This 1989 Meadowood Mall directory offers a fascinating glimpse into one of Reno’s premier shopping destinations during its heyday. As a Taubman-developed property, Meadowood featured signature design elements like skylights with integrated lighting and unique art installations throughout the mall corridors.
The 1989 directory: a snapshot in time
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| Front cover of the 1989 Meadowood Mall directory, featuring clean Taubman design lines and a subtle nod to upscale retail branding in Reno, Nevada. |
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| Back cover: A striking detail—language assistance offered in Icelandic, Mandarin, and others, reflecting the mall’s effort to cater to Reno’s tourist traffic. |
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| Interior page of a Meadowood Mall directory from Reno, Nevada, showing mall hours, contact information, and a locator map to help visitors plan their visit. |
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| Inside the 1989 directory: a full list of stores at Meadowood Mall, including Miller’s Outpost, Miller Stockman, and a variety of fashion and specialty retailers. |
Notably, this directory predates the arrival of Sears and the addition of a food court at Meadowood—both developments that would come later, marking an evolution in the mall’s retail and dining options.
Brief history: Meadowood Mall’s beginnings and anchor stores
Meadowood Mall opened in 1978, anchored by Macy’s, Liberty House, and JC Penney. Liberty House closed its doors in 1983, with Macy’s South moving into that space by 1984. Sears joined the mall in 1995, relocating from the soon-to-be-demolished Park Lane Mall and further bolstering Meadowood’s retail presence. It remained a key anchor for over two decades before closing in July 2018, part of a broader national downsizing. Its departure marked the end of an era and a shift toward more entertainment-focused tenants in the former department store space.
Meadowood’s legacy & surrounding landscape
As of today, Meadowood remains the only fully enclosed super-regional mall in the Reno metro, with over 125 stores, a food court, and sit-down dining like The Cheesecake Factory.
In contrast to open-air centers like Summit Sierra or Legends at Sparks—which emerged in the 2000s—Meadowood continues to embody the indoor mall format, even as the region’s retail geography spreads outward.
Final reflection: nostalgia & design through time
That 1989 directory is more than a mall map—it’s a design artifact from an era when shopping felt aspirational, architecturally curated, and community-centered. From Taubman’s artful interiors to unexpected multilingual guest services, it shows a retail world now reshaped by new consumer habits and competition.
Yet, Meadowood persists. Its evolution—from Liberty House and Sears closures to modern anchor shifts—reflects broader trends in American retail. As nearby malls rise and fall, Meadowood continues adapting, just as the directory suggested it might.
Related posts
- Lost department stores of the West: Liberty House (1971—1987)
- Lost malls: Park Lane Mall in Reno (1967—2007)
Comments
I think you are right about the 45 degree angles. Even the logo has it!
Maybe some Reno-ites can chime in.
Scott
Granted, I don't know the Reno market, but considering the tenants Sierra got, you'd at least have expected an outdoor format like Santana Row or Victoria Gardens in Southern Calif. But the fact that it's not indoor truly tells the tale.
Perhaps if Sierra had gotten a Macys or Nordstrom to come on board it would have been different. Problem is, there just aren't that many big anchors left. And aside from Dillards, their other anchors are quite comfortable with the strip/big box format. And as long as it was upscale, the smaller retaiers didn't care. Had it been anchored by a Wal Mart, I doubt stores like Abercrombie would have gone near it.
Years from now you could concievably put more buildings in front and convert it to a traditional outdoor mall, but I don't see it ever going indoor.
As for Meadowood, I'm surprised Weinstocks never went there and had Reno been a bigger market, we might have seen it happen. But with Sears as a co-anchor, Park Lane probably did quite well for Weinstocks until the end.
The mall is not multi-story. The elevation varies inside with short ramps and flights of stairs typically three or four steps in total. As someone else said, it was built on a sloping lot.
As far as its appearance, the original outdoor signs are still on at least one street entrance (the font is very 80's) and the inside still looks the same as it does in the scans you see on this page. The only obvious exception if you were to visit today is that the sculpture in the planter pictured on the front of the directory flier was converted into a fountain. Ultimately it was moved to a location near the information desk because its original planter/fountain location was demolished and replaced with a Starbucks a few years back. I was rather disappointed with that decision, but at least they didn't trash the sculpture. The "stage" area was flattened out with risers to eliminate the pit area (kids falling off it perhaps?), but it wasn't filled in and it's still under there.
Other than the Starbucks, all of the planters are still in place, the light fixtures are the same, and the floor still has the same tile. Today Meadowood owned by Simon Malls.
Meadowood is the only mall of its type left in the city. Park Lane mall was demolished. Sparks has the more promising Legends compared to Reno's Summit, in my opinion. The Legends incorporates a lot of Nevada history and sculptures into its walking areas, and it's basically laid out like Meadowood except without a roof. Legends is also bringing the area's first and only IMAX theater, and it's a much shorter drive than Summit.
A memory by
Darrell in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who lives ten blocks from North Americas largest mall. West Edmonton Mall
The mall has begun a massive renovation that will bring in new, upscale tenants and involve several store relocations. I'm working on updating the Mall's Wikipedia page as info becomes available.