THE RISE AND FALL OF GRAND TRAVERSE MALL THE

As the 32nd birthday of the Grand Traverse Mall rolled around, we decided to uncover a bit of its history and how shopping there looks a little different today

by Sam Elkins content editor

What truly kicked off the demise of our beloved hallmark of shopping in Traverse City? What was the catalyst? Was it the movie theatre shutting down? China Wok closing for good? Maybe even the JCPenney roof coming through the ceiling? Well, let’s go all the way back to its grand opening in March of 1992.

The mall had an amazing opening, being engaged in a legal battle with the Cherryland Mall across town over pollution of a nearby body of water, as well as “too much retail space” as quoted from Cherryland Mall’s lawsuit against Grand Traverse Mall. Eventually, that all turned over out of court, and the mall began to open. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was our mall. In its first “phase” of opening, it started out with a store roster of only JCPenney and Target in 1991, and then the rest of the inside shopping area arrived by 1992. When it first opened, it had upwards of 100 stores and a full movie theatre, making it one of the biggest malls in Michigan in its prime. In 2006, Macys was implemented as another anchor store, and the mall was thriving. Stores were booming, business was growing and it was one of the (if not) biggest social hotspots of TC.

It hit a bit of a turning point in 2014, when a body was found dead one morning in the middle of the food court. The mall closed entirely for the day to undergo investigations. It was soon found to be a night shift custodian and reopened shortly after this discovery. Gap and Old Navy key mall stores closed or moved and brought mall popularity down bit by bit, as more well-known and frequented stores also shut down and left the mall. It was around this time you can see a genuine trend of decline. There have been (and still are) attempts to save the retail relic, but none have entirely succeeded. Dick’s Sporting Goods was planned to enter the mall in 2016, and Dunhams ended up filling the gap. Carmike Cinemas (owner of the original movie theatre in the mall) decided to close down the mall’s theatre as an AMC Theatres opened not even a three minute drive away.

That wasn’t all; H&M came and went, F.Y.E. moved around to make way for more space, and Spirit Halloween and Shoe Dept. Encore have attempted to save the mall with one last ditch effort. Not to mention the food court, having eight food outlets at one point, is now down to four. Agave closed not even a week after the initial drafting of this article and China Wok not even three days behind it. All that’s left is Dairy Queen, Sbarro Pizza, Food of Arabia, and Flavors of India. Outside the food court, there’s Auntie

Anne’s, if that counts. It’s a shame looking back at old photographs of the mall, seeing all the smiling faces and the building packed to the brim with stores. Going into the mall now, faded lights and cobwebs make a trail of depression while walking through the empty hallways. But that brings it back to the beginning question: why is it like this? What happened?

To find out, we asked students from around Central about their opinions on the mall, and what they thought was happening with the mall’s decline. “[When] I go there, I go there for something. I used to go there for fun,” Alex Szjaner ‘24 states. “I think the mall is dying. There are [so many] less people in there, all the stores are shutting down, and they’re opening new ones that [then] shut down. [Online shopping] affects the mall because why [would you] go somewhere when you can just as easily by the lift of a finger buy whatever you want.” Similarly, Zander Lorincz ‘24 notes “[Online shopping] has become a lot more popular, and you can find exactly what you want and at the mall they may not have everything you’re looking for. On top of that, you don’t need to leave the house. You can just do it in your bed and have [your purchases] brought to you.”

The decline in popularity of malls and in-person shopping isn’t exclusive to our mall, however. “I’d say definitely not just in Traverse City, but everywhere malls have declined, because online shopping has increased. It’s just blown up espe- cially with Amazon, Target, and all those big chain stores,” Eileen Gibens-Woodbury ‘24 explains. “If I don’t like something, then I have to return it, [which is easier online], and that takes time. I would just say that with online shopping it’s so easy to find what you need. You drive from store to store, but online you just Google it and it’s [all there].”

Jesus Montelongo ‘24 still spends a lot of time at the mall, but he realizes that it doesn’t have the same allure for most people. “I usually check out the Treasure Hoard or go to Gamestop. I think [stores] have been closing a lot because no one goes in stores anymore. Like losing popularity.” Montelongo usually goes to the mall with friends or family and has noticed the decline. Everyone I talked to has. Out of all four randomly selected interviewees, all had been to the mall in the last month and specifically stated something of the mall’s downfall. Most sources point to online shopping. While brick and mortar shopping is losing popularity, online retailers are only going up.

Does this mean the end to brick and mortar building shopping because you can buy what you need to buy from the comfort of your own home? Most signs point to yes. But local businesses can’t always afford going online instead of in person shopping, which can lead to poverty and job loss. So go out for a while, maybe visit a local business or our local mall, and go pick something you’re looking for in person instead of online. //

Towards the beginning of the semester, I (Sam) foolishly decided to set out on the production of a story about the ups and downs of the mall’s popularity. A rise and fall, per se. But in the process of doing that, there were roadblocks. LOTS of roadblocks. No interviews, no call backs for interviews, research errors, and it was all a big mess. In our attempt to attempt this mall story for the second time this issue, it had the same problems. So when the time arose to find the question for this next chapter of Sam Speaks, we settled on “What would you like to see come to the Grand Traverse Mall?” and set out into the hallways of Central High School. After a lot of waiting and patience, we got them. Here’s what the staff and students of Central had to say.