Courtland Center

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Mall facts and statistics
Courtland Center

Location	Burton, Michigan, United States
Opening date	1968
Owner	Tucker Development
No. of stores and services	approx. 80
No. of anchor tenants	4, plus one vacant
Total retail floor area	459,000 SF
No. of floors	1
Website	http://courtlandcenter.com

Courtland Center is an enclosed mall located in what is now the city of Burton, Michigan. When it opened in 1968, the mall was known as Eastland Mall. The mall currently features over 80 stores and a food court; it is owned by Tucker Development.

1 Summary
2 Timeline
3 Anchors
4 Former anchors
5 External links

[edit] Summary

Eastland Mall (the mall's original name) opened in 1968 with Woolco, The Fair, and Federal Department Store as anchors. The mall building also featured both A & P and Kroger, neither of which could be accessed from within the mall. For only two years, it was the largest mall in Genesee County, until Genesee Valley Center opened on the other end of town. Both malls saw a wealth of retail development in their areas, and became the cores of large retail districts. While Genesee Valley Center has seen a fair share of expansions over time, becoming the Flint area's dominant shopping center, Eastland Mall/Courtland Center has held its own as an ancillary mall.

Throughout the 1990s, Courtland Center lost many chain tenants, such as Spencer Gifts, f. y. e., Hallmark, and Baskin-Robbins. However, to this day, the mall still features many national tenants, such as Old Navy, McDonald's, JC Penney and B. Dalton, as well as a variety of local and independent retailers. Thanks to the recent opening of many new stores, including Dunham's Sports and Staples, the mall is close to full occupancy.

Courtland Center was mentioned in Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11. In the film, the mall is referred to as being a poverty-stricken neighborhood mall, while Genesee Valley Center is said to be in a wealthier neighborhood.

[edit] Timeline

1968: Eastland Mall opens to the public.
1969: Eastland Mall Theaters, a single-screen movie theater, opens.
early 1970s: A & P and Kroger close their locations; the former A & P is soon converted to Jo-Ann Fabrics.
1977: Federal Department Store closes all stores; their store at Eastland briefly operates as discount chain Robert Hall Village before being converted to J. C. Penney.
1981: Plitt Theaters takes over the Eastland Mall Theaters, twinning the complex.
1982-1983': Woolco declares bankruptcy, closing all stores. Their store at Eastland Center is split. Half of the large Woolco space becomes a Crowley's department store, and the remainder is divided into smaller mall shops.
mid-1980s: Cunningham Drugs' Michigan locations are bought out and re-named by Pontiac, Michigan-based Perry Drugs.
1987: The mall is renovated and re-named. A contest is held to devise a new name. The winning entry is Courtland Center, perhaps derived from the names of Center Road and Court Street, the roads in front of the mall. Reflecting the mall's name change, the theaters are re-named Courtland Center Cinemas. Also, The Fair closes.
1988': National Amusements closes the Courtland Center Cinemas.
ca. 1991: Mervyn's opens in the former The Fair space.
mid-1990s?: J. C. Penney moves its home goods into the former Perry Drugs space. Later, J. C. Penney also moves its intimate apparel into a nearby, vacated storefront.
1996: Silver Cinemas re-opens the theater complex, expanding it to 6 screens, also making it the first complex in the Flint area to have all-stadium seating. The complex is re-named Silver Cinemas. Later in the year, National Amusements buys back the theater complex, reverting it to Courtland Center Cinemas.
1997: Crowley's closes all stores.
2000: Old Navy opens in half of the old Crowley's; Old Navy does not open out into the mall. The other half of the former Crowley's remains vacant for six more years.
2004: Old Navy moves into the mall itself, displacing two storefronts in the Mervyn's wing. The former Old Navy remains vacant.
2005: Jo-Ann Fabrics vacates its old space, as a Jo-Ann Etc. store opens in a portion of the old Crowley's. The new store, like the old one, does not open out to the mall. The former Jo-Ann Fabrics remains vacant.
2006: Dunham's Sports and Staples move from nearby centers, filling in the rest of the former Crowley's. Staples takes the former Old Navy location, while Dunham's Sports (which also took over a couple smaller mall shops) opens out into the mall. These new tenants herald the beginning of mall-wide renovations.
Spring 2006: Mervyn's closes all Michigan stores.