Northland Center
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| Northland Center | |
| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Southfield, Michigan, USA |
| Opening date | 1954 |
| Developer | J.L. Hudson Company |
| Management | Jager Management |
| Owner | Jager Management |
| No. of stores and services | 110 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (3 operating, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 2 million sq ft Macy's - 511,509 sq ft Target - 117,000 sq ft National Wholesale Liquidators - 117,750 sq ft former JCPenney - 283,534 sq ft former TJ Maxx - 40,334 sq ft |
| No. of floors | 1, plus partial basement (Macy's is 4 levels) |
| Website | http://www.shopatnorthland.com/ |
Northland Center is a shopping mall located at Northwestern Highway and Greenfield Road and 8 Mile Road in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Construction began in 1952 and the mall opened on March 22, 1954.
Northland was a milestone for regional shopping centers in the postwar United States. Designed by Victor Gruen, it became the model for many other major centers, with 110 stores on one level, clustered around a four-level Hudson's anchor, and surrounded by the parking lot. Northland contains Michigan's largest Macy's department store, with 511,509 square feet on four levels.<re>Northland Mall. Retrieved on June 2, 2008.</ref>
The mall has continuously operated since its opening; currently, Macy's, National Wholesale Liquidators, and Target are the mall's anchor stores. Two anchor spaces, formerly occupied by JCPenney and TJ Maxx, are vacant.
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[edit] History
The Northland Center shopping center was built by J. L. Hudson Company, a major retail department store based in Detroit that went on to become the second largest department store (next to Macy's of New York City) in the United States. At the time Northland opened, Hudson's store in downtown Detroit was its sole location and sales were suffering due to the spread of the community outward from the city's core.[citation needed]
The Northland opening was the first major postwar development in suburban Detroit and was the first of many forays into the suburbs by Hudson's. Some $30,000,000 was invested in constructing the facility. The first-year gross for the Northland Hudson's was $88,000,000.[1]
The downtown Hudson's store closed in January, 1983 and was demolished in October, 1998. Hudson's merged with Dayton's of Minneapolis to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation), was re-branded as Marshall Field's in 2001 and renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006 after Marshall Field's then-parent company May Department Stores was acquired by Federated.
Designed by Victor Gruen, the shopping center opened to much fanfare. Articles about the center appeared in national media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Time (magazine), Look, Life, Ladies Home Journal and Newsweek. All heralded that the concept represented the future of shopping in post-war America. Besides Hudson's, Northland opened with a number of other local retailers including: Hughes & Hatcher, Baker's Shoes, Himelhoch's, Winkelman's, Kresge, Robinson Furniture, Better Made Potato Chips, Kroger, and Sanders in the two-million-square-foot center. Northland featured auditoriums, a bank, post office, infirmary, sculptures, fountains, an office for lost children, lavish landscaping, and free gasoline for certain customers.
Gruen would later grow disenchanted with the malls he helped start with Northland. The architect, who also designed suburban Detroit's Eastland Center, Chicago's Randhurst and South Jersey's Cherry Hill Mall, pronounced himself disillusioned with the ugliness and fast-buck approach of many projects. "I refuse to pay alimony for those bastard developments", he told Time magazine]].[2]
[edit] Expansion
Northland center was enclosed as a mall in 1974[1], the same year that JCPenney and Montgomery Ward were added. Later additions included Federated's short-lived MainStreet chain (later Kohl's), as well as TJ Maxx, and Target. In 1991, a food court was added[1]. Despite the additions, Northland has suffered a natural decline as its buildings aged. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, major tenants vacated their operations, as did several of the anchor stores. Kohl's and Montgomery Ward both closed in the mid 1990s; JCPenney closed in 2000; and TJ Maxx closed in 2004. Beginning in 2000, only $100.00 was invested in revitalization of the area by GP Northland II, a New Jersey-based partnership, which took control of operations that year.
[edit] Current operations
Northland's current operations include three anchor department stores, listed below. In addition, the mall features over 100 retailers, a food court with seven restaurants, and a small outdoor court.
Northland Center has the largest Macy's in the state of Michigan.
Northland's operations have been affected by the urban decay that has enveloped the southern Southfield area; however, the mall remains a viable, successful center, with sales per square foot well above the national average. Foot Locker, Payless ShoeSource, Radio Shack, Subway, and Mrs. Fields are among the chain tenants at Northland.
The mall is open 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Sunday and holidays.
[edit] Former anchors
- Marshall Field's - converted to Macy's in 2006.
- Hudson's - converted to Marshall Field's in 2001
- JCPenney - added 1974, closed 2000. Vacant[2]
- Kohl's - closed 1994, now Jeepers!, Anna's Linens, Lee Beauty Supply and Target (71,000 sq. ft.)
- Kresge - closed 1987, demolished for a food court.
- Kroger - now smaller stores
- MainStreet - opened 1983, converted to Kohl's in 1988 (71,000 sq. ft.)
- Marshall Field's - converted from Hudson's in 2001, converted to Macy's in 2006
- Montgomery Ward - added 1974, closed 1998, now National Wholesale Liquidators[3]
- TJ Maxx - added early 1990s, closed December 2004. Vacant (40,334 sq. ft.)[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b http://www.secinfo.com/dRe2b.b1r.htm#rwb SEC Info - Midwest Real Estate Shopping Center LP - Def 14A - For 6/28/94
- ^ http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/022004/bus_20040220014.shtml The Oakland Press: 50-year-old mall seeks tenants
- ^ http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/082004/bus_20040820021.shtml The Oakland Press: Discounter to set up shop at Northland
- ^ http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0503/03/A01-106494.htm Detroit News: Aging malls fight to remake their images
[edit] External links
- Northland Center homepage
- Golden Northland article from Detroit Free Press on Northland's 50th anniversary in 2004
- Shopping Mall History
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