Eastland goes into Receivership

[jerrytimes]

I want to say Beacon East closed in the late 2000s.

That is correct, but it didn't stay vacant for long.

[DetroitBoy]

I remember when the Beacon East was the host theater for the 1978 Detroit premier of the movie The Wiz. The theater was fairly new then. Diana Ross was there that night and they had a yellow brick road painted in the parking lot over to Antonio's restaurant next door where we attended the party and dinner after the movie. That was a high end restaurant in those days. I think that building is a Medicad clinic and dialysis place now. The theater closed up after too many fights and a shooting happened there. What a different time from the ghetto hood that area is now.

[Bigdd]

Emagine Theaters must have heard my idea. LOL

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/e...inors/36543700

[ddaydetroit]

I shopped at Eastland mall for the first time in about ten years I was unimpressed it was clean but the variety of stores seems to lacking unless you want shoes. To me it seemed like there were not enough people to keep a mall like that afloat from what I saw that mall does not have a lot of time left

[313WX]

And again...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...ting/77928976/

Eastland Center closed after fatal shooting


Eastland Center mall in Harper Woods was on lockdown for a couple of hours on Saturday evening after a shooting outside the Burlington Coat Factory left one person dead.

A woman in the Eastland Center security office confirmed at 6:46 p.m. to The Detroit News the mall went on lockdown. At 7:52 p.m. an employee in the security office said the mall had been closed. The mall normally closes at 9 p.m, according to its website

[Honky Tonk]

Yeah, It's coming back.

[Dave70]

Damn hate hearing about this stuff, though it shouldn't surprise me. A few times a year I drive down Kelly Rd to Sweetheart bakery for bday cakes and the area looks worse each time.

[dookie joe]

And again...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...ting/77928976/

Maybe the Free Press can do a story blaming white flight for Eastland's problems.

[stasu1213]

Eastland's problem is the owner. This is the same guy who allowed Northland to go into receivership. Eastland has become a flea market with it's urban hood stores which attract the rowdy young crowd. Macomb Mall had gotten a second lease on life with the opening of H&M, VisionWorks, and Dicks along with non ghetto stores such as Rue21 and others. Eastland could make a comeback if 1, a new owner with Dan Gilbert like ideas purchase the mall; 2. kick out the urban ghetto hood stores and pull in stores that would draw in shoppers from nearby Grosse Pointes, St Clair Shores, Warren, and some from Harper Woods. 3. entice Macys to stay a few more years with the promise of upgrading the shopping in the mall.

[ddaydetroit]

It may already be to late every time a Eastland shooting makes the news its more people that will never shop at that mall on the other side of 8 mile.

Eastland's problem is the owner. This is the same guy who allowed Northland to go into receivership. Eastland has become a flea market with it's urban hood stores which attract the rowdy young crowd. Macomb Mall had gotten a second lease on life with the opening of H&M, VisionWorks, and Dicks along with non ghetto stores such as Rue21 and others. Eastland could make a comeback if 1, a new owner with Dan Gilbert like ideas purchase the mall; 2. kick out the urban ghetto hood stores and pull in stores that would draw in shoppers from nearby Grosse Pointes, St Clair Shores, Warren, and some from Harper Woods. 3. entice Macys to stay a few more years with the promise of upgrading the shopping in the mall.

[313WX]

Eastland's problem is the owner. This is the same guy who allowed Northland to go into receivership. Eastland has become a flea market with it's urban hood stores which attract the rowdy young crowd. Macomb Mall had gotten a second lease on life with the opening of H&M, VisionWorks, and Dicks along with non ghetto stores such as Rue21 and others. Eastland could make a comeback if 1, a new owner with Dan Gilbert like ideas purchase the mall; 2. kick out the urban ghetto hood stores and pull in stores that would draw in shoppers from nearby Grosse Pointes, St Clair Shores, Warren, and some from Harper Woods. 3. entice Macys to stay a few more years with the promise of upgrading the shopping in the mall.

Eastland was already pretty far gone [[having lost JC Penney, Winkleman's, the large east wing food court / movie theatre and Montgomery Ward) by the time the current owners took over on 2005.

[FormerDetroiter]

I knew Eastland had hit rock bottom when I went there a few years ago and saw a Shopper's World.

[ddaydetroit]

The police did a great job of getting the Shooters but I think its not going to make a bit of difference in peoples perception of the mall the damage is already done http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/p...tland-shooting

[stasu1213]

Eastland was already pretty far gone [[having lost JC Penney, Winkleman's, the large east wing food court / movie theatre and Montgomery Ward) by the time the current owners took over on 2005.

The current owner probably saw that Northland and Eastland were on the decline and had purchased them for his own financial gain and not for improving both malls. It's true that the neighborhoods surrounding Eastland had changed. However, Eastland with a good owner could follow Macomb Malls example of coming back. Closing the urban stores that attract a certain crowd would be a start. Trying to keep Target, Lowes, Home Depot, and possibly Macys would stabilize the mall. The Macys in Eastland Mall is the only Macys within miles. The closets ones are the one in Lakeside Mall and other at Oakland Mall. Eastland can be saved if someone purchase the mall who is serious about reviving the mall and not trying to use it possibly for some writeoff.

[313WX]

The current owner probably saw that Northland and Eastland were on the decline and had purchased them for his own financial gain and not for improving both malls. It's true that the neighborhoods surrounding Eastland had changed. However, Eastland with a good owner could follow Macomb Malls example of coming back. Closing the urban stores that attract a certain crowd would be a start. Trying to keep Target, Lowes, Home Depot, and possibly Macys would stabilize the mall. The Macys in Eastland Mall is the only Macys within miles. The closets ones are the one in Lakeside Mall and other at Oakland Mall. Eastland can be saved if someone purchase the mall who is serious about reviving the mall and not trying to use it possibly for some writeoff.

You don't believe the current owners of Macomb Mall are doing the same thing the current owners of Northland and Eastland are doing?

Roseville and the other east side inner ring suburbs have also been on the decline between so many of the auto suppliers closing shop and the Detroit creep.

The folks with money on the east side have been going to Lakeside and Partridge Creek instead.

[dtowncitylover]

You don't believe the current owners of Macomb Mall are doing the same thing the current owners of Northland and Eastland are doing?

No because they've added an H&M, Ulta, and Dick's as tenants, the latter being an anchor.

What name brand stores did/has Northland and Eastland bring in? Macomb is also a smaller mall that serves the immediate area well.

[313WX]

No because they've added an H&M, Ulta, and Dick's as tenants, the latter being an anchor.

What name brand stores did/has Northland and Eastland bring in? Macomb is also a smaller mall that serves the immediate area well.

Macomb Mall has a major anchor that's going to fold within the next few years and has removed half of its retail space.

Also, H&M [[which is essentially just a bigger Gap) and Dick's aren't anything special. The east side was heavily underserved by both in the first place.

[stasu1213]

313WX why did Sears closed it's Eastland store and not the Macomb Mall store? H&M, eventhough it's a bigger GAP, is bringing shoppers back to Macomb Mall. Dick's had also done the same. Unlike Eastland, Northland wasn't surrounded by neighborhoods but sat off to itself. Eastland, Macomb Mall, Fairlane, are surrounded by condos, apartment buildings, and houses which put these malls within walking distance from the communities. It's true that Harper Woods is on the decline with the poor management of Eastland Village and other apartments surrounding it. I still say that a new owner could revitalize Eastland by getting rid of the ghetto stores and bringing in stores such as Dunhans, H&M and other stores that caters to the mainstream

[Bham1982]

No because they've added an H&M, Ulta, and Dick's as tenants, the latter being an anchor.

What name brand stores did/has Northland and Eastland bring in? Macomb is also a smaller mall that serves the immediate area well.

Northland brought in Target, Mervyns and other large retailers. Didn't save Northland. And their Macys was renovated a few years back. I'm pretty sure Eastland did the same. And Northland has better surrounding demographics than Eastland or Macomb. Southfield is a somewhat higher-income community.

Macomb Mall isn't guaranteed toast like Eastland, but I wouldn't give Macomb Mall more than 10-15 years before closure. Roseville was never the most desirable location, and the long-term demographic trends along Gratiot in South Macomb are pretty bleak.

Maybe Eastland closure will provide a temporary boost, though. It's a long way to Partridge Creek.

Come to think of it, Partridge Creek is really the only thriving mall in Macomb. Lakeside is looking fairly empty these days. Fairlane, Oakland, and Lakeside, while not in dire straits, are definitely weak malls in danger of not recovering.

[313WX]

313WX why did Sears closed it's Eastland store and not the Macomb Mall store?

Because it was a tiny location that was likely cannibalizing the sales at their mammoth [[nearly 400,000 sq. ft.) Macomb Mall store.

[Zacha341]

Eh, what makes Rue21 so 'non ghetto'?

...Macomb Mall had gotten a second lease on life with the opening of H&M, VisionWorks, and Dicks along with non ghetto stores such as Rue21 and others.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Eh, what makes Rue21 so 'non ghetto'?

What type of store is Rue21 anyway, Retail clothing ?

[Onthe405]

Macomb Mall isn't guaranteed toast like Eastland, but I wouldn't give Macomb Mall more than 10-15 years before closure. Roseville was never the most desirable location, and the long-term demographic trends along Gratiot in South Macomb are pretty bleak.

Because it was a tiny location that was likely cannibalizing the sales at their mammoth [[nearly 400,000 sq. ft.) Macomb Mall store.

IMO, both of these speculations regarding the future of Macomb [[certainly as a "mall") are tied directly to the fate of the Sears store--and things aren't looking too good. When Sears does go, the owners will probably have difficulty finding a replacement. In general, brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling for market share like never before. Consequently, they are operating in defense/contraction mode [[closely evaluating results from each outlet and closing unprofitable stores), rather than offense/expansion mode on any kind of scale.


Given this environment, investments in questionable disposable-income demographic areas like Roseville are highly speculative and risky. Incidentally, I would include the new temporary fad retailers like H&M and Dick's in this group [[just because a few chains are willing to take the risk, does not automatically translate to long-term viability). For example, Summit in Waterford continued to expand in a vain effort to "compete" with other malls, long after its fate was already sealed.


Not only are traditional retailers getting hammered from online options, they are also attempting to deal with the challenge of a rapidly shrinking middle-class. Nordstrom & Wal-Mart will probably survive--anything in between is a question mark. Add to that emerging Millenials who have a completely different sense of material values than the two previous generations. Many of them view shelling out $400 for a new smartphone every year and $1200+ annually for a data plan as "necessities", while spending any more than $10 on an article of clothing an as an "unnecessary" luxury.

[Honky Tonk]

IMO, both of these speculations regarding the future of Macomb [[certainly as a "mall") are tied directly to the fate of the Sears store--and things aren't looking too good. When Sears does go, the owners will probably have difficulty finding a replacement. In general, brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling for market share like never before. Consequently, they are operating in defense/contraction mode [[closely evaluating results from each outlet and closing unprofitable stores), rather than offense/expansion mode on any kind of scale.


Given this environment, investments in questionable disposable-income demographic areas like Roseville are highly speculative and risky. Incidentally, I would include the new temporary fad retailers like H&M and Dick's in this group [[just because a few chains are willing to take the risk, does not automatically translate to long-term viability). For example, Summit in Waterford continued to expand in a vain effort to "compete" with other malls, long after its fate was already sealed.


Not only are traditional retailers getting hammered from online options, they are also attempting to deal with the challenge of a rapidly shrinking middle-class. Nordstrom & Wal-Mart will probably survive--anything in between is a question mark. Add to that emerging Millenials who have a completely different sense of material values than the two previous generations. Many of them view shelling out $400 for a new smartphone every year and $1200+ annually for a data plan as "necessities", while spending any more than $10 on an article of clothing an as an "unnecessary" luxury.

$400? Try closer to a grand. Otherwise I'm pretty much in agreement with your post, especially the part about Nordstrom/Wallmart. Look@ the rise of the dollar stores. They've become a staple for many middle-to-lower middle working class.

[FormerDetroiter]

What type of store is Rue21 anyway, Retail clothing ?

Rue21 is a clothing store that sells cheap clothing very similar to Shoppers World, Fashion Bug, and Dots.