Eastland Center (Michigan)

After the loss of Montgomery Ward in 1998, the mall was at 78% occupancy.[7][8] Eastland Center was acquired by the Shopco Advisory Group in 1999, with plans for renovation;[9] under Shopco's tenure, new stores were added.[10] In 2001, the Hudson's was rebranded to Marshall Field's. In September 2003, Sears opened in the former JCPenney space. The same year, the mall's twin theater was demolished, with a Lowe's home improvement store (detached from the mall itself) being built on the site of the former twin theater in the northeastern corner of the property. A new, much smaller food court was created from retail space in the Sears wing.[11] Marshall Field's, in turn, was acquired and renamed Macy's in 2006.

Steve & Barry's, a discount clothing retailer, opened on the first floor of the former Montgomery Ward store in 2004. At the time, the Eastland Center store was the second-largest Steve & Barry's in the chain.[12][13] Shopco continued to manage the mall until selling it to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation in 2005. Jones Lang LaSalle assumed management of the mall in 2005. With the management change came some new stores, including the addition of K&G Fashion Superstore in 2006.[14] In 2007, Target completed a renovation of its interior and exterior, as well as an expansion to accommodate a pharmacy, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut. Eastland Center announced in 2008 that Burlington Coat Factory would be added to the east end of the mall, which opened in September 2009.[15]

In 2010, the mall saw Shoppers World take over the former Steve & Barry's space.[16] Sears closed in 2013.[17] Just like Northland, Spinoso bought Eastland in July 2015.[18] Macy's closed its store at the mall on March 19, 2017, after nearly sixty years of business under various nameplates.[19] The following year, Target also closed its Eastland store on February 3, 2018.[20] Two months later, Burlington shuttered its store at the mall in April 2018.[21] In October 2018, the mall was sold to Kohan Retail Investment Group.[22][23] Then, in June 2021, Kohan sold the mall to NorthPoint Development, who plans to demolish the mall and convert the property to warehouses and industrial buildings.[1] The mall was slated to stay open through the holiday season, but the interior closed in November. K&G and Shopper's World remained open for the holiday season, but were closed by the time demolition began in April 2022..[24][25]

One of the mall's centerpieces upon opening was a nine-foot sculpture of a lion and a mouse, titled "The Lion and Mouse" sculpted by Marshall Fredericks. In 1957, the mouse was stolen from the sculpture, only to be replaced by another mouse; in total, the sculpture has gone through no fewer than six mice. In 2007, the sculpture's original mouse was returned to the mall by the person who stole it.[26]