The Summit

I really enjoy this mall (especially during the summer; not so much during the winter) as its an outdoor mall!
As a whole it shows really well, it’s always clean, I never see trash flying around, which I’m guessing has to require a lot of cleaning for an outdoor mall!
I think they have a wide variety of shopping and food options, I like that it doesn’t have fast food like most malls do! I do wish there were more dining options though.
This is definitely my favorite place to go shopping in Reno!

There seems to be another listing for «the Summit Shopping Center», but this one has more reviews, so this is where I’ll be! The Summit as locals call it is a big sprawling open air shopping center in the far south end of Reno. It was built, I hear, to service the affluent residents of the south Reno hills and suburban subdivisions of the flats in South Reno. Built during the booming days, they counted on money flowing into the high end stores located here. Nordstrom’s was suppose to go in, but declined, so Summit ended up with Dillard’s. Most of the other stores here are of the higher end products types like Orvis, William Sonoma, MAC Cosmetics (not the eye liners they have at Walgreens!) and a few eateries. Starbucks of course is located here as well. Restaurants do seem to fail a lot here, except the chain of BJ’s Brewhouse, there always seems to be a crowd there. I hear, when this was designed, they opted not to have any bus service to this mall … to keep out the people that didn’t make enough money to have a car!
What I don’t like is the sprawling layout, no wonder they offer golf cart shuttles sometimes. Pretty much, if you know the store you want, you just drive to it. Parking doesn’t really seem to be a problem… due to the lack of customers! None of these store I go into are ever crowded, so that mean not much money coming in. I think a lot of these chain clothing stores here gotta be operating at a loss and corp is absorbing the losses, cause this rent ain’t cheap! Being outdoors, forget traipsing about here with shopping bags in hand when it freakin snowing or even raining! And the summer heat… forget it! No wonder, despite the image of run down or creepy customers, the indoor AC/​heated Meadowood Mall still gets a lot of business.
The Summit here just lacks that cozy feeling while walking about, it’s like everything is one big line from Dillards all the way to Orvis with no sense of a cozy space. Just because it’s an out door strip mall, doesn’t mean they couldn’t have designed with care and a sense of humanity. Take the Fountains Shopping center in Roseville CA for example
Now, that’s a well designed upscale shopping center that Summit was trying to be. Visually it’s that huge expanse of a parking lot the wrecks the Summit. I’ll only come here for a specific store I want and then just park in front of it, this layout does not encourage me to explore any of the other shops. 2 stars as I really have seen a lot better malls, in design and choice of stores.

I have never felt so unwelcome and unappreciated as a customer at Dillard’s. I had sat at the shoe department patiently waiting for service for about 20 minutes. I then decided I would ask if I could try a shoe on by an associate named Alicia. She looked at me then raised her finger and said «yeah, I have other customers» and walked away. As rude as she was I waited for her. She came around about 3 times and never once brought me a shoe or even acknowledged me. Another lady had come in some time after me and asked her to try a shoe on and she tended to her. I was never once acknowledged by Alicia after that and I had asked her what her name was and she still then never tended to me. I will not be returning for the way that I have been treated.

it was ok but I was looking for a tennis shoe store and they didn’t have one

Don’t purchase Summit Gift Cards!!! Purchase them at the retailer. If not used after one year, the balance quickly disappears due to a «processing fee». Not sure what they are processing to justify it. Also, if you try to use an older card, the retailer is unable to tell you how much is left. You are forced to go to the Summit office and deal with the snooty woman there. I’ve had gift cards for 2 – 3 years and they keep their value, and the retailer usable to tell you easily how much is on them.

Very poor layout — the weather in Reno is often blistering hot in the summer, or frigidly cold and windy in the winter months. This is definitely a destination type mall; say you want to go to Dillards (why?) get in, get out. The restaurant selection is very limited, and I have yet to see one restaurant outlast BJ’s. Even if you are going just to see a movie and this is the closest theatre, the stores are not getting ANY of that foot traffic.
You might be tempted to kill some time at other locations by looking at shops, but walking across a huge parking lot is just not what anyone wants to do. I’ve seen outdoor malls done right (Walnut Creek, CA comes to mind) Vast parking lots between stores spread too far apart was just a bad bad idea.

I love having an outdoor mall, at first I didn’t think I would like it, but I really do love the fact that I can just drive straight to the store I want then go in and be able to grab what I need without being stopped by those annoying retail kiosk people in the middle of the walkway trying to get me to buy their product. I hated going to Meadowood because I felt like I had to put my game face on just to be left alone. Makes shopping so unenjoyable.

This is a very interesting outdoor shopping center. I came here venturing out on travel for work; I was looking for a high-​end shopping mall. What I discovered was a sporadically disbursed shopping mall/​center of sorts. The center hosts the likes of places like Dillards, J. Crew, White House black-​market, Bath and Bodyworks, Victoria’s Secret, Jay. Jill, Pottery Barn, Talbots, and the Mac store to name a few.
This is a decent place to come when you have a bit of down time.

Whenever I’m in the mood to spend a buncha money I don’t have (like, say, from a super smart home equity line of credit or a 3^rd credit card I took out to pay off the other credit cards that my significant other doesn’t know about) I prefer to do it in a football field size strip mall in either the blistering «this is what hell feels like» hot or the «I guess I’ll be losing a few fingers» cold. But only… ONLY if all of this comes with that quintessential Reno gale force «there’s no place like home» type wind. THEN… only then… am I a happy shopper. Luckily, The Summit has all this and more!
See, The Summit Mall has everything a person who’s enthralled with outrageously priced fluff could ever need. There are your typical «I measure my self-​worth in generic heart necklaces» jewelry stores. You’ve got your «take out a second mortgage on your house» denim joints and sunglass huts. Not to mention the «here’s a shit-​ton of cheap child-​labor jewelry we’ve imported from China that may or may not contain gross amounts of lead but they’re all priced at less than $ 10 so you won’t give a sh*t anyway» trinket shops.
And if THAT’S not enough to convince you, what about your «I’m only beautiful when slathered in a paycheck’s-worth of eyeshadow» makeup shop? Or the iHope iM happy with this gizmo before the next iVersion is iSsued? Or how about the place you can go to spend an obscene amount of money on a small satchel you can use to carry your now nonexistant billfold?
See…this all sounds like a grand ol time for me. And all the while battling the fierce elements of the Sierra Nevada foothills. And at the end of the day, you can treat yourself to mediocre sushi, mediocre bar food, or a mediocre cocktail. All for the cost of your first born or a kidney.
I’m sure I’ll see you there!

Most people don’t go to Reno to shop, but for someone like me (no gambling/​drinking), I need SOMETHING to do. The Summit used to fill that void handily.
The first time I visited the Summit in 2010, I was pretty surprised with what I saw. The store selection was excellent, but even as a teenager I knew they made a huge mistake with how the mall is laid out. Building the mall as a strip center instead of a traditional linear layout was nuts to me, but the store selection was a huge upgrade from Meadowood with tons of stores I actually shopped at.
Sadly, this past visit I was left with money in my pocket. Many of the stores I shopped at have closed, including Hollister, Guess, and Abercrombie & Fitch. Even more mainstream stores like American Eagle, Hot Topic, and Zumiez are gone. I can’t help but feel that, if the center had been a bit more intelligent in its design, most of the closed stores probably would have thrived.
It’s not that The Summit is a bad mall. There’s still an Apple store and Pottery Barn and Williams-​Sonoma, the mall is far from a lost cause. It’s just that there’s not much left for me to shop at. On top of that, J. Crew is a women’s-only store, which is a huge bummer for me.
The one big positive: Dillard’s. We don’t have many of them in California (let alone in places i’d actually travel to), so it’s nice to have another option besides Macy’s in town.

I love the Summit. The stores are great. I don’t think I’ve seen a single one I don’t like. The landscaping is beautiful and the restaurants are fantastic too. I can spend all day here and not get irritated from people being in my way or employees harassing me asking if I need anything repeatedly or my least favorite comment from Meadowood where they ask if they can ask me a question — uh, NO. I don’t have a single complaint about the stores, products, or variety, I simply love it all. My only con is the location and having to drive 40 minutes from Wingfield to get there. I would go more often just to shop and check things out if it were closer. Still, my favorite shopping place in town.

Terrible layout of mall, no sense in where is what. Few good shops. Destination point only.

This is a pretty beautiful outdoor mall so I can’t for the life of me figure out why it’s empty all the time. From an Apple Store to a Pottery Barn to a Dillards, this place is great. The layout is extremely spread out though so it makes it a little bit awkward in getting to the places you want to go to and with that I agree with others that it’s more for targeted shopping.
Still gorgeous and love it.

Ann Taylor Store
13 925 S Virginia St #242
Reno, NV 89 511
(775) 851‑2960
Associates who helped me: Kari K. and Karla H.
Kari K. and Karla H. ARE AMAZING CUSTOMER/​SALES ASSOCIATES!!~! They completely welcomed my hubby and myself into their store with such a friendly attitude — facilitating any and all questions!
Kari assisted me with my clothing by opening up a dressing room, finding me clothes that looked FABULOUS on me, and most importantly, remembering my size without having to ask me once. I felt important and handled with superior care.
Karla was my cashier and was so informative about item prices and which sale were applied. She also facilitated clothing knowledge and suggestions; just as Kari, knowing Ann Taylor’s clothing shape, fit, and size; she knew exactly what to recommend by merely looking at my body shape.
Both ladies are impeccable! They each provided the up-​most customer service, «wowing and delighting» us with their professionalism and knowledge. They are TRUE ambassadors for the Ann Taylor store. Because of them, I will be visiting this particular location more often. They have retained a loyal customer in me and I look forward to see them again soon!
Thank you Kari and Karla for the wonderful customer experience!

Mall is in danger… Poor Layout… Can’t seem to hold tenants (even in a recovering economy). Most shops in a mall are in that space for the foot traffic and this mall is set up for targeted shopping (know where you want to go, drive specifically to that store, get in/​get out/​go home). If I were going to open a retail location in Reno, Legends at Sparks would be my 1^st choice (foot traffic, nicer grounds, space less expensive). We go to Summit to see a movie (as it’s the closest theater to us) and that’s just about it. Unique retailers are going away there (South Creek up Virginia is where you want to go for unique/​boutique retailers). Summit had more upscale/​new-​to-​the-​area national retailers however, they’re vacating now, too (ie– NY&Company/Clearwater Creek/​Abercrombie/​Hot Topic/​Hollister ALL CLOSED).
BJ’s Brewery stomps out any other restaurant that tries to open (Cortina/​Tequilla Beach/​Firken & Wolf/​now nothing… Johnny Carino’s gone (good riddance), Chocolate Bar’s gone/​back/​gone again, spaces occupied by movie theater have been musical chairs (Tuscan Tomato most recent tenant to CLOSE)…seems like anything that could be built there, BJ’s can out dual… Perhaps an upscale Mexican restaurant that won’t be in direct competition with BJ’s (?))…shops not integrated into the mall design (poor layout). You can visit outdoor malls across the country and see what successful layouts are (it’s not segregating shopping areas and putting your restaurants too far to walk to from the stores). If your family visits the mall for lunch/​movie/​some shopping this trip shouldn’t require multiple car trips (it does at the Summit). I don’t want my daughter meandering across parking lots/​streets while trying to catch a movie then stop by Old Navy then to Claire’s (all 3 in separate remote banks of shops).
With South Creek booming, Legends expanding/​IMAX and nicer grounds, Meadowwood Mall’s more central location/​revitalizing/​adding a Cheesecake Factory (and Nordstrom Rack going in a block away), Summit is in real trouble.
It’s only a matter of time before tenants start to realize that even if they’re doing ‘OK’ at this location, if they were to relocate their sole/​flagship store to any # of other spaces in the Reno market, they’d fare much better due to better space design/​foot traffic. I’d be surprised if retailers like Old Navy aren’t already regretting being pulled to a more remote location into a fizzling market. Why would you pay a premium for your space to be in a mall environment when the mall doesn’t deliver the foot traffic that warrants the higher price for space (?) I can guarantee that tenants like Apple would do better at Meadowwood (provided they were still going to have just 1 location in Reno)…Apple customers would find the store no matter where it’s at and foot traffic would create additional business that Summit isn’t creating.
Advice– start converting some of the vast parking lots that separate blocks of stores into retail space so that your site is connected and has continuity/​foot traffic… might be too tall of an order at this point (considering the sad state of the mall currently).
(Hasn’t been a posting on this mall on Unilocal for 6 months… that very telling)

It’s a pretty good mall and probably the best one in Reno. It has all the usual stores between the small specialty ones and the large departement stores. The food choices are a little limited but it’s mall food afterall.

I like this mall. Wish it wasn’t so far from home. Lots of upscale shops like White House Black Market and Ann Taylor. Great place to just spend the day. There are places to eat, coffee shop, and movie theatre. Very nice!

Lots of great stores. Lots of parking. Enjoy coming from Sparks out here. They also have Farmers Market on Saturdays.

Mostly I come here because of the movie theater.
Sometimes I come here to shop.
Once in awhile I come here to eat.
Rarely do I combine two of the above activities here at the Summit, but it’s pretty dead handy when I do. My favorite stores are the Apple and Old Navy stores. I love the little doggie park and the mini putt putt green they have at that end of the mall. Just a nice extra thoughtful touch.
Unlike other people, I am not one of those people who delight in leisurely walking from shop to shop, spending 45 minutes here, 25 minutes there, and dangling multiple shopping bags from my arm, leaving red marks on my skin.
That is not my idea of fun; therefore the idea of walking from store to store doesn’t bother me. I tend to just go where I need to go, zero in on what I need to buy, and then get the heck out of there. That’s why this kind of open layout is just fine by me.

This review is sole based on my Farmers Market experience yesterday.
C’mon this should be listed as a Farmer Market. This is the smallest Farmers Market i’ve ever visited. Prices are expensive, selection is extremely limited, and the farmers are all from California. Isn’t the whole idea of a farmers market to support the LOCAL farmers?
Bummer i’m zero for two on Reno Farmers Markets.