DEAD MALLS of Michigan: Jackson’s Nearly Empty Westwood Mall

It's hard to believe that over the course of 40 years, give or take a decade here and there, that we have seen the popularity of Michigan's malls hit their peak and their eventual demise. Jackson, Michigan's Westwood Mall is a bleak example of how far Malls have fallen from prominence in Michigan's retail hierarchy.

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Malls that used to have waiting lists for tenants are now struggling to fill vast storefront vacancies. The Westwood Mall is definitely a prime example of 'tenant deficiancy' at it's finest.

Jackson, Michigan's Westwood Mall History

Opened in 1972, the Westwood Mall was Jackson's first enclosed shopping mall. Westwood was built to be a direct competitor to the outdoor mall built at US-127 and I-94, the Paka Plaza, now known as the Jackson Crossing. The original mall had just two anchor stores, Wurzburg's and Montgomery Ward. Wurzburg's would never open in Westwood, as they sold to J.W. Knapp Company just before construction completed.

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Other original Westwood Mall tenants included Motherhood Maternity, Kinney Shoes, Waldenbooks, Spencer Gifts, Circus World Toys, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Claire's, and a Walgreens.

In 1980, J.W. Knapp would sell to J.C. Penney and then the retail giant would take over as Westwood's second anchor store, until a third anchor, Elder-Beerman (eventually becoming Younkers) was added in September of 1993. Five years later General Growth Properties would purchase the Westwood Mall, along with the Lansing Mall and Lakeview Square Mall, from Forbes/Cohen in 1998.

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Montgomery Ward would shutter their store in 2001, only to be gutted and replaced by Walmart in 2004. While the Walmart lot is usually full, the mall side of things remains bleak. According to the Westwood Malls website map, there are well over 20 vacant stores in this once thriving retail center.