The Mall That Grew Up With the Region
Grand Traverse Mall has stood on South Airport Road since 1992, but its story began months earlier, when Target and JCPenney opened in October 1991. It was the biggest indoor mall north of Saginaw.
Anchored by names that carried weight in the Midwest retail map, the mall once held over a hundred stores and even its own nine-screen movie theater.
By mid-2025, the parking lots still draw traffic, but the storefronts tell a different story. Macy’s shut its doors for good in March. TJ Maxx left the year before. Planned moves, like the proposed Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, have started to unravel.
And yet, traces of reinvention remain. Kids tumble through a new children’s museum, and parts of the mall’s floor plan still shift to keep up with new retail tactics.
The building hasn’t been gutted or revived; it’s being reshaped in place, piece by piece.
Legal Challenges and Land Deals That Shaped the Ground
Before the first tile was laid or the lights went on, Grand Traverse Mall had already made its mark in court filings.
Cherryland Mall, which later became Cherryland Center, filed suit to stop the new build, arguing it would overload retail supply and pollute a nearby creek.
That case ended quietly, settled out of court.
Another legal dispute followed, this time focused on Garfield Township officials who had sold land to the developer, General Growth Properties.
A conflict of interest was alleged but not upheld. By fall 1991, despite the legal pushback, two anchors were ready.
JCPenney and Target opened in October, well ahead of the mall’s formal debut the following March.
Hudson’s joined later that summer, in July 1992, rounding out the original anchor trio.
The mall launched with an enclosed footprint that stood out for its time: 110 stores, a Kerasotes nine-screen theater, and space for five anchors.
It quickly eclipsed older retail centers in the region. Nothing north of Saginaw had this kind of layout or variety.
The lawsuits left no visible scars on the building, but the boundaries they fought over are still in place.
Ownership Transfers and Brand Realignments
Retail chains moved fast in the early 2000s, and Grand Traverse Mall followed.
Hudson’s became Marshall Field’s in 2001, then Macy’s in 2006, as department store brands shuffled under the same corporate umbrella.
The changes showed up in logos and signage, but the bones stayed the same.
Marshall Field’s was only a nameplate swap for most shoppers, though Macy’s later rebranded interior sections and merchandise floors. The exterior wall colors didn’t change.
In 2012, General Growth Properties transferred the property to Rouse Properties.
The handoff didn’t spark any new additions, but it marked a shift in mall management philosophy.
From then on, reinvestment slowed, and lease activity turned more reactive.
The national chains still carried the space, Target, JCPenney, and Macy’s, but backfill for midsize stores grew patchy.
One key shift during this period happened behind the scenes.
While the public-facing stores changed gradually, the underlying control of the space moved from the developer that built it to one that maintained it.
By the time Brookfield Properties took over from Rouse, the mall had already stopped growing.
Maintenance, leasing, and gradual adaptation had replaced it.
Anchor Turnover and Retail Reversals
The mall’s theater once opened its lobby with the smell of butter and a row of black vinyl seats near the box office.
That ended in 2015, when Carmike Cinemas pulled the plug and moved its screens to a newer build nearby.
A replacement was quickly floated – Dick’s Sporting Goods was expected to move into the space by fall 2016.
But that plan collapsed late in the year. By 2017, the site reopened as Dunham’s Sports.
It didn’t need major structural changes, just new flooring, racks, and signage.
Shoe Dept. Encore arrived in 2019. H&M had joined earlier in 2017, but by 2021, it was gone.
Grand Traverse Bay Gymnastics moved into the former H&M space that same year.
Gap, which had relocated from Buffalo Ridge into the mall years earlier, closed its doors in 2021 as well.
Macy’s Shutdown and Leaseback Fallout
On January 8, 2025, Macy’s confirmed it would close its Grand Traverse Mall store by the end of the first quarter. The lights went off for good on March 23.
That same location had opened as Hudson’s in July 1992, changed to Marshall Field’s in 2001, and took on the Macy’s name in 2006.
It had been a mainstay across three decades, anchoring the mall’s left side with department-store bulk and full-window display cases.
In December 2024, Lormax Stern acquired the parcel through a sale-leaseback deal.
At the time, Macy’s still operated inside. But after the closure, plans to re-lease the space picked up.
No new tenant had been named by summer 2025, though leasing conversations were underway.
Meanwhile, TJ Maxx exited in mid-2024. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet was expected to move into the vacated space.
That deal was scrapped after the chain insisted on limiting access to an exterior door.
Mall officials, pushing for integration with internal foot traffic, pulled the offer.
The hallway outside TJ Maxx still shows where the entrance was sealed. Just a rectangle now, slightly darker tile set into lighter squares.
Children’s Museum Lease and the Experiential Pivot
In October 2024, the Great Lakes Children’s Museum temporarily shut its standalone location in preparation for a move into Grand Traverse Mall.
By early 2025, construction was underway for an 8,000 square foot exhibit space called Curiosity Place.
The museum signed a lease for three to six years, intending to use the mall not as a backup but as a strategic placement: indoor, accessible, and already familiar to many families in the region.
The design reflects function over flair. No major structural change was needed.
The former retail space now holds Curiosity Place, with a Playhouse for role play, a seasonal Maze with pollinator‑themed puzzles, train tables for motor‑skill building, a Coast Guard Lookout climb‑and‑slide, and a working water table based on Great Lakes ecology.
It wasn’t the first time a non-retail tenant stepped into a mall slot, and the duration of the lease hinted at something longer term.
Museum staff made clear this wasn’t a trial – it was a practical choice.
The new site gave them stability, and the mall gained a tenant that didn’t depend on seasonal clothing racks.
Events and Tenants Filling the Gaps
The Zonta Festival of Trees, a holiday fixture in the region, moved its 27th annual event to Grand Traverse Mall in November 2024.
The festival took place in the former Gap space, repurposed temporarily as event grounds.
That weekend, garlands framed the entrance that once displayed denim in nested piles, and the same overhead lighting cast a warm yellow wash over artificial pines and raffle tables.
Permanent tenants have thinned over time, but three anchors still hold: JCPenney, Target, and Dunham’s Sports.
Other names, like Old Navy, came from Buffalo Ridge after closing stores there. Old Navy moved into the former f.y.e. location years earlier.
Gap occupied what used to be Toys R Us Express and Abercrombie & Fitch before closing in 2021.
None of these transitions was marked by grand re-openings.
Storefront signs changed, security gates got replaced, and new tenants layered over the footprints of the old.
But patterns remain, where the corner mirrors hang, how the tile changes under the arch, the echo in the food court when music drops out mid-track.
Those small things still trace what the mall used to be, whether the store behind the gate is open or gone.
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