Before Solano Mall was known as Solano Town Center, it was the heart of retail in Fairfield—a destination for weekend outings, back-to-school shopping, and food court hangouts. And if you grew up in Solano County during the 1980s, chances are you knew this place like the back of your hand.
That’s why this 1986 mall directory isn’t just a map—it’s a time capsule.
Solano Mall in 1986: a snapshot in time
When this directory was printed in 1986, Solano Mall was just five years old, having opened on March 19, 1981. With its fresh modern design and full roster of retailers, it had already established itself as Solano County’s primary shopping hub.
At the time, the mall’s anchor lineup included:
JCPenney (which actually opened in 1977)
Mervyn’s
Sears (still in its original location)
Emporium-Capwell (opened in March 1983)
Macy’s (opened in August 1985—just in time for this map)
This combination of department stores offered everything from high fashion to back-to-school basics—all under one roof.
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| Scanned 1986 mall directory of Solano Mall in Fairfield, CA, showing original anchor stores and retail layout. |
What the directory shows us
This directory captures Solano Mall before its first major transformations. Sears was still at the original end of the center, and Edwards Cinema hadn’t yet been added to the upper level. The directory layout includes the signature wide walkways, seating zones, and community room—plus smaller shops that defined the mall experience: Chess King, Radio Shack, Musicland, Contempo Casuals, and countless others.
And if you were a kid in 1986? The real treasures were the Gold Mine, Imports International, and maybe a buck for an Orange Julius.
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| Front cover of the 1986 Solano Mall directory showing 1980s shoppers with teased hair, colorful clothing, bright shopping bags, and mall food court meals. |
Layout highlights
Some features visible in the 1986 map include:
Anchor stores placed at each end for high foot traffic
Smaller specialty stores along both upper and lower levels
Escalator banks and rest zones marked with icons
- No food court, yet—not until the Westfield era
No upper-level cinema yet—this wouldn’t come until later (although General Cinema was on the perimeter)
For many locals, this is the version of Solano Mall that lives in memory. The smell of new shoes from Foot Locker, the sound of synth-pop from Musicland, the search for the perfect denim jacket.
Before the shift
This was the calm before the retail reshuffle. In 1996, Macy’s acquired Emporium-Capwell, and instead of converting the Fairfield location, Emporium closed. Sears moved into that space, and its original spot was later divided between Best Buy and Edwards Cinema.
But in 1986? All five anchors were still operating at once, making Solano one of the few Bay Area malls with such a broad mix of department stores under one roof.
Why it still matters
Directories like this tell a story—not just of where stores were, but of how we experienced shopping as a cultural and social activity. For those who grew up in Fairfield, Vacaville, and Napa, the 1986 Solano Mall map is more than paper. It’s a memory of childhood, of teens with Walkmans, of parents holding giant JCPenney bags, of hot pretzels and payphones.
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