Woodland Mall

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Woodland Mall
location = Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
opening_date = 1968
developer = Taubman Centers
manager = Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust
owner = Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust
number_of_stores = 100
number_of_anchors = 3
floor_area = convert|1100000|sqft|m2
floors = 1
website = [http://www.shopwoodlandmall.com www.shopwoodlandmall.com]

Woodland Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall located just outside the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It comprises over 100 tenants in convert|1100000|sqft|m2 of retail space, with three anchor stores (JCPenney, Sears, and Macy's), a food court and a movie theater. The mall is owned and managed by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, who acquired it from its developer, Taubman Centers, in 2006.

History

Woodland Mall opened in 1968 at the northwestern corner of 28th Street (M-11) and East Beltline Avenue (M-37). The mall was built at a southwest-to-northeast orientation, with Sears at the southwestern end, and JCPenney at the northeastern end. A Kresge dime store was also located in the Sears wing. Another mall, Eastbrook Mall (now Centerpointe Mall), was located on the northeastern corner of the same intersection. A 1975 expansion to Woodland Mall brought a northwesternly-oriented central wing which ended in a third anchor store, Hudson's. After the closure of Kresge in 1987, the store's former space was divided among smaller retailers.

Lord & Taylor was proposed in 1997 as a fourth anchor store at the southeastern end of the mall. However, Hudson's attempted to sue the mall, claiming veto power over the addition of new anchor stores, and the Lord & Taylor was never built. [ [http://www.skyview.iserv.net/newsroomarchive99.html Skyview Local Summary ] ] A food court and play area were added adjacent to JCPenney in 1999. Also in 1999, RiverTown Crossings opened in Grandville, on the other side of town. This was the first serious form of retail competition for Woodland Mall, as prior to the opening of RiverTown Crossings, it was the only super-regional mall in the Grand Rapids area. [cite web |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DTNB&s_site=detnews&f_site=detnews&f_sitename=Detroit+News%2C+The+(MI)&p_multi=DTNB&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F75009C8A3E8482&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Dueling malls: RiverTown, Woodland square off: Western Michgan shoppers get more choices |accessdate=2008-10-10 |date=1999-08-08 |work=The Detroit News]

Hudson's was converted to Marshall Field's in 2001 in a nameplate consolidation by parent Target Corp., and then to Macy's in 2006 as the result of an acquisitions. A 14-screen movie theater (then owned by Cinemark) and Red Robin restaurant were added to the southeastern portion of the mall in 2006, the same year in which Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust acquired the mall from Taubman. [cite web |url=http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060103005158&newsLang=en |title=Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Acquires Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan |accessdate=2008-10-10 |date=2006-01-03 |work=Business Wire] Celebration Cinema purchased the movie theater complex (as well as a former Cinemark at RiverTown Crossings) a year later.

Barnes & Noble, in October 2008, announced that it would be relocating from a nearby store to a new location at the mall. [cite web |url=http://www.rejournals.com/news/211473-two-relocations-facilitated-by-transwestern |title=Two relocations facilitated by Transwestern |accessdate=2008-10-10 |last=Brubaker |first=Jim |date=2008-10-07 |work=REJournals.com]

Transportation

As of May 21, 2007, six Interurban Transit Partnership bus routes serve the mall: routes 5 and 6 to Central Station, route 17 to Gerald R. Ford Airport, route 24 to Grandville Library, route 44 to Rivertown Crossings Mall, and 49 Davenport Express.

References

External links

* [http://www.shopwoodlandmall.com Woodland mall website]