The Southland Theatres 1 & 2 was the first cinematic venue to operate at the SOUTHLAND mall. The twin venue showed first features in October 1970. 

Advert from Suburban Detroit Theatres

 

The mall's first two expansions are shown in this circa-1988 layout. An East Wing (dark gray) was completed in October 1976. J.C. Penney joined the mall as a second anchor. The next enlargement (light gray) was dedicated in August 1988. This brought a third anchor; California's Mervyn's. SOUTHLAND CENTER now covered approximately 1,001,000 leasable square feet and contained ninety-four stores under its roof.