Great Lakes Crossing - Early Years and Construction Memories

**compn** · July-19-13, 08:38 PM

i cant seem to find a comparision between the two.
i'll try going by memory here.

star theaters i think had more of an idea for a movie going experience.
their idea was to make it a movie night out. not just another theater.
star theaters wasnt as good as the really nice theaters like alamo drafthouse.
but they tried a lot of new things.

star theaters vs amc theaters list. things star theaters did that amc did not:

bright moving spotlights with logos and ads inside and glitter/sparkles in the floor and even the cement sidewalks outside. it sounds kind of dumb, but if you've ever been in a dingy poorly lit amc theater lobby, the difference is staggering.

star theaters all had nice sized arcades, candy vending machines, hot foods.
i even saw designer vending machines at star southfield like dippin dots ice cream.

star theaters had midnight cult movie showings in the summer. classic stuff like evil dead, scarface, rocky horror picture show, the thing, etc.

star theaters partnered with other stores and restaraunts , like a shopping mall. so the star southfield had a johnny rockets inside of it. along with a candy shop and some other stores. yeah johnny rockets sucks, but at least they were thinking of people who wanted a burger and a movie.

star theater used to organize the trailers, so if you were watching an r-rated matrix, you'd get trailers for r-rated films. or if you watched animated films, animated trailers. amc seems to want to show you the smurfs trailer no matter what film you are watching.

star theaters used to play foreign films or indie films and give you surveys to fill out how much you liked the film. i realize the movie studios switched over to gofobo and other focus group things. amc sticks to the hollywood stuff 100%.

star theaters used to clean their seats and floors too. they used to have movie trivia and news over the loudspeaker/radio playing in the lobby, big screen tvs playing trailers and behind the scenes. movie posters, and cardboard cutouts. it was a feast for the eyes and ears, and kept you busy looking at everything.

this review on yelp sums it up

The Star Southfield is really just a shell of its former self. When it first opened this place was the best. They had displays of the actual costumes from Men in Black, Jerry Maguire, and The Mask [[they are still there is display cases), very lively restaurants, and an arcade. The crowds were extremely lively and respectful, and it was just a really great place to see a movie. Now, whenever I go in it's almost always empty, and when there is a crowd its usually rowdy high-schoolers. The restaurants can't stay open and usually rotate every couple of years when an owner wants to try and open a new one.

dont get me wrong. in the 90s i racked up over 300 films on my amc theaters member card. but it seems like amc was sold to people who just dont care.

i've seen a film or two at the great lakes crossing star theaters and even that has dropped in quality after amc bought them.

amc didnt take the sparkles out of the floor, but they did stop shining lights on them. amc didnt get rid of all of the arcade games, but year after year the games have been dissapearing, leaving only 5 or 6 now. its quiet in the lobby now, they arent playing music or movie news. the indoor spotlights are gone or permanently turned off. the streamers and wind mill things were removed.

amc theaters sucked the fun out of star and made it into another generic theater.

hope this doesnt all sound like nitpicks. the picture quality has also gone downhill, but i've seen many theaters stop caring about that.

**DetroitPlanner** · July-20-13, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by noise

If I wasn't buying underwear in downtown Ann Arbor all of those years, what was I buying?!?

Please provide the names of stores and locations in downtown Ann Arbor that provide goods such as underwear. My guess is that you may be able to find some boxers covered with U of M logos but nothing made by Hanes of Fruit of the Loom since Klines shut their doors 20 years ago.

**Bham1982** · July-20-13, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by noise

On the basis that you are the type of person who needs a big box store with "normal" jeans. I am not.

I think you're missing the point. I hate shopping, and don't care if you find yourself a unique or esoteric shopper. My point is that there's barely any retail left in Birmingham, when it used to be 90% retail. This means that Birmingham no longer competes with retail centers. Birmingham is now a restaurant center, pretty much.

**5speedz34** · July-22-13, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

My point is that there's barely any retail left in Birmingham, when it used to be 90% retail. This means that Birmingham no longer competes with retail centers. Birmingham is now a restaurant center, pretty much.

I don't spend too much time in Birmingham, neither as an adult or when I was a child, but when was it over 90% retail? I have to imagine it was a 20+ yrs ago? It's hard to compete when you have Somerset so close.

**DTWflyer** · July-22-13, 09:57 AM

Birmingham had a significant amount of retail up through about 12 years ago. When I was in middle school, we didn't go the mall, we went to "Uptown" Birmingham. Somerset North hadn't been built yet, and Birmingham was the place to go wander, shop, and eat.

Jacobsons occupied 3 buildings, Crowleys, Eddie Bauer, VS, Gap, Banana Republic, Harmony House, Jos Banks, Ann Taylor Loft, Roots were among the national retailers in downtown Birmingham through most of the 90s. Plus numerous boutique and independent retailers.

Few restaurants were downtown, and the lack of nightlife were major complaints for downtown Birmingham. The original Birmingham Theater renovated and opened as a movie house around 1995. Dick O' Dows was one of the first major pubs to open downtown. Prior to that downtown dining was limited to basically 220, Max & Ermas, or the 2 Coney Islands. The opening of the Paladium in 2002 was a major shift in downtown Birmingham as an entertainment destination.

**noise** · July-22-13, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Please provide the names of stores and locations in downtown Ann Arbor that provide goods such as underwear. My guess is that you may be able to find some boxers covered with U of M logos but nothing made by Hanes of Fruit of the Loom since Klines shut their doors 20 years ago.

Just like Bham1982, you try to move the goalposts. I don't know if you can buy Hanes or Fruit of the Loom, because I don't wear them. You said underwear. You used to be able to buy those at Sam's, Van Boven, and there's still an American Apparel downtown, as I recall.

**noise** · July-22-13, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

I think you're missing the point. I hate shopping, and don't care if you find yourself a unique or esoteric shopper. My point is that there's barely any retail left in Birmingham, when it used to be 90% retail. This means that Birmingham no longer competes with retail centers. Birmingham is now a restaurant center, pretty much.

The point is that you're not one who should be talking about shopping or retail centers. There is retail. Just not retail you seem to like.

**Bham1982** · July-22-13, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by noise

The point is that you're not one who should be talking about shopping or retail centers. There is retail. Just not retail you seem to like.

No, and you're completely missing the point.

The point is that there's barely any retail. It has nothing to do with the type of retail. It doesn't exist, for the most part.

There were two big department stores, there were two mini "shopping malls", there were tons of chain stores and independents. Now there are very few stores left.

Birmingham has evolved from a retail center, with barely any restaurants, to a restaurant center, with barely any retail.

**DetroitPlanner** · July-22-13, 11:57 AM

Bham is correct. Even 'successful high dollar downtowns' don't compete with the malls and big boxes anymore.

Retail is defined as the selling of goods. Diners and Pubs provide a service and are not retail establishments. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/retail

**noise** · July-23-13, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Bham is correct. Even 'successful high dollar downtowns' don't compete with the malls and big boxes anymore.

Retail is defined as the selling of goods. Diners and Pubs provide a service and are not retail establishments. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/retail

So the goal of the discussion is to compare two incomparable things? Yeah, good luck with that.

**mtburb** · July-23-13, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by noise

So the goal of the discussion is to compare two incomparable things? Yeah, good luck with that.

Plus, if we continue to discuss that topic, it would have to be within it's own thread.

Anyways, we have to, once again, return on-topic. Does anyone have any newspaper articles about GLX's construction? I only have two papers from 1998 in my collection, both from September and both Free Presses.

**antongast** · July-23-13, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by mtburb

Plus, if we continue to discuss that topic, it would have to be within it's own thread.

Anyways, we have to, once again, return on-topic. Does anyone have any newspaper articles about GLX's construction? I only have two papers from 1998 in my collection, both from September and both Free Presses.

Sorry, I'm still confused. Is this where you want us to post about downtown retail?

I think the focus on retail is a bit misguided. Mainstream day-to-day retailing is increasingly shifting to online stores, and the brick-and-mortar stuff is gravitating toward niches. The mix of bars and restaurants and little independent boutiques found in places like Birmingham is pretty much the future of downtown areas. Some big boxes will continue to exist, but many of them will be repurposed into either non-retail uses like medical offices, or things like grocery stores that don't compete as directly with online stores. Malls will either be revamped into pseudo-downtowns with bars and restaurants and little independent boutiques, or torn down and redeveloped. This won't happen all at once, but I think that's the trend.

**mtburb** · July-23-13, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by antongast

Sorry, I'm still confused. Is this where you want us to post about downtown retail?

No. This is the place to post that info.

**mtburb** · September-20-13, 07:02 PM

Bumping this with something I just knew about. I think there is a vacant space most recently occupied by Hallmark that was the first storefront heading west [[away from the food court) from Sports Authority on that side of the corridor. During a recent visit, I also noticed a vacant storefront further down that corridor [[still same side) between Wetzel's Pretzels and Marshall's that was recently occupied by an American Eagle Outfitters [[perhaps that vacancy was so recent, the directory still listed that store in that exact spot). Do any of you remember when that Hallmark closed?

**rb336** · September-20-13, 10:25 PM

are people really nostalgic for that dump? already?

**iheartthed** · September-21-13, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by rb336

are people really nostalgic for that dump? already?

Hahaha, my thoughts exactly.

**DetroitPlanner** · September-21-13, 11:41 AM

This mall had the best Mrs Fields cookies EVER! LOL

**gnome** · September-22-13, 06:31 AM

This entire thread reminds me that regardless how horrible a particular time is, it is still going to be the " good old days" to somebody.

It might be terrible, but it is our terrible, which makes it bearable.

**mtburb** · September-22-13, 09:14 PM

Another visit today revealed that the former Gameworks is now a temporary Halloween store and that there's a storefront between the Palace Locker Room and Campus Den that appears to have never been occupied, as well as one across the hall, next to Champs Sports. Were those two spaces ever occupied?

**mtburb** · March-21-14, 09:19 AM

Now that there's talk of an aquarium going in where Gameworks used to be, I thought this would be just the perfect time to bump this thread. It's odd that no one that has posted on here yet remembered the JCPenney Outlet store at all...

**mtburb** · November-12-18, 02:59 PM

Bumping since Great Lakes Crossing celebrates it's 20th anniversary today. Here's a link to the first page of a Newspapers [[dot) come archive of a special supplement the Free Press ran two days before. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/100209528/

**sirrealone** · November-13-18, 08:24 AM

I remember when it opened that what hit me was that they were going to put carpet in the main walkways.

I think it's held up well for 20 years old. It doesn't seem out of date and doesn't seem to be in any disrepair.

I like that it's pretty easy to find your way around, given that's it's a big racetrack. Growing up, Oakland and Lakeside was where I went most and Lakeside always confounded me with five different end points. For the hundreds of times I went there, if I had to go from one department store to another, it was pure guesswork that got me there.

**poobert** · November-13-18, 03:12 PM

At risk of sounding like a terrible hipster, I found malls, including that one, to be depressing and mostly useless. A place where I can buy a diamond ring, novelty underwear but not useful things like paper towels and lightbulbs?

I won't pass judgement but what a legacy. I mean, is the world better with malls?

**Towne Cluber** · November-13-18, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

At risk of sounding like a terrible hipster, I found malls, including that one, to be depressing and mostly useless. A place where I can buy a diamond ring, novelty underwear but not useful things like paper towels and lightbulbs?

I won't pass judgement but what a legacy. I mean, is the world better with malls?

The Bed Bath and Beyond store there sells useful things like paper towel and light bulbs.

**Danny** · November-13-18, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by compn

I miss Star Theaters. AMC took away all the fun stuff.

Gameworks was probably the most expensive arcade in the entire metro detroit area. everything was $1.

Only other thing i remember about great lakes crossing was that Michael Moore mentioned it in bowling for columbine. the mother of the 6yo school shooter was working-for-welfare at the fudge shop at GLC. which is why the 6yo was at his uncles house, where he found the gun that he took to school. what a sad depressing story that was every time i passed that fudge shop.

The mother who lived in Flint, MI. with the 6 year old who found his uncle's gun that killed a student a elementary school worked at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Restaurant before it closed down a few years later.