Universal Shopping Center

Development was announced in 1962 for a site formerly occupied by a farm. Montgomery Ward was confirmed as the first anchor tenant at this point.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/98669219/|title=$40 million land project is underway in Warren|last=Mueller|first=John|date=November 28, 1962|work=Detroit Free Press|page=A3|access-date=April 28, 2018}} The original mall opened in 1965 as Universal City with Montgomery Ward, Woolworth, and Federal's as its anchor stores. In 1980, Federal's went out of business and was replaced that same year by Crowley's. The opening of Crowley's coincided with a mall-wide renovation that included installation of new floors, ceilings, and seating areas throughout the concourses.{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/99276993/ | title=Crowley's plans Universal Mall store | work=Detroit Free Press | date=January 3, 1980 | access-date=March 25, 2020 | author=Stuart Elliott | pages=5B}} Forbes-Cohen, the mall's original owners, sold it to Westfield Group in 1980. Seven years later, Westfield Group sold it to Schostak.{{cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/99913352/ | title=Universal Mall is sold | publisher=Detroit Free Press | date=October 23, 1987 | accessdate=March 19, 2025 | pages=1C}}

A western wing with Mervyns was added to the mall in 1988, and shortly afterward, the eastern wing was renovated to include a movie theater and food court.[http://www.universalmall.biz/history.htm Universal Mall history] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428213656/http://www.universalmall.biz/history.htm |date=April 28, 2007 }}

In 1997, the F. W. Woolworth chain closed the last of its stores, leaving a large vacancy in the northern wing. Three years later, Montgomery Ward closed the last of its stores as well. Also in 1999, Value City acquired the Crowley's location at Universal Mall and two other Detroit-area malls and renamed them Crowley's Value City before dropping the Crowley's name entirely.[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54252957.html VALUE CITY TO REVAMP 4 CROWLEY'S. (Brief article)]{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Many of Universal Mall's major chain tenants either moved to other malls, or closed up entirely. By the end of the 1990s, Universal Mall's occupancy was below 35%, and it became a dead mall.[http://www.dailytribune.com/stories/052807/loc_mall001.shtml/Universal Universal Mall may be demolished] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927034915/http://www.dailytribune.com/stories/052807/loc_mall001.shtml/Universal |date=September 27, 2007 }}

Universal Mall Properties acquired the mall in 1999, and mall renovations began soon afterward. Burlington Coat Factory opened that year, displacing the former Woolworth and most of the other stores in the northern wing;[https://archive.today/20120911043529/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-71874245.html Universal Mall to fill Woolworth's space with Burlington Coat Factory.(Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., Universal Mall Properties L.L.C.)(Brief Article)] A.J. Wright opened a year later in a space formerly occupied by Ben Franklin in 1997.{{cite news|title=Aging malls retool look to survive|date=15 September 2002|work=The Detroit News}} Plans were also made to divide the former Montgomery Ward space into smaller shops.[http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0503/03/A01-106494.htm Aging malls fight to remake their images] Eventually, occupancy at Universal Mall rebounded to 75%, although by 2007 it had declined to 48% (in part due to the closure of Mervyns' Michigan operations in 2006).[http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/SUB/70623009/-1/toc Crain's Detroit Business]

The mall was closed in June 2008 and demolition began on the 23rd of that month, leaving only the Burlington Coat Factory, AJ Wright, theater and former Value City.{{cite web |url=http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/16683558/detail.html?subid=10100241 |title=Universal Mall meets wrecking ball |access-date=2008-07-21 |date=2008-06-23 |work=WDIV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609050132/http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/16683558/detail.html?subid=10100241 |archive-date=2011-06-09 |url-status=dead }} The rest has been replaced by a strip containing 35 tenants,[http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/062408/loc_local04.shtml Universal Mall is coming down]{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} including Petco and Target.{{cite web|url=http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090308/SUB01/303089990/1069|title=Universal Mall signs tenants - some from down the street|last=Halcom|first=Chad|date=2009-03-08|work=Crain's Detroit Business|access-date=2009-03-26}} The last remaining tenant held over from when the mall was enclosed was Cinemark, which operated the movie theater since it opened in 1991 until it closed in mid-2016. It reopened as a location of MJR Theatres in late 2016.[http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2016/08/02/mjr-take-cinemark-theater-warren/87967364/ MJR to take over Cinemark theater in Warren] AJ Wright has since re-branded as Marshalls.

{{reflist}}

{{Warren, Michigan}}

{{Detroit malls}}

{{Shopping malls in Michigan}}

Category:Shopping malls in Macomb County, Michigan

Category:Shopping malls established in 1965

Category:Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Category:Warren, Michigan

Category:1965 establishments in Michigan