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Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, formerly Great Lakes Crossing, is a
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
in
Auburn Hills, Michigan Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Auburn Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,360. Auburn Hills is home to ...
, a suburb of
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, Michigan, United States. The site of the mall was originally to have been occupied by a different mall called Auburn Mills, which was never built due to financial issues of its intended developer, Western Development Corporation. Great Lakes Crossing was built on the site and opened in 1998. Constructed and owned by
Taubman Centers Taubman Centers, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company invests in shopping centers, and is a subsidiary of Simon Property Group since 2020. History The company was founded in 19 ...
(itself a subsidiary of
Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
), Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is the largest
outlet mall An outlet store, factory outlet or factory store is a brick and mortar or online store where manufacturers sell their merchandise directly to the public. Products at outlet stores are usually sold at reduced prices compared to regular stores du ...
in the state of Michigan. It features 185 stores, with
anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...
s including Burlington,
Primark Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...
,
Bass Pro Shops BPS Direct, LLC, trade name, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held sporting goods retailer that offers hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation equipment, marine manufacturing and sales, and outd ...
,
TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...
,
Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...
, and
Marshalls Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...
; other notable attractions include a 1,000-seat
food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...
, a 25-screen AMC Star
movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...
, Round1,
Legoland Discovery Center Legoland Discovery Centre is an indoor family entertainment center, family attraction chain operated by British leisure group Merlin Entertainments. Featuring models and attractions inspired by the Lego building toys, the Discovery Centres are sm ...
, and Sea Life Michigan.


History

In 1990, Western Development Corporation (later known as
Mills Corporation The Mills Corporation was a publicly traded real estate investment trust headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States, acquired on April 3, 2007, by an investment group composed of Simon Property Group and Farallon Capital Management. ...
) proposed to build a shopping mall called Auburn Mills just south of
Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...
between Baldwin and Joslyn roads in the city of
Auburn Hills, Michigan Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Auburn Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,360. Auburn Hills is home to ...
. Herbert Miller, the then-chairman and CEO of Western Development, announced in a July 1990 interview the mall would have 230 inline stores, comprising both traditional mall tenants and
outlet store An outlet store, factory outlet or factory store is a brick and mortar or online shopping, online store where manufacturers sell their merchandise directly to the public. Products at outlet stores are usually sold at reduced prices compared to re ...
s. It would also have nine
anchor store In North American, Australian and New Zealand retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are ...
s including outlet locations of
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
and
JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...
; also included would be
Phar-Mor Phar-Mor (stylized as ) was a United States chain of discount drug stores, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and founded by Michael I. Monus, Michael "Mickey" Monus and David Shapira in 1982. Some of its stores used the names Pharmhouse and Rx Place ( ...
,
Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond was an American big-box retail chain specializing in housewares, furniture, and specialty items. Headquartered in Union, New Jersey, the chain operated stores in the United States and Canada, and was once counted among the ...
, and Waccamaw Pottery, the latter two of which had no locations in Michigan at the time. Although the proposed Auburn Mills had received conditional approval from state environmental officials, the property was subjected to two lawsuits filed by the city of
Lake Angelus Lake Angelus is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An affluent northern suburb of Detroit, Lake Angelus is located about north of downtown Detroit. With a population of 287 as of the 2020 census, Lake Angelus is the second ...
, just across Baldwin Road from the proposed mall site, over traffic and environmental changes the mall would cause. Oakland County judge Edward Sosnick ruled in favor of the mall developers in August 1990 after determining the mall would not have significant negative environmental impact. At this point, Western Development had announced that construction would begin within 30 days, with a projected cost of $200 million and projected completion date of late 1992. Western Development then delayed construction until early 1991 after failing to secure a loan toward construction costs. Further delaying construction of the mall was a threat of foreclosure from the
Union Bank of Switzerland Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) was a Swiss Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company located in Switzerland. The bank, which at the time was the second largest bank in Switzerland, merged with Swiss Bank Corporation in ...
, a bank which loaned the money to acquire the land in 1989. Western Development first had to acquire a construction loan before it could begin paying off the mortgage but faced difficulty in doing so due to lenders restricting themselves in the wake of the
savings and loan crisis The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s (commonly dubbed the S&L crisis) was the failure of approximately a third of the savings and loan associations (S&Ls or thrifts) in the United States between 1986 and 1995. These thrifts were b ...
. Western Development agreed to let Union Bank of Switzerland take ownership of the mall property in July 1991, effectively canceling any construction by Western Development. Despite this cancellation,
Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...
built a prototype store across Joslyn Road in 1992.


Development of Great Lakes Crossing

Taubman Centers Taubman Centers, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company invests in shopping centers, and is a subsidiary of Simon Property Group since 2020. History The company was founded in 19 ...
made announcements in June 1996 to buy the land from Union Bank and build an outlet mall on the site. Their plans called for a smaller footprint than the originally planned center, so as to lessen the impact on the environment around the property. Taubman Centers had owned the land in the 1980s when it was still zoned residential, but sold it to Western Development in 1989 after that company expressed interest in building a mall. Michael Crosson, a Detroit-based marketing analyst, considered the area to have the most potential for retail growth at the time. In response,
Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interst ...
(MDOT) began expanding Interstate 75's interchange with Baldwin Road. As with Auburn Mills, Taubman's plans for the property called for a large number of anchor stores, along with a mix of outlet stores and traditional mall tenants. As proposed, the mall would have over 185 tenants situated along an oval-shaped mall corridor, with of
gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured in square metres or square feet) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the bui ...
. It would also be divided into nine different "districts", each with its own décor and tenant mix. Overall, the mall occupied of land, with the mall building itself spanning nearly from end to end. Taubman had undergone negotiations with a large number of retailers prior to seeking approval from the city of Auburn Hills, including various
big-box store A big-box store, a hyperstore, a supercenter, a superstore, or a megastore is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The ...
as well as various department store chains which also operate outlet locations. Detroit-based retail analyst Fred Marx felt the varied mix of stores would distinguish the mall from competitors such as Prime Outlets (now Birch Run Premium Outlets) in Birch Run, which was then the state's largest outlet mall, without having a negative impact on that mall's business. By September 1997, the proposed mall had been named Great Lakes Crossing. Taubman had estimated building costs at over $100 million, and predicted nearly 40 percent of sales would come from tourists. Tenants confirmed for the mall by May 1998 included Star Theatres,
Rainforest Cafe Rainforest Cafe is a jungle-Theme restaurant, themed restaurant chain owned by Landry's, Landry's, Inc. of Houston. The first location opened in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, on February 3, 1994. By 1997, the chain consisted of ...
,
GameWorks GameWorks is a gaming-based entertainment center with a single location . It was owned by then-owner ExWorks Capital, each venue featured a wide array of video game arcades, in addition to full-service bars and restaurants. It was originally cre ...
,
Marshalls Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...
,
TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...
, Bed Bath & Beyond, Finish Line, FYE, and Burlington Coat Factory (now known as Burlington), which would be relocating from an existing store in
Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded on most sides by Bloomfi ...
. Several other confirmed tenants of the mall would also be operating their first Michigan locations at the mall, including Oshman's Sporting Goods,
Bass Pro Shops BPS Direct, LLC, trade name, doing business as Bass Pro Shops, is an American privately held sporting goods retailer that offers hunting, fishing, camping, and other related outdoor recreation equipment, marine manufacturing and sales, and outd ...
, JCPenney Outlet, and Last Call, the outlet division of
Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...
.
Steve & Barry's Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states before liquidating throughout 2008 and 2009. The ...
was also selected as an anchor store; it would be not only their first location in a mall, but also their first in a "superstore" format which expanded their clothing line beyond collegiate apparel to men's and women's casual wear. In addition to these stores, the mall would include a 1,000-seat
food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...
. Three outparcels of the mall would be occupied by
Chili's Chili's Grill & Bar (stylized as chili's) is an American casual dining restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International. History Chili's first location, a converted postal ...
,
On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is an American chain of Tex-Mex food casual dining restaurants. The chain and brand name is owned by Argonne Capital Group. History The first On The Border location opened on October 29, 1982, in Dallas, ...
, and a
Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
bookstore.


Opening

Great Lakes Crossing opened on November 12, 1998. Taubman predicted the mall would have over 17 million visitors within its first year, and that its location would be convenient for tourists traveling to
northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...
. Many major tenants were still under development at the time of the mall's grand opening, including Bass Pro Shops, Oshman's, Star Theatres, Stir Crazy, and Wolfgang Puck Cafe. Developers noted the presence of traditional mall stores would impact other malls located on the north side of
metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...
, such as Oakland Mall and Summit Place Mall. They also noted the mall included several amenities suitable for families and children, including child-accessible restrooms, a children's playplace in the food court, an indoor amusement park called Jeepers!, and
The Children's Place The Children’s Place is a retailer of clothing for children. It sells its products primarily under its proprietary brands The Children’s Place, Gymboree, Sugar & Jade, PJ Place and Crazy 8. The company has about 525 stores in the U.S., Canada ...
. Opening ceremonies lasted for four days and included appearances by
Miss Michigan The Miss Michigan competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Michigan in the Miss America pageant. Michigan has won the Miss America crown on five occasions. Jenae Lodewyk of Bay City was crowned Miss Michigan ...
1998 Laura Welling; performances by the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
marching band, jugglers, comedians, and magicians; souvenirs for the first 10,000 shoppers; and a prize drawing whose grand prize was a power boat offered by Bass Pro Shops. A directory published in the ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
'' just before the mall's opening indicated a large number of stores had opened their first Michigan locations at Great Lakes Crossing, including
Charlotte Russe A charlotte is a type of bread pudding that can be served hot or cold. It is also referred to as an " icebox cake". Bread, sponge cake, crumbs or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. The ...
, Ann Taylor Loft,
Bebe Stores Bebe Stores, Inc. (stylized in all lowercase) is a women's retail brand that was established in 1976. The brand develops and produces a line of women's apparel, accessories, and perfume fragrances, which it markets under the "Bebe" or "Bebe Spo ...
, The Icing, Rack Room Shoes, GameWorks, and restaurants
Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream p ...
,
Hot Dog on a Stick Hot Dog on a Stick is a fast food company that was founded by Dave Barham in Santa Monica, California, in 1946, and later branched out into malls and shopping centers. From 2014 to 2021, the company was owned by Global Franchise Group based ...
, Stir Crazy, Alcatraz Brewing Company, and a Dick Clark's American bandstand grill. At opening, 91 percent of the mall's storefronts were leased, and over 54,000 shoppers attended on opening day. One year after the mall's opening, many individual retailers had expressed concerns that sales had dropped off, despite the mall's then-general manager noting sales were up to expectations; specifically, mall sales were between $300 and $400 per square foot in the mall's first year of business, over the then-national average of $291. The
International Council of Shopping Centers The International Council of Shopping Centers, doing business as ICSC, is the global trade association of what it calls the "Marketplaces Industry" (i.e., shopping centers, shopping malls, and all other retail real estate). History Founded in ...
reported at the time a decrease in traffic was not unusual for a mall in its first year of business, particularly due to factors such as unusually high expectations from retailers following a grand opening, and shopper unfamiliarity with the mall's mix of tenants. Taubman also noted that, other than a small number of temporary stores that were only open for the Christmas 1998 shopping season, the only stores to close within the first year were clothing store J. Riggings and shoe store The Wild Pair, both due to the bankruptcy of their parent company
Edison Brothers Stores Edison Brothers Stores, Inc., was a retail conglomerate based in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated numerous retail chains mainly located in shopping malls, mostly in the fields of shoes, clothing and entertainment, with Bakers Shoes as its flagship ...
in 1999. In addition, the Wolfgang Puck Cafe was never opened due to financial difficulties, so Taubman Centers underwent negotiations to fill the space where it would have opened. Several other stores joined in 1999, including
Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...
, White Barn Candle Company,
Limited Too Limited Too is a clothing and lifestyle retailer, and current brand, targeting the tween girl market, formerly owned by Tween Brands, Inc. (formerly known as Limited Too, Inc. and Too, Inc.). Since 2015, the brand has been owned by Bluestar Allia ...
,
Forever 21 F21 OpCo LLC, trade name, doing business as Forever 21, was a multinational fast-fashion retailer. It was originally founded as Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles, Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984.Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved ...
, and Zales Jewelers. Two other strip malls were built across Interstate 75: The Auburn Mile and Baldwin Commons, whose tenants featured such big-box stores as
Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...
,
Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...
,
Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering ...
, and
Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...
.


After opening

In 2000, a report filed by the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau found the mall was visited less by tourists than other attractions in metropolitan Detroit including Somerset Collection. A specialist hired by Taubman Centers to manage tourism marketing for the mall theorized this deficiency was due to an overemphasis by mall marketers on tour bus travel, combined with the mall being new enough that out-of-state tourists may not have been aware of its existence yet. Despite this, the mall continued to have significant regional impact. By 2001, vacancy had begun to increase at Summit Place Mall in nearby Waterford Township by more than ten percent since Great Lakes Crossing's opening. JCPenney closed its outlet store at the mall in early 2002. A portion of their former location became a
Circuit City Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered th ...
which opened in November 2003. Taubman Centers assumed total ownership of the mall in 2003 after buying out a fifteen percent minority stake held by
UBS UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the ...
Group AG, successor to Union Bank of Switzerland. Steve & Barry's relocated to near Summit Place Mall in 2007 and was replaced by an Urban Behavior. H&M opened a store at the mall in 2007, as part of an expansion into the state which began with a store at
Briarwood Mall Briarwood Mall is a shopping mall in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The mall's three anchor stores are Macy's North, Macy's, JCPenney, and Von Maur. Surrounded by office and other development, the mall anchors the southern Ann Arbor comme ...
in
Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
earlier in the year. Taubman representatives noted the addition of this chain to both Great Lakes Crossing and other malls under its ownership represented a move toward targeting younger shopper demographics. In 2009, tenants that joined the mall included Michael Kors Outlet, Calvin Klein Outlet, Dakota Watch Company, and a Bar Louie which replaced the former Dick Clark's American Bandstand grill. This was followed in February 2010 by a Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, the sixth in a chain of bars founded by singer
Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...
. GameWorks closed in March 2010 as part of a corporate restructuring.


2010s and 2020s

In August 2010, Forever 21 moved from its original smaller location to the former Steve and Barry's/Urban Behavior location, FYE also was a part of the expansion of Forever 21 and eventually moved to a smaller store. Taubman Centers announced in late 2010, the mall would be renamed Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, in order to reflect more clearly the presence of outlet stores in the tenant mix. This renaming coincided with several new tenants, including the first Michigan locations of
Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...
Outlet,
Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG (stylized in all caps) is a designer fashion company headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, Fashion accessory, accessories, footwear, and Leather, leather goods. Hugo Boss is one of the ...
Factory Store, and
Talbots The Talbots, Inc., doing business as Talbots and stylized as TALBOTS, is an American specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's clothing, shoes and fashion accessories. As of 2018, the company operated 495 Talbots stores in the United S ...
Outlet. Other new stores at the time included outlet locations of
Polo Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American public company, publicly traded fashion and lifestyle brand founded in 1967 by Ralph Lauren in New York City. The company markets products in apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances, and is most known ...
,
Wilsons Leather Wilsons Leather is a United States, U.S. leather brand, selling products such as leather jackets, belts, shoes, handbags, and gloves. At its peak in 2002, the Minneapolis-based retailer had 763 stores in 46 states and Canada. The company stores u ...
Outlet, and aerie. Art Van Furniture also opened a store at the mall on Black Friday 2010, replacing Circuit City which had gone out of business in 2009. The rebranding was accompanied by a grand reopening ceremony which included free gift cards and tote bags for customers, along with several performances by local musicians and a ribbon-cutting. The rebranding made Great Lakes Crossing the largest outlet mall in the state of Michigan, with over 185 stores. Borders, one of the mall's outparcels, went out of business in 2011; two years later, their location became the first Michigan location for 2nd and Charles, a second-hand bookstore owned by
Books-A-Million Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, manga, collectibles, toys, technology, a ...
. The mall underwent a large number of major store changes throughout the late 2010s and into 2020. In late 2014, Taubman announced the former GameWorks location would be replaced by an aquarium called Sea Life Michigan.
Legoland Discovery Center Legoland Discovery Centre is an indoor family entertainment center, family attraction chain operated by British leisure group Merlin Entertainments. Featuring models and attractions inspired by the Lego building toys, the Discovery Centres are sm ...
opened at the mall in 2016, taking the place of Jeepers!
Sports Authority Sports Authority, Inc. (formerly The Sports Authority) was an American sports retailer based in Englewood, Colorado. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commer ...
, which had acquired the Oshman's chain in 2005, closed its store in August 2016 after filing for
chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
. Taking its place was the first Michigan location of the Japanese entertainment franchise Round1. Neiman Marcus closed the last of its Last Call outlet stores, including the one at Auburn Hills, on January 15, 2018, due to bankruptcy protection as a result of the
retail apocalypse The retail apocalypse refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores in the United States, especially those of large chains, beginning in the 2010s and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In ...
. The store was replaced by a
Planet Fitness Planet Fitness, Inc. is an American franchisor and operator of fitness centers based in Hampton, New Hampshire. The company has around 2,600 clubs, making it one of the largest fitness club franchises by number of members and locations. The fr ...
later in the year. Off 5th closed at the mall in December 2018, and in July 2019,
Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...
announced it would relocate its Nordstrom Rack outlet store from Baldwin Commons into the former Off 5th location by early 2020. On March 5, 2020, Art Van announced it would be closing all of its company-owned stores, including its Great Lakes Crossing Outlets location, as it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. In May 2020, furniture chain
Arhaus Arhaus, Inc. is an upscale American retail chain that designs and sells home furnishings online and through its retail stores and catalogs. The company is headquartered in Boston Heights, Ohio. History Arhaus was founded in 1986 by John Reed an ...
confirmed the opening of a clearance center in the space vacated by Lord & Taylor in 2019. As of 2020, the mall contains over 185 stores, and is described by Taubman Centers as "the top tourist shopping destination in Michigan", with over 30 percent of annual sales coming from out-of-state tourists. In October 2022, Bed Bath and Beyond closed its Great Lakes Crossing location. In March 2024, it was announced that Irish fashion store
Primark Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...
and
Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...
will be added to the mall, replacing the vacated Art Van Furniture and Bed Bath and Beyond respectively. Dick's Sporting Goods eventually opened on August 23, 2024, with Primark opening on September 12 of that same year. In March 2025, Bar Louie closed.


See also

*
Auburn Hills, Michigan Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Auburn Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,360. Auburn Hills is home to ...
*
Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...
*
Tourism in metropolitan Detroit Tourism in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan is a significant factor for the region's Culture of Detroit, Michigan, culture and for its Economy of metropolitan Detroit, economy, comprising nine percent of the area's two million jobs. About 19 milli ...


References


External links


Great Lakes Crossing Outlets Official Site
{{coord, 42, 42, 9, N, 83, 17, 57, W, type:landmark, display=title Shopping malls established in 1998 Outlet malls in the United States Auburn Hills, Michigan Taubman Centers Shopping malls in Oakland County, Michigan 1998 establishments in Michigan