Vernier Road and Beaconsfield Street
Harper Woods, Michigan
A 1948 visit to Detroit's J.L. Hudson department store, by architect Victor Gruen, motivated him to send a letter to the head of the company. Gruen urged the corporate director to consider expanding the Hudson's chain into the suburbs of the city in order for the company to retain its position as the Motor City's preeminent retailer.
Gruen's recommendation was given serious consideration. In 1951, the Austrian-born architect presented the Hudson Company with a 20-year prospectus. In it, three suburban shopping centers were proposed; EASTLAND, NORTHLAND and WESTLAND. Each of these were to be anchored by large Hudson's stores.
EASTLAND was to be the first shopping center built. Unfortunately, the Korean Conflict caused severe shortages of construction materials. Plans for the region's first shopping mall were shelved. Later, ground was broken for NORTHLAND, the second of the proposed suburban centers.
Gruen later commented that his original plan for EASTLAND had been poorly-conceived. A circular complex would have surrounded a central parking area. In retrospect, Gruen felt that this enclosed parking lot would have impeded access into -and out of- the facility. He devised a more conventional design for his second EASTLAND plan, with the shopping center situated in the center of its parking lot.
Ground was broken on August 14, 1955. The open-air facility was built on a 97.8-acre tract, located 14 miles northeast of downtown Detroit. The site, originally in Wayne County's Gratoit ["Grash-it"] Township, had become part of the newly-incorporated city of Harper Woods in February 1951.
EASTLAND CENTER was dedicated on September 29, 1957. The complex consisted of a ground level retail mall. A shipping and receiving basement also had a small concourse of stores. The complex was anchored by a 5-level (432,000 square foot) J.L. Hudson.
The mammoth department store included two sit-down restaurants, the Seaway Room and Anchor Room, and The Fountain, which was an informal lunch counter-type facility. There were also an in-store beauty salon, as well as freestanding Pastry Shop bakery, Garden Center and Tire Center. Among the mall's seventy-three charter stores were Winkelman's ladies' wear, Hartfield's apparel, Cunningham Drug, Dube's Barber Shop, Baker's Shoes, a S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 and Kroger supermarket.
Retail rivals of EASTLAND CENTER included MACOMB MALL (1964) {5.8 miles north, in Roseville}, OAKLAND MALL (1968) {1.5 miles northwest, in Troy} and LAKESIDE MALL (1976) {12.1 miles northwest, in Sterling Heights}.
The first motion picture venue at EASTLAND was built as a northeast parking area outparcel. The Suburban Detroit Theatres Eastland Theatre showed its first feature on September 17, 1969. The venue re-opened, as the Eastland 1-2, on October 17, 1975.
EASTLAND was enclosed and climate-controlled at the same time as its sibling mall, NORTHLAND CENTER. A 2-level (160,400 square foot) J.C. Penney was added to EASTLAND, along with a new NORTHLAND store. The new Penney operations were dedicated on May 21, 1975. The two mall enclosure remodelings were formally opened on August 3rd of the same year.
Several EASTLAND renovations were completed in the 1980s. A vacant Stouffer's in the east end of the complex was refitted with the 7-bay Market East Food Court. Its grand opening was held in February 1985. The Suburban Detroit Theatres Eastland Mall Theatres 3-7 was installed in existing East Wing space. This venue was dedicated on December 20, 1985. A 1-level (130,200 square foot), Illinois-based MainStreet was built on the southwest corner of the mall. This store, dedicated on August 6, 1987, was rebranded by Milwaukee-based Kohl's on March 19, 1989.
The next EASTLAND remodeling was completed in 1993. The Market East Food Court was given a face lift. A 2-level (112,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward was built, which opened for business on November 1, 1993. Kohl's closed in 1995 and re-opened, as as a Target, in April 1996. Montgomery Ward shuttered their EASTLAND store on December 24, 1997.
All of the mall's movie theaters closed in the year 2000. The outparcel Eastland 1-2 was demolished and replaced by a single-level (141,000 square foot) Lowe's, which was dedicated in December 2003. The Food Court was relocated to the mall's West Wing.
J.C. Penney's EASTLAND store went dark on June 1, 2000. The building was gutted and rebuilt as a Sears, which opened on October 11, 2003. The first level of the shuttered Montgomery Ward became a Steve & Barry's University Sportswear in November, 2004. This store was shuttered late in 2008. Meanwhile, the Hudson's had been rebannered, as a Marshall Field's, in August 2001. The store was "Macy-ated" in September 2006.
Between 2006 and 2021, EASTLAND CENTER was sold three times. New York City's Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation bought the complex in February 2006, but defaulted on their loan in 2016. Great Neck, New York's Kohan Retail Investment Group bought the mall at an auction in October 2018. In June 2021, Kansas City, Missouri's NorthPoint Development became the new proprietor.
Meanwhile, a third face lift renovation had been done in 2006. Mall entrances were rebuilt, with much of the East Wing being gutted and reconfigured. A 1-level (72,700 square foot) Burlington Coat Factory opened for business September 25, 2009. A vacant Montgomery Ward building was retenanted by New York City-based Shoppers World. Their 1-level (56,000 square foot) store debuted in August 2010. For a little over a year, all EASTLAND anchor space was leased. However, Sears was shuttered on May 31, 2012.
Macy's shuttered their EASTLAND store on March 19, 2017, followed by Target, whose store went dark on February 3, 2018. Burlington (Coat Factory) followed suit and pulled up stakes in April 2018. This left just one anchor -Shoppers World- to sustain the mall, whose occupancy rate had fallen to thirty-nine percent.
By 2021, EASTLAND CENTER was virtually vacant. Its new owner, NorthPoint Development, drew up plans to shutter and demolish the entire shopping center and replace it with over one million square feet of industrial and warehouse structures. The final EASTLAND stores went dark in January 2022. Demolition of the sixty-five-year-old retail complex commenced in April.
Sources:
The Detroit Free Press
Meanwhile, a third face lift renovation had been done in 2006. Mall entrances were rebuilt, with much of the East Wing being gutted and reconfigured. A 1-level (72,700 square foot) Burlington Coat Factory opened for business September 25, 2009. A vacant Montgomery Ward building was retenanted by New York City-based Shoppers World. Their 1-level (56,000 square foot) store debuted in August 2010. For a little over a year, all EASTLAND anchor space was leased. However, Sears was shuttered on May 31, 2012.
Macy's shuttered their EASTLAND store on March 19, 2017, followed by Target, whose store went dark on February 3, 2018. Burlington (Coat Factory) followed suit and pulled up stakes in April 2018. This left just one anchor -Shoppers World- to sustain the mall, whose occupancy rate had fallen to thirty-nine percent.
By 2021, EASTLAND CENTER was virtually vacant. Its new owner, NorthPoint Development, drew up plans to shutter and demolish the entire shopping center and replace it with over one million square feet of industrial and warehouse structures. The final EASTLAND stores went dark in January 2022. Demolition of the sixty-five-year-old retail complex commenced in April.
Sources:
The Detroit Free Press
Commentary by Darius Wilder
www.candgnew (C & G Newspapers)
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
Eastland Center Tenant List 1958 / Ed Golick
www.cinematreasures.org
www.cinematour.com
www.internationalmetropolis.com
www.waterwinterwonderland.com
http://www.shopeastland.com (defunct website)
www.candgnew (C & G Newspapers)
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
Eastland Center Tenant List 1958 / Ed Golick
www.cinematreasures.org
www.cinematour.com
www.internationalmetropolis.com
www.waterwinterwonderland.com
http://www.shopeastland.com (defunct website)
