Northland Center

Early years

The historic J. L. Hudson Company, a major upscale Detroit based department store chain, built Northland Center. Hudson's—at its Downtown Detroit location on Woodward Avenue—grew to become the second largest department store (next to Macy's of New York City) in the United States. In 1948, architect Victor Gruen convinced Hudson's, then reluctant to build branch stores, to take advantage of suburban growth by constructing a ring of three shopping centers surrounding the city of Detroit. Of the others – Eastland Center, Southland Center, and Westland Center – Northland was the first to be built. These malls encircle Detroit's inner-ring of suburbs. At the time, Northland Center was the world's largest shopping center.

Northland Center became 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.

Hudson's created new synergy through a merger with Dayton's of Minneapolis to form the Dayton–Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation), re-branded as Marshall Field's in 2001. May Department Stores acquired Marshall Fields. Following a merger with May Department Stores, Federated renamed the stores Macy's on September 9, 2006.

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, Look, Life, Ladies Home Journal and Newsweek. Reviewers had heralded the Northland as the future of shopping in post-war America. Besides Hudson's, Northland opened with a number of other local retailers including: Hughes & Hatcher, Barna-Bee Children's Shops, Cunningham Drug, Baker's Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Big Boy restaurant, Himelhoch's, Winkelman's, S.S. Kresge Corporation, 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 customers who had run out.

Gruen would later grow disenchanted with the malls he helped start with Northland. The architect, who also designed suburban Detroit's three other "directional" malls (Eastland Center, Westland Center, and Southland 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.

Heyday

Northland Center was enclosed as a mall in 1974, the same year that J. C. Penney was added. Federated Department Stores short-lived MainStreet chain opened in 1985 and was later acquired by and rechristed Kohl's. T.J. Maxx, Montgomery Ward, and a food court were added in 1991.

Construction of other malls in the metro area present remodeling challenges and redevelopment opportunities for the metro area's inner-ring suburban malls including Northland. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Northland had a turnover of major tenants. Kohl's closed its operations in 1994 at the mall; Target built its store on the building's west end and opened in 1996. Montgomery Ward shuttered due to the chain's financial troubles in 1998; JCPenney and T.J. Maxx closed in 2000 and 2004, respectively. National Wholesale Liquidators opened in 2005 in Wards' former building, and closed three years later. In 2007, Target completed a renovation of its interior and exterior, as well as an expansion to accommodate a pharmacy, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut.

Loss of anchors

In 2013, T. J. Maxx's space became a playplace called Extreme Fun. In November 2014, Target announced the closing of its store, which happened in February 2015. This was followed by an announcement in January 2015 by Southfield acting mayor Donald Fracassi that Macy's is planning the closing of its store as well, which happened on March 22, 2015, the store's 61st anniversary. This announcement was officially confirmed by Macy's itself the following day.

Financial trouble and resulting closure

Northland Center was sold on December 18, 2008 to New York City-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation, with Jones Lang LaSalle (which also owns Eastland Center in Harper Woods). Ashkenazy Acquisition defaulted on a $31 million payment in the summer of 2014, and Spinoso Real Estate Group was named receiver.

In February 2015, following the closure of the anchor stores, a local judge announced that the mall would be closing as of March 2015. Around this time, the mall's official website closed.

On October 7, 2015, the city of Southfield purchased the property for $2.5 million with plans to demolish the property.

Demographic and Consumer changes

A common complaint and belief was that Northland's decline and demise was in part to the change in consumer base and changing demographics in Metro Detroit. During Northland's early years, there was a larger consumer base and less competition from rival malls. Competition from newer malls like Somerset Collection, Fairlane Town Center, and Oakland Mall, contributed to the migration from Northland. Northland failed to compete and change with the changing needs and expectations of consumers. Northland was slowly replaced by more upscale shopping alternatives. Northland suffered much like other malls including Eastland (which survived),Summit Place, Great Oaks, Livonia Mall, Meadowbrook Village, Winchester, and Wonderland Malls.

Transportation

The mall is located next to John C. Lodge Freeway with exits at Eight Mile Road and West Nine Mile Road.

Northland Transit Center, a terminal shared between SMART and DDOT, is located on the south side of the mall:

SMART

DDOT

Exterior tenants

A number of buildings are located along the perimeter of the mall: