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Northland was a milestone for regional shopping malls in the Postwar United States . Designed by Victor Gruen , it became the model for many other major malls, with 110 stores on two levels clustered around the Hudson's Department Store anchor, and surrounded by the parking lot. The Northland opening has been identified as the beginning of Suburban Sprawl within the country. The mall has continuously operated since its opening. Currently, Marshall Field's and Target Corporation are among the anchor tenants. HISTORY The Northland Center mall was built by J. L. Hudson's, a major independent retail department store based in Detroit that went on to become the second largest department store (next to Macy's of New York City ) in the United States. At the time Northland opened, Hudson's downtown store was its sole location and sales were suffering due to the spread of the community outward from the city's core. The Northland opening was the first major postwar development in suburban Detroit and was the first of many forays into the suburbs by Hudson's. Some $ 30,000,000 was invested in constructing the facility. The first-year gross for the Northland Hudson's was $88,000,000. {Link without Title} The downtown Hudson's store closed in January, 1983 and was demolished in October, 1998. Hudson's, after a series of mergers, was later renamed Marshall Field's and will be renamed Macy's in 2006. Designed by Victor Gruen, the mall's opening was a big event. Articles about the center appeared in national media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal , Time Magazine , Look , Life , Ladies Home Journal and Newsweek . all heralded that the concept represented the future of shopping in post-war America. Besides Hudson's, Northland opened with a number of other prestigious local retailers including Hughes & Hatcher, Himelhoch's, Winkelman's, Kresge's , Robinson Furniture, Better Made Potato Chips and Sanders in the two-million-square-foot center. Northland featured auditoriums, a bank, post office, infirmary, sculptures, fountains, an office for lost children, free gasoline for shoppers running low and lavish landscaping. Gruen would later grow disenchanted with the malls he helped start with Northland. The architect, who also designed suburban Detroit's Eastland mall, Chicago's Randhurst and South Jersey's Cherry Hill, pronounced himself disillusioned with the ugliness and fast-buck approach of many projects. "I refuse to pay alimony for those bastard developments," he told Time Magazine. {Link without Title} Over the years, Northland has suffered a natural decline as its buildings aged. The mall was enclosed in 1975, but by the 1990s, major tenants such as Kohl's , Victoria's Secret and The Limited vacated their operations as did Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney . Beginning in 2000, some $120,000,000 was invested in revitalization of the area by GP Northland II, a New Jersey-based partnership, that took control of operations that year. CURRENT OPERATIONS Northland's current operations include three anchor department stores, Marshall Field's, National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL) and a Target Corporation store as well as 110 other retail outlets, restaurants and specialty stores and 11,000 parking spaces. Originally built with an open air design and covered walkways, the mall was completely enclosed in the 1980s to compete with modern, enclosed malls. Northland's operations have been affected by the Urban Decay that has enveloped the southern Southfield area. However, the mall remains a viable, successful center with sales per square foot well above the national average. Foot Locker , Payless , Radio Shack , Jeepers! , Subway , Mrs. Field's cookies, Kay Jewelers , Wilson's Leather , Sam Goody and Naturalizer shoe store have specialty stores at Northland. The mall is open 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Sunday and holidays. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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