Fort Saginaw Mall

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Mall facts and statistics
Fort Saginaw Mall
1960s image of Fort Saginaw Mall

Location	Buena Vista Charter Township, Michigan, United States
Opening date	1967, closed mid-1990s
No. of stores and services	None; mall is vacant
No. of anchor tenants	3 (all vacant)
Total retail floor area	Mall - 335,000 ft² former Federals/Burlington Coat Factory/Phar-Mor - 52,600 ft.²
No. of floors	1

Fort Saginaw Mall was the first of three enclosed shopping malls to serve the city of Saginaw, Michigan. While it was a viable shopping destination into the 1990s, high crime rates and competition from Fashion Square Mall forced the closure of the mall in the mid 1990s. The vacant property is owned by Cafaro Company of Youngstown, Ohio.

[edit] History

Garden City, Michigan-based discount department store Kmart (with an adjacent Kmart Foods), opened in 1966 as the first store in Fort Saginaw Mall.^[1] In 1967, the mall opened to the public, featuring more than 40 stores. Notable tenants included Detroit, Michigan-based Federal Department Store (Federals), Scott's 5 & 10, Muir Drugs, Greenley Appliance, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and a one-screen movie theater. Giantway, a regional supermarket chain based in Bay City, Michigan, was located behind Federals, but could only be accessed from outside. Similarly, neither Kmart nor Kmart Foods could be accessed from within the mall.

Former mall entrance, as seen in 2003

In 1972, Fashion Square Mall opened on the north side of Saginaw. This mall was much larger, featuring nearly 100 stores, and four anchor stores (a fifth was later added).^[2] Because it was centrally located to the "Tri-Cities" (Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland), and because it was much larger, Fashion Square Mall became the dominant shopping center in the region. Today, Fashion Square is the only shopping mall still serving Saginaw.

A small mall, called Downtown Saginaw Mall, opened in Saginaw's downtown district in the 1970s. This short-lived mall, anchored by locally-based Apex Drugstore and Morley's Department Store, never saw much success and was soon converted to Saginaw Centre, a conference center.

Increased competition from the larger Fashion Square Mall, and a rising crime rate around Fort Saginaw Mall, began to take their toll on Fort Saginaw Mall. In 1976, the mall's theater abruptly closed; rumors circulated that the theater's manager had been murdered.^[3] The theater did re-open in 1979, but it only showed one film before closing again^[4] and being converted to retail space. Also in the 1970s, Scott's 5 & 10 was converted to T G & Y.^[1]

Former Big Lots at Fort Saginaw Mall

Federals closed its stores in 1977; their location at Fort Saginaw Mall was converted to Burlington Coat Factory.^[1] Kmart phased out its Kmart Foods stores in the late 1970s as well, allowing the mall's Kmart to expand into the former Kmart Foods space. (However, Kmart still did not open out into the mall.) T G & Y closed in the mid 1980s and was replaced with Norman's, a regional sporting goods store. Big Lots also opened in the late 1980s, although the store could only be accessed from outside.^[1] Even with the new stores arriving in the 1980s, the mall was still was on a decline, and needing rehabilitation.^[5]

In 1991, Burlington Coat Factory moved to a new store near Fashion Square Mall. Phar-Mor quickly replaced Burlington Coat Factory, although Phar-Mor closed all Michigan operations by 1992. Big Lots later closed as well, along with Norman's Sporting Goods and many other mall tenants. Kessel Food Market replaced Giantway in 1992 as the Giantway chain folded. By the middle of the decade, the mall itself was boarded up, with only Kmart and Kessel Food Market remaining open. Kessel has since been replaced with Save-A-Lot.^[1]

[edit] The Mall Today

A sign for "Fort Saginaw Shopping Center" was erected in front of the mall around 2000. This sign heralded plans to tear down the mall and replace it with a strip mall. For some unknown reason, the plans were aborted, leaving the vacant mall to deteriorate. Kmart closed its store in late 2004, although Save-A-Lot is still open. The mall building itself remains, still boarded up; in fact, some sources indicate that trees are growing through the floor of the old mall.^[6]

Kmart at Fort Saginaw Mall, as seen in 2003

In 2005, when Wal-Mart was seeking to open a store in the nearby Frankenmuth area, the site of Fort Saginaw Mall was offered. The site was turned down by Wal-Mart, who has since scrapped plans for a Frankenmuth location.^[7]

2007 reports indicate that Buena Vista Charter Township is planning to purchase and re-develop the vacant mall property.^[8] Cafaro Company refuses to sell the mall, as they also have plans to re-develop it. The township wants Cafaro Company to sell the mall voluntarily; otherwise, the township will buy the property by way of eminent domain and pay the fair market value to the owners. Cafaro, however, admits that they will not sell.^[6]