Genesee Valley Center
| Location | Flint Township, Michigan, USA |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1970 |
| Developer | Shopping Centers, Inc. |
| Management | Jones Lang LaSalle |
| Owner | Genesee Valley Partners, LP |
| No. of stores and services | approx. 127 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,272,397 square feet (118,209.5 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 1, plus mezzanine (2 in department stores) |
| Website | http://geneseemall.com |
Genesee Valley Center is an enclosed shopping mall located in Flint Township, Michigan, outside the city of Flint, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1970, the mall is 1,272,397 square feet (118,209.5 m2) of leasable area. The mall has four anchor stores: Burlington Coat Factory, JCPenney, Macy's and Sears. It comprises more than 120 tenants, including a food court, and an external concourse called the Outdoor Village which also features a Barnes & Noble bookstore. The mall is located on Miller Road and Linden Road, near the junction of Interstate 69 and Interstate 75.
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[edit] History
Genesee Valley Center was developed in 1970 by Shopping Centers, Inc. of Southfield, Michigan.[2] It was built as a one-level, enclosed shopping mall, consisting of a straight-line concourse with an anchor store at either end. Sears, the northern anchor, was the first store to open, doing so in May 1970. Detroit, Michigan-based Hudson's followed two months later, with this location being the chain's largest store outside of Detroit.[3] These two stores served as the northern and southern anchor stores to the mall, respectively. On August 8, 1970, Genesee Valley Center opened to the public.[3] At the time, it comprised fifty-six tenants, including a Hamady supermarket and a Cunningham drugstore.[3] By September, a Woolworth dime store had opened next to Sears.[3]
In the mid-1980s, an eastern wing anchored by JCPenney was added to the mall, followed a few years later by a Montgomery Ward store, which was added on a short wing extending southeasternly from JCPenney. The Cunningham drugstore was demolished in 1985 for a western wing anchored by Mervyns, and two years later, a mezzanine featuring a food court was added to the mall's center court.[4] This addition brought the mall to 1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2) of gross leasable area, making it the largest mall in Michigan to be located north of Detroit.[5]
[edit] 1990s and 2000s
Woolworth was briefly downsized to a cosmetics-oriented prototype called Woolworth Express before closing entirely.[6] Its space was eventually divided into several smaller stores, including an arcade called Tilt! Eventually, most of these stores relocated, and the majority of the former Woolworth space was reconfigured as Steve & Barry's.
In 2001, Montgomery Ward had closed the last of its store nationwide. The same year, Hudson's was renamed Marshall Field's, which itself became Macy's when the parent company of Marshall Field's was acquired. The former Montgomery Ward location was demolished in 2005 for a new section called the Outdoor Village.[7] Opened in early 2006, this addition features additional mall tenants in an outdoor setting.[4] Anchoring the Outdoor Village is a Barnes & Noble bookstore, the opening of which resulted in the closure of a B. Dalton bookstore within the mall itself.[8]
Mervyns also closed its Michigan operations in early 2006. A year later, their space at the mall was replaced with Burlington Coat Factory, which relocated from an existing store nearby.[9] Steve & Barry's closed in early 2009 when the chain declared bankruptcy, and became a clothing store called Wear District in October.[10]
[edit] Impact
Since the mall's development, the Miller Road and Linden Road corridors become the site of several big box retailers. A power center operates directly across Linden Road from the mall itself, and a strip mall anchored by Target, Jo-Ann Etc., and Old Navy is located on Miller Road east of the mall. This strip mall was also the location of Burlington Coat Factory until it relocated.
[edit] References
- ^ "Genesee Valley Center fact sheet". Genesee Valley Center. http://geneseemall.com/mimages/factsheets.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
- ^ "Flint". CSA Super Markets (Lebhar-Friedman.) 44: 68. 1968. http://books.google.com/books?id=FktPAAAAYAAJ&q=%22genesee+valley+center%22+%221970%22&dq=%22genesee+valley+center%22+%221970%22&hl=en&ei=LypPTsnWJcHYgAf4kqGEBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg.
- ^ a b c d Sanders, Rhonda. "Journal of the 20th Century: Trip through just-opened Genesee Valley reveals a brand-new world of shopping". The Flint Journal. http://www.flintjournal.com/20thcentury/1970/1970valley.html. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ a b Fishman, Susan H. (2006-10). "Bigger, Better Shopping: Genesee Valley Center remains dominant in the marketplace with a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion.". Shopping Center Business. http://www.shoppingcenterbusiness.com/articles/OCT06/story9.shtml. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "MOODY'S ASSIGNS INITIAL A2 RATING TO G.O.L.T. BONDS OF CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF FLINT BUILDING AUTHORITY". Moody's. 2002-08-05. http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/moodys/NIR_806127300_15589688. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
- ^ "Woolworth to expand formats: Express and Rx Place.". Chain Drug Review. 1989-07-17. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-7822669.html. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ Joe, Lawlor (2005-02-23). "Barnes & Noble expected to anchor Genesee Valley addition". The Flint Journal.
- ^ "Barnes & Noble Signs Lease for Flint, Michigan, Store; Store Will Open in March 2006". Business Wire. 2005-03-09. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_March_9/ai_n12416051. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ Jones, Dawn (2007-08-13). "Burlington Coat Factory opens new location". ABC 12 News. http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=local&id=5558515. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ Burden, Melissa (2009-10-02). "New Genesee Valley shopping center retailer Wear District hosting hiring sessions". The Flint Journal. http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2009/10/new_genesee_valley_shopping_ce.html. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
[edit] External links
