Northland Center, Southfield, Michigan

A typical Northland Center directional sign. Northland was the first mall in Michigan.

As you know, there are four "-land" malls that surround Detroit. We've covered the last of these, Southland Center, way back in 2013. Today's feature brings us to the first of these, Northland Center, which is a large enclosed dead mall located at Northwestern Highway and Greenfield Road in Southfield, Michigan. Currently, the sole anchor, if it still is when you're reading this, is Macy's.

A 1949 DTE aerial image of the farmland that would later become Northland Center. Believe it or not, a housing subdivision was planned for the site!
During the 1940's and 1950's, homes sprouted up on agricultural lands throughout the unincorporated Southfield Township in southern Oakland County. What was the third mall designed by architect Victor Gruen turned out to be the first to actually be erected. Construction started on May 7, 1952. The open-air center was to feature two levels, the upper level housing retail and the lower level housing a service basement and a fallout shelter. The sole anchor was to be a massive four-level Hudson's, their first suburban store. There were to be a total of five retail blocks and seven open courts.

Northland opened on March 22, 1954. In it's first two years in business, Northland Center was the world's largest shopping center. 13 sculptures were created for the court areas. When it first opened, articles about the center appeared in national publications. Other charter tenants included Hughes & Hatcher, Barna-Bee Children's Shops, Cunningham's Drugs, Baker's Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Big Boy, Himelhoch's, Winkelman's, Kresge, Kroger, Sander's, Robinson Furniture and Better Made Potato Chips. Southfield Township would later mostly incorporate as the city of Southfield in 1957.

An aerial image from the Wayne State University Virtual Motor City collection of Northland Center on August 11, 1965.
1962 brought the opening of an extension of the James Couzens (later renamed John C. Lodge) Freeway from Wyoming Street to 8 Mile Road, allowing more people to have easier access to Northland Center. This also spurred the development of many medium- and high-rise office and apartment towers in the surrounding area and also spurred Providence Hospital and the then-CBS affiliate and now Fox owned-and-operated WJBK (channel 2) television station to settle in nearby.

By 1970, Northland Center was still open-air, long after that concept had faded. In order to compete, it undertook a massive four-year renovation, which enclosed the corridors and added a new two-level JCPenney and a new one-level Montgomery Ward. This was completed by 1974.

This aerial image from the Wayne State University Virtual Motor City collection, taken on July 11, 1973, shows Northland Center, undergoing a conversion into an enclosed mall, in the background. It shows construction beginning on the JCPenney anchor.
The arrival of the mid-1980's resulted in changes at Northland Center. Several national tenants, including Jo-Ann Fabrics, Kresge and The Limited, left the mall. In 1985, the mall added the Federated-owned Main Street department store chain as another anchor tenant. This would be acquired by and rebranded by Kohl's in 1988. However, despite these turnovers, Northland Center continued to experience high occupancy until just past the turn of the millennium.
In 1991, a food court and a TJMaxx anchor space were built. In 1994, Kohl's shut their Northland Center store down, which was soon retenanted by Jeepers, an indoor amusement park and family entertainment chain. Northland's last major expansion occurred in 1996, which added a southwest wing ending in a new one-level Target, which opened in April of that year. The beginning of it's slow death occurred in 1998 when Montgomery Ward was shuttered as a result of that chain's financial problems.

Northland Center directory, March 2015
Next, JCPenney was shuttered in June 2000, resulting in a large vacancy. In 2001, Target decided to consolidate all three of the high-end department store chains they owned at the time under one banner and Hudson's became Marshall Field's. 2004 brought the shuttering of TJMaxx and the opening in October of National Wholesale Liqudators in the Montgomery Ward space. In September 2006, Marshall Field's was rebranded as Macy's. National Wholesale Liquidators closed in November 2008 and Jeepers followed suit in 2010.

By the beginning of the 2010's, it became clear that Northland Center had seen better days. The mall turned 60 on March 22, 2014. Target ceased operations on February 1, 2015. In their annual store-closing list for 2015, Macy's included their Northland Center location. It is supposed to close on March 22, 2015, exactly 61 years after first serving the surrounding community. In February 2015, an Oakland County judge gave permission to vacate and permanently close the 61-year-old shopping center, which will occur in April 2015. Currently, Northland Center is more than half vacant.

RIP Northland Center

March 22, 1954-April 2015

And now, photos, including what will likely be the last interior photos ever taken of Northland Center. All were taken on March 9, 2015.

Exterior:
Former Target

Macy's is on the right
Entrance to Macy's first floor from a lower-level parking lot
Macy's interior:

Hudson's relic-an identical sign also exists at the Southland Center Macy's.
Some of the fixtures will be transferred to the Macy's at Genesee Valley Center in Flint, Michigan.

Some will also be transferred to the Macy's at Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor, Michigan.



Mall interior (I am unsure of what most of the vacant stores were, if you know what they were comment below):
Stride Rite (also liquidating)
Former TJMaxx/Extreme Fun
Abilities Pathways (I persume some sort of clinic)

Former Montgomery Ward/National Wholesale Liquidators
One of the last remnants of the original open-air Northland Center, the "Bear and Boy" sculpture by Marshall Fredericks, today used as the centerpiece of the enclosed North Court.
Via Roma


New York & Company?
Pavilion Cleaners



This seems interesting...
This was probably an FYE
Former JCPenney, with former Lady Foot Locker on the left

Donna Sac's
Champs Sports

Klassic Korner
Designer Outlet
Young Time
Old-school Auntie Anne's
Payless Shoe Source
Another entrance to the former JCPenney, with a nice Motown mural covering it
Former Radio Shack
Food court

Former (what was it?) Pizza
Nice knockoff! King Burger was previously an A&W, as noted by the sign's oval shape.
Typical flashy 90's neon

Motown Suit Depot
Southwest entrance
Former Target
Former Main Street/Kohl's/Jeepers
Another mural
Stores like this are sure signs that a mall is heading downhill
Former Milano Collection
King Dollar
Anisa's Shoes. Notice the Christmas decorations-and this picture was TAKEN IN MARCH!
Former Athlete's Foot
Another bootleg?!
No toys here...
The outdoor court
Former Detroit Gator
GNC
Rainbow
Former storefront repurposed into a dance studio that has also closed
Rainbow Kids
Truth Bookstore
City Hatter
Original Rainbow Kids location
Signature by Sharp Image (original Rainbow location)
This ends this presentation for today.

External links: 

Comments

  1. JenniferJune 5, 2015 at 6:03 PM

    I only visited this mall once, in the mid-80s. The Hudson's still had some of its 60s and 70s glamor intact, but the mall was already starting to get dangerous, with frequent muggings in the parking lot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Super23April 17, 2022 at 1:45 AM

    Great photos! King Burger was actually a Mcdonald's. There use to be this Chinese food spot called "Flaming Wok" that was pretty good, but you had a 50/50 chance of vomming later. That pizza place was Jeeper's, which is a place similar to Chuck E Cheese except they had a roller coaster and a few other carnival rides. And I think that the former Rainbow Kids was once a KayBee Toys. Ahh the memories!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 5, 2023 at 10:08 AM

      Does anyone remember Raimi's Curtains??

      Delete
  3. AnonymousAugust 8, 2024 at 11:09 PM

    Great and that i have a swell present: How To Become A House Renovation in house renovations

    ReplyDelete

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