Eastland goes into Receivership

[Onthe405]

Do you remember the ponds with the dark bottoms and the lily pads floating in them? They had beautiful sculptures in the ponds with the brick seating area all around them. Also the plants they had each labeled with the black placards of the species of plants

DBoy . .and who could forget the koi swimming in the fountain ponds? Apologies to others for my duplicate posting from other Eastland threads, but your post specifically references these

The fountains:





The lacquered benches:

[xdet]

Yep, dad never took any 'long view' pictures [[that I've found so far anyway)- cool, onethe405. That's the place that was fun to explore. Enclosing it really ruined the 'feel', in my view, although not living in the area anymore I was only there a couple of times compared to many visits 'in my youth'.

[Onthe405]

Enclosing it really ruined the 'feel', in my view, although not living in the area anymore I was only there a couple of times compared to many visits 'in my youth'.

While I agree, it's also necessary to temper nostalgia with a dose of practicality and business sense. Realistically, Eastland probably couldn't have competed with Macomb, Oakland, and Somerset with the combination of patrons braving the elements and having only one anchor in Hudson's.

That said, the enclosure and subsequently added anchors' designs were inconsistent and architecturally bland & slapdash [[including the complete removal of the fountains & other artwork . .why?), which detracted from the original design, rather than enhance it. This didn't have to be the case, as Gruen's Edina, MN Southdale illustrates.

Ironically, Gruen's original "shopping center" concept was to create a centralized , aesthetically pleasing & park-like community space in the suburbs to counter what he viewed as the ugliness of gaudy, neon-signed strip shopping centers proliferating like weeds along main arteries.

With the continued demise of malls & shopping centers over the last 20 years and rise of "big box" drive-ups, it appears he lost the ideological battle. Take a look at eyesores like Hall Rd, which, apparently, is the preference of the suburban American consumer.

[GPCharles]

I presume the $46 M mortgage loan was used to purchase the property.

How is that a scam?

[313WX]

I presume the $46 M mortgage loan was used to purchase the property.

How is that a scam?

The fact that they would purchase a property and would take out a loan on it to pay for renovations that would qualify them for huge tax breaks while knowing darn well the place was beyond the point of no return and knowing the mall would never make enough money for the loan to be paid off [[and anyone who's even vaguely familiar with the demographic trends of NE Detroit and the inner ring NE suburbs can't deny this) is the scam.

[animatedmartian]

I presume the $46 M mortgage loan was used to purchase the property.

How is that a scam?

The loan was taken out in 2006. They bought the mall in 2005.

[DetroitBoy]

DBoy . .and who could forget the koi swimming in the fountain ponds? Apologies to others for my duplicate posting from other Eastland threads, but your post specifically references these

The fountains:





The lacquered benches:

These are are such cool pics. Thank you for posting. I saw some of your other pics on Northland. I will repost what I found out about the malls of this era:

I found some very interesting information about the history of Northland and several of the malls that were built during the Cold War era. Designed by Victor Greun, many of the malls of that era were built outside of an 8 mile radius of a city center in the event of a nuclear attack. As it turns out, 8 miles was the blast range for nuclear bombs of that era. Greun designed several malls across the country based on the same concept of a open area in the center with two anchor stores in a multi-level structure where the lower level could be used as a fall out shelter in the event of a nuclear attack. Northland's design is around this concept. The lower level has multiple fall out shelters which at one time included supplies. The concept also was built around the area being a self contained city with housing, shopping, churches and hospitals all adjacent to the mall in order to facilitate the continuation of cities in the event of an attack which destroyed the central downtown. Green also designed Southdale in Minneapolis with this concept. The links below give more details on the concept of the malls of that area and photos of the Northland fall out shelter.

So I guess Northland, Eastland and Westland all have significance in the area's Cold War history:

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/1...ican-malls.php

http://www.michigancivildefense.com/...outhfield.html

[Onthe405]

The fate of the old Hudson's locations has not been encouraging. One aspect of local retailing which has mystified me is that Macy's has locations at both Somerset and, only a few miles away, at Oakland Mall. Wouldn't it make more sense for Federated Dept. Stores, which owns both Bloomingdale's and Macy's, to make the Somerset location a Bloomingdale's?

The Federated name was retired 8 years ago. Macy's Inc. is the parent of both the namesake and Bloomingdale's. Their positioning at Summit, Northland, Eastland--and all of Metro Detroit for that matter--is not unique. At the time of the May Co [[represented by the Field's nameplate in the Great Lakes region) acquisition in 2005, the senior management was already aware that the combined 800+ stores was over saturation and the future was in online retail, rather than brick-and-mortar.


Just this month Macy's, Inc announced the closing of the downtown Pittsburgh flagship [[further evidence that those dreaming of a traditional DtDt store someday--it's highly unlikely):


http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201507130124



The three-pronged strategy over the last 10 years has been to weed out & shutter remaining unprofitable/overlapping traditional stores, increase online sales, and develop & expand off-market outlets [[to compete with Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, etc).


Outside of online sales, "growing" the Bloomingdale's brand was never a major element of the strategy, which is probably one factor as to why they never bothered to incur the expense of re-branding the Somerset store . . and it was expensive. The 7 SoCal stores re-branded as Bloomingdale's were entirely closed for a year+ during the remodeling.

Basically, profitability is focused online, the continued trimming of traditional Macy's locations, and expansion of off-market Macy's Backstage & Bloomingdale's stores in "premium outlet" centers. Given the competition, many on Wall Street question whether this approach is even a sustainable business model.

[Bham1982]

Just this month Macy's, Inc announced the closing of the downtown Pittsburgh flagship [[further evidence that those dreaming of a traditional DtDt store someday--it's highly unlikely):

It's true that Macys closed the downtown Pittsburgh store, but I don't think that's an indictment of Macys or downtown retail in general. Macys is highly profitable and growing, and its highest performing stores are generally downtown stores.

Outside of online sales, "growing" the Bloomingdale's brand was never a major element of the strategy, which is probably one factor as to why they never bothered to incur the expense of re-branding the Somerset store.

Macys has grown the Bloomingdales brand, and continues to do so. Besides their huge West Coast expansion, they previously opened new stores in the NYC area, the DC area, Florida, and are opening soon in Connecticut and looking for a third Manhattan location.

Bloomingdales is unlikely to come to Somerset or really anywhere in the Midwest as their brand isn't really in sync with Midwestern fashion preferences. Outside of Chicagoland, Bloomingdales is exclusively an East Coast/West Coast store [[and their Chicago stores don't do very well).

And Macys Somerset is the highest grossing and most upscale Macys in Michigan. There would be no reason to close or rebrand the store.

[dtowncitylover]

And Macys Somerset is the highest grossing and most upscale Macys in Michigan. There would be no reason to close or rebrand the store.

While I agree with you that Bloomie's is very coastal [[though not entirely, ie Chicago and Dallas), I doubt fashion preference has much to do with why they're not here. I can't imagine Midwestern tourist to Chicago wouldn't shop at stores not found in their local markets.

And while the rest of Somerset Collection has a great variety of upscale merchandise, Macy's there is not upscale. Bloomingdale's is more on par with Nordstrom or Saks. I worked at that Macy's in college and it was awful. Simply put, they have too much stuff. I'm sure it is highly grossing but probably because it's attached to a thriving mall. Bloomie's might do better because it's actually upscale and it, like Saks and Neiman's, would be the only one of its kind here.

[stasu1213]

I wonder if Macys and Target could still operate even if the rest of the mall is razed

[mtburb]

I wonder if Macys and Target could still operate even if the rest of the mall is razed

...unless they announce that they're closing those stores within a while of each other like what happened with Northland.

[Hypestyles]

what's the nearest movie theater? when did the movies shut down at Eastland?

[animatedmartian]

what's the nearest movie theater? when did the movies shut down at Eastland?

There were movies at Eastland? Unless you mean the theater across the street on 8 Mile. That one closed a pretty long time ago, I want to say at least several years ago.

[313WX]

what's the nearest movie theater? when did the movies shut down at Eastland?

The Bel-Air Theatre is now the nearest movie theatre.

After the huge 1993 expansion until about the early 2000s, Eastland had 3 theatres. There was the 2 screen theatre inside the east wing where the old [[huge) Food Court used to be, a stand-alone theatre at the SE corner of Vernier & Beaconsfield [[where Lowe's now sits), and lastly Beacon East directly across the street [[where WCCCD is now located).

In hindsight, it's amazing to know both Eastland and Northland were both very attractive, busy and diverse shopping centers less than 20 years ago. I think it's fair to say the closing of Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney was when things started to go downhill for both malls.

[313WX]

There were movies at Eastland? Unless you mean the theater across the street on 8 Mile. That one closed a pretty long time ago, I want to say at least several years ago.

See above post.

[313WX]

There were movies at Eastland? Unless you mean the theater across the street on 8 Mile. That one closed a pretty long time ago, I want to say at least several years ago.

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

[313WX]

And it continues...

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...igan/71927220/

Michigan Macy's await fate as closures loom

Macy’s plans to close 35-40 underperforming stores nationwide, less than 5% of the total number of stores nationwide, next year, the department store chain said this week while also touting its digital sales platforms.

It is unclear whether any of store closings will be in Michigan.

The company has 18 stores in the state, with half of them in metro Detroit.

"It's hard to figure it out at an early stage," Jim Bieri, a principal at Stokas Bieri Real Estate in Detroit, said in speculating which stores would be targeted. He pointed out that it's not uncommon for companies, especially large chains, to close unprofitable stores. "There's any number of reasons for this. Overall retail health has been steady, but there's not a lot of growth."

Meanwhile, companies like Google are rolling out online shopping and same-day delivery services in the Midwest that could make it even more difficult for traditional retailers to compete.

One Macy's store that may be on the list, he said, is at Eastland Center in Harper Woods. Sears left the mall in 2012, tenant occupancy fell to 76% at the end of last year, and a federal judge put the mall, which is in financial distress, into receivership this summer after the shopping center's owner, New York City-based Ashkenazy Acquisition, missed payments on loan.

[Hypestyles]

what are the food places left in the mall?

[hybridy]

And it continues...

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...igan/71927220/

macys is a forgone conclusion at eastland. but i wouldn't be surprised if it goes at oakland and/or fairlane too. 12 oaks and somerset cover that ground.

[Onthe405]

And it continues...


http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...igan/71927220/

It's true that Macys closed the downtown Pittsburgh store, but I don't think that's an indictment of Macys or downtown retail in general. Macys is highly profitable and growing

As Macy's woes continue to mount . . .

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/macy-c...140755013.html

[mikefmich]

I remember when it was woods & swamp....I played in there. Soon to come full cycle. sigh

[313WX]

As Macy's woes continue to mount . . .

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/macy-c...140755013.html

On the plus side, the Eastland Target was spared [[for now) in their latest announcement of store closings...

[Zacha341]

Stores like Macy's are feeling pressure from the outlets like Burnlington and TJMaxx, even Forman Mills [[yeah shocking I know). And Target is expensive to me for somethings.

[jerrytimes]

Macomb Mall will be next.

You haven't been there in a while, huh?