Fairlane Mall (Detroit, Westland, Wayne: shop, suburbs, car)

[ram2]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Shoes are one of hte things I am not going to buy online. They all fit differently. If I cannot try them on, I woudl have to order 20 pairs and send 19 back.

That is what my wife does.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by ta1064

Seeing this thread almost a year later, and I was going to post the same thing regarding Woodfield. Attending UM back in the '80s and being from the Chicago area, I was amazed when I first visited Fairlane and thought I was in Woodfield (lol). These malls' original designs were indeed carbon copies, except Fairlane had the rail connector to the nearby Hyatt. But, yes, Woodfield has continued to thrive and has been expanded to 300+ stores.

Very sad to hear about Fairlane's misfortune. It was a fabulous mall.

Yeah the malls dying thing might be somewhat true but also somewhat overblown and that is a good example. As well as Somerset, Great Lakes, Twelve Oaks, hell I think even NYC suburbs is building a new mall. I think the problem is there are way too many malls and now it's catching up to them. It's just like older suburbs losing their prominence because they keep building newer suburbs with not enough population growth. Somerset and Twelve Oaks are about as old as Fairlane but those malls continued to update themselves and stay attractive.

[North 42]

I think that the bigger regional malls will always be relevant, and remain healthy, it's the smaller, more local malls that seem to be falling out of favour and closing.

[MS313]

Originally Posted by North 42

I think that the bigger regional malls will always be relevant, and remain healthy, it's the smaller, more local malls that seem to be falling out of favour and closing.

Exactly. The fact of the matter is Metro Detroit does not need 20+ shopping malls like it currently has (or had). It's debatable rather even NYC and LA needs 20+ malls. But for Detroit I would MUCH rather have about 10 very good malls (like Great Lakes, Twelve Oaks, Somerset, Partridge Creek, ect) that are spaced out nicely across the region and downtown Detroit to have the best shopping experience in the region with most of the flagship stores/ high end stores/ independent retailers, ect.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

Originally Posted by MS313

Yeah the malls dying thing might be somewhat true but also somewhat overblown and that is a good example. As well as Somerset, Great Lakes, Twelve Oaks, hell I think even NYC suburbs is building a new mall. I think the problem is there are way too many malls and now it's catching up to them. It's just like older suburbs losing their prominence because they keep building newer suburbs with not enough population growth. Somerset and Twelve Oaks are about as old as Fairlane but those malls continued to update themselves and stay attractive.

Somerset and Twelve Oaks are occupied by a lot of higher-end brand name retailers where browsing, seeing, touching and acquiring the product in-person is almost as important as the product itself. Think Apple iPhone, Coach purses, Hugo Boss suits and Neiman Marcus shoes. The desire to acquire these products in person still is the reason why I can't drive down Novi Road during the months of November and December.

It's the mid- to low-end retailers that are losing the most to online retailers -- Sears and KMart being the most prominent examples right now.

[brodie734]

I mean, even Macy's and Nordstrom are dying, albeit a slower death. The retail apocalypse is absolutely real. Take a look at the numbers:

Moderator cut: copyrighted image removed. Please provide a link to the original context

[usroute10]

Originally Posted by MS313

Exactly. The fact of the matter is Metro Detroit does not need 20+ shopping malls like it currently has (or had). It's debatable rather even NYC and LA needs 20+ malls. But for Detroit I would MUCH rather have about 10 very good malls (like Great Lakes, Twelve Oaks, Somerset, Partridge Creek, ect) that are spaced out nicely across the region and downtown Detroit to have the best shopping experience in the region with most of the flagship stores/ high end stores/ independent retailers, ect.

This is not good because all of those good malls you mentioned are concentrated in far northwestern and far northern suburbs. If Fairlane and Southland Mall and Westland Mall die, where will people in Detroit, Grosse Pointe, Western Wayne County, and Downriver shop? Despite its population loss, Wayne County still has almost as many people as Oakland and Macomb combined.

I guess there is Laurel Park Place. and Oakland. Pretty soon we are only going to have 4 or 5 malls around.

[usroute10]

Originally Posted by Arthur Digby Sellers

Somerset and Twelve Oaks are occupied by a lot of higher-end brand name retailers where browsing, seeing, touching and acquiring the product in-person is almost as important as the product itself. Think Apple iPhone, Coach purses, Hugo Boss suits and Neiman Marcus shoes. The desire to acquire these products in person still is the reason why I can't drive down Novi Road during the months of November and December.

It's the mid- to low-end retailers that are losing the most to online retailers -- Sears and KMart being the most prominent examples right now.

The parent company that owns Discount Retailers Marshall and TJ Maxx claim that there market is expanding and that they can open 1,000 more stores in the U.S. and Canada.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ores/98267876/

A T.J. Maxx just recently opened in Canton. Maybe one of the declining malls that lost Macy's can attract T.J. Maxx.

[keraT]

Originally Posted by usroute10

The parent company that owns Discount Retailers Marshall and TJ Maxx claim that there market is expanding and that they can open 1,000 more stores in the U.S. and Canada.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ores/98267876/

A T.J. Maxx just recently opened in Canton. Maybe one of the declining malls that lost Macy's can attract T.J. Maxx.

I thought I was the only one that loved shopping at T.J Maxx. The one on Fairlane Hill is the one I go to more often then I go to Fairlane Mall. Last 2 months I learned, lot of people are ditching regular mall for TJ max or the likes

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by keraT

I thought I was the only one that loved shopping at T.J Maxx. The one on Fairlane Hill is the one I go to more often then I go to Fairlane Mall. Last 2 months I learned, lot of people are ditching regular mall for TJ max or the likes

There was a TJ max near us in California. We went there sometimes, but it was a mess. Stuff just kind of thrown all over the place, people would pick up something, unfold or de-hanger it, then just toss it someplace if they decided not to buy it, and it would sit there for weeks. Nothing was organized by size or any other way. It was like going to a garage sale. Recently I went to a place in Texas called Ross Dress for Less. It was similar but not quite as messy. They had Blue Jeans for $8 and some business casual pants for $12. I am sure they are not great quality, but they work. I think Salvation Army is more expensive than that.