On KPCW, Dickey said that for most visitors driving in from Deer Valley Drive, Swede Alley is "back of house. It's dumpsters."
TownLift reported that council members generally supported looking at Swede Alley as a wider district and asked staff for more planning and financial analysis. Staff recommended finishing planned rehabilitation of the garage in 2027 and reassessing the structure in 2030 or 2031. No decision was made on the garage or on Swede Alley.
For anyone who wants a say in which businesses can make it on upper Main, these are the meetings to follow. Rent is set in private leases and the chain count is fixed at 17. Whether people walk up past 500 Main, how they get there from the garage, and what the Brew Pub lot becomes are all still public decisions.
This post is general information, not legal or financial advice. If you own or lease commercial space on Main Street, check how the chain rules apply to your storefront with the city's business licensing office or your own attorney.
If you own property in or near Old Town and want help working out how Main Street and Swede Alley decisions could affect your building, its maintenance plans or its leasing, Parker Properties can go through it with you. Start Effortless Ownership by scheduling a consultation.
