The Clothes Horse & Randall Square

Randy Meisner and his first wife, Jennifer, opened two stores in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, plus built in a mini-mall called Randall Square. This building still exists today.

THE CLOTHES HORSE

Opened in 1968, the Clothes Horse was a boutique, owned and operated by Randy and Jennifer, at 1511 Broadway in Scottsbluff. The shop sold clothing and gifts. It closed in 1971.

Jennifer: “Those were our best days. Randy had a slot car track set up in the basement of the Clothes Horse. We refinished antiques in the back room. The Woodshed, where he played sometimes, was just a few doors down the alley.”

Jennifer: “We had real models in the front windows. My mom was so amazing at decorating… teachers even brought their classes to see our windows.”

The Scottsbluff Star-Herald highlighted the The Clothes Horse in March 1969 in a section about new businesses. The article included a detailed description of the shop:

One local recalled The Clothes Horse on a Scottsbluff Facebook page: “It was the first time I saw beads in doorways and smelled incense. I thought that was pretty special.”

Interior of the Clothes Horse:

The newspaper clipping below shows Jennifer hanging up dresses at the shop.

Jennifer: “I made the clothes hangers and hand painted them.”

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Jennifer and two other employees from the shop posed for this ad from December 24th, 1970
L-R: Jennifer, Meredith Smith and Joyce Asmus.¹

The Clothes Horse participated in fashion shows. The one below was at Der Stein in Scottsbluff, later called The Pub, in August 1969. Jennifer was one of the models.

Jennifer at the fashion show, August 27, 1969. Jennifer was newly pregnant with twins.

Below: Randy onstage with Pogo (later Poco) in striped pants from The Clothes Horse, c.1969:

_{Photo by Cindy Dakin}

One item sold at The Clothes Horse even made it into an Eagles song. The tweeting bird at the beginning of “Early Bird,” co-written by Randy and Bernie Leadon for the Eagles’ 1972 debut, was from a birdcage music box sold at the Clothes Horse (similar to this one). Randy took the music box to London for the recording of the album. Sadly, it ended up being dismantled by customs in London and never worked again.

Randall Square

In 1979, Randy and Jennifer, along with local developer, J.T. Arnold, began construction of a three-level “mini-mall” at 1414 E. 20th Avenue in Scottsbluff. The interior would include several business and shops, plus a restaurant. Although, Randy was not involved in the day-to-day running of Randall Square, he and Jennifer owned a toy and clothing store in the mall called Jenny-Ann, Ltd. His first cousin, Dorothy Van Wyngarden, also owned a women’s clothing store called The Designer. ²

Construction of Randall Square. The woman at left is the Meisners’ friend and former nanny, Janice Heilbrun.³ Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner

The grand opening was August 7th, 1980. Both Jenny-Ann, Ltd and The Loft restaurant were on the top floor. Randy and Jennifer’s sixteen-year-old son, Dana, worked at The Loft.

Randy outside the entrance, circa mid-1980s. Photo from his private collection (©Estate of Randy Meisner).

Randy: “At the time, we were going to open a toy store and just kick back and be in Nebraska.” ⁴

Jenny-Ann, Ltd. sign inside Randall Square. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner)

Jenny-Ann, Ltd sold unique toys and gifts, as well as children’s clothing. The name was a combination of Jennifer “Jenny” Meisner and her partner, Anne “Ann” Campbell.

Jennifer Meisner (left) and Anne Campbell at their shop Jenny-Ann, Ltd.
(Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner)

Interior of Jenny-Ann during construction of Randall Square. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner)

Among the items Jenny-Ann, Ltd. carried were the original, signed Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. They also carried Hello Kitty merchandise by the Japanese company, Sanrio. Jennifer first became aware of Hello Kitty when she visited Japan with Randy during an Eagles’ tour in 1976. She recalled meeting with the people from Sanrio in Los Angeles:

Jennifer: “I remember taking a limo from our house in Nichols Canyon to meet with the people in charge of Sanrio at the time…having seen all the Hello Kitty in Japan. I talked them into letting me buy wholesale for our store.”

Tag from Jenny-Ann featuring their brand “Sweet Cinnamon Bear.” The name was taken from one of Jennifer’s favorite radio programs as a child, “The Cinnamon Bear.” (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner)

Below: Sweet Cinnamon Bear patchwork vest. All clothing manufactured by Jenny-Ann, Ltd was designed by Jennifer and sewn by Anne.

Among Jenny-Ann’s most popular items were their Victorian angel tree toppers:

Bag from Jenny-Ann, Ltd featuring Randy and Jennifer’s daughter, Heather, on the left, and Anne Campbell’s granddaughter, Carie, on the right. The girls are wearing Jenny-Ann dresses. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner)

Full page ad for Randall Square. Scottsbluff Star-Herald, March 12th, 1981.

When Randy and Jennifer divorced in October 1981, Randy was given Randall Square as part of their settlement. Although, Jenny-Ann, Ltd closed in 1982, it remained a successful wholesale business for many years.

Below: Jenny-Ann, Ltd receives an Achievement Award from Mayor Tom Bradley at a wholesale show in Los Angeles, 1988. Anne Campbell in glasses next to Mayor Bradley. Jennifer is next to her. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Meisner)

Randy sold Randall Square in 1988.⁵ Although he cut ties with the property many years ago, the building still exists today as an office complex, and it is still called Randall Square.

_{Randall Square in October 2024:}

Notes:

Many thanks to Jennifer Meisner for sharing her memories and photos.

1. Joyce was married to Marvin Asmus, brother of Paul Asmus, who was a member of Randy’s first band, The Dynamics. Meredith Smith’s first job was at the Clothes Horse. A short time later, she went to California and lived with Randy and Jennifer in their apartment on North Serrano in Hollywood. She eventually got her own place and never returned to Nebraska. ↩︎
2. Dorothy Van Wyngarden was the daughter of Randy’s maternal aunt, Elizabeth Haun Meininger. ↩︎
3. Janice Heilbrun was a friend and former nanny of the Meisners. When the Eagles toured Europe in 1973 & 1975, they hired Janice to accompany them and watch over Dana. In the late 1970s, Janice went to work for John Reid Enterprises, who managed Elton John, as a tour coordinator. She later worked for Queen, who was also managed by John Reid. ↩︎
4. Omaha World-Herald, October 14, 1984 ↩︎
5. Scottsbluff Star-Herald, February 7th, 1988 ↩︎