Some information courtesy Maggie and Jay.
Fort Saginaw Mall was the first of two malls in Saginaw, Michigan. It started out with a Kmart/Kmart Foods that opened in 1966. The mall itself opened a year later, with the other major stores being Scotts 5 & 10, a one-screen movie theater, and Federal department store. Around 1975, Fashion Square Mall was built on the other side of town. Easily several times larger than Fort Saginaw Mall, Fashion Square was anchored by JCPenney and Sears, as well as two local department stores: Heavenrich’s and Wiechmann’s; Hudson's would later move from downtown to become Fashion Square Mall's fifth anchor, while Heavenrich's and Wiechmann's would be replaced with smaller stores over time. This newer mall was also a couple miles from Saginaw Valley State University, and to this day it seems to be a major draw for college students.
Federal went bankrupt sometime around 1977 (they also had a store at Green Acres Plaza a few miles away), and Scott's 5 & 10 became part of the T G & Y chain. (Evidently Scott's was a regional chain; there was one in a mall in Chicago that also became a T G & Y.) The Fort Saginaw Mall Theater closed in 1976, reportedly because the manager was murdered. When Kmart abandoned the Kmart Foods concept, the old Kmart Foods space was used to expand the Kmart.
In the mid 1980s, Burlington Coat Factory took over Fort Saginaw's former Federal, and a Big Lots that didn't open into the mall was added. T G & Y closed with the chain, and was soon replaced with Norman's Sporting Goods. Nonetheless, the crime rate in Buena Vista continued to climb, and Fashion Square's neighborhood was quickly filling up with big chain stores and fast foods for miles around. (To this day, the majority of Saginaw's retail is in the Bay Road corridor near the mall.)
By 1990, fewer than a dozen tenants remained in Fort Saginaw Mall (at least that was all I could find in a 1990 phone book). Burlington Coat Factory moved out in 1991, opening a larger store across from Fashion Square Mall (which has since relocated as well). Phar-Mor quickly replaced the Burlington Coat Factory store for less than a year, as Phar-Mor would pull out of Michigan in 1992.
The Fort Saginaw Mall itself, except for Kmart, was finally boarded up by the mid-1990s; I don't know exactly when, but I've been told 1998. (Big Lots probably closed around the same time.) Kmart itself, which never opened into the mall concourse, stayed open until May 2004.
The mall's outparcels comprise Wendy's, Burger King, Speedway (formerly Marathon), and a former Elias Bros. Big Boy that closed possibly before the Kmart did. Behind the former Federals/Burlington/Phar-Mor sits a grocery store that, over the years, has been Ray's and Giantway (and possibly Kessel as well) before becoming Save*A*Lot, which it is now. A couple other business, including a jewelry store, still operated alongside Save*A*Lot last I checked.
My visit
At the time of my visit -- sometime in early 2004ish?, before Kmart closed -- I couldn't help notice the evidence of high crime in the area around the mall: broken glass, graffiti, massive piles of trash, and boarded-up businesses aplenty. The front of the mall (facing Outer Drive and Holland Avenue) was rather sound, albeit boarded up. The parking lot at the front was also in good condition, despite some minor cracking. Behind the mall, though, was an almost ridiculous amount of trash and broken glass, as well as several graffiti. I can only imagine that the property looks even more rundown now that Kmart is gone.Redevelopment
Once, while surfing the Internet looking for any more information on this mall, I found a page announcing that, in 2001, the mall was to have been demolished (save for Kmart and the Save*A*Lot building) and replaced with a strip mall and gas station. I don't know why these plans never came to fruition, but I do know that the plans referred to the property as "Fort Saginaw Shopping Center" -- a fairly recent sign next to the Burger King identifies the vacant property as such.In 2006, Wal-Mart was looking to build a store in the Frankenmuth area. Frankenmuth turned them down, but Buena Vista Township offered the site of Fort Saginaw Mall. Wal-Mart declined. In my opinion, this is a good thing, because Saginaw already has two Supercenters and a Sam's Club, as well as two Meijer stores; they don't need another Supercenter.
One article I found, also from 2006, also called for the property to be rebuilt as Buena Vista Town Center. I don't know where this article disappeared to, however.
In late 2007, the charter township that the mall's located in tried to buy the property from Cafaro, the Ohio-based company that owns the vacant property. Cafaro apparently refused to sell, announcing that they had plans to redevelop as well. As of April 2008, however, the township has successfully acquired the property, and demolition will begin sometime later this year.
Former tenants
Thanks to a couple of Internet friends who remember the mall in its prime, I have been able to identify some of the mall's former tenants over the years. I also found the names of some other tenants by reading some of the names off the delivery doors at the back of the mall; a few more listings came from a 1990 phone book.* Adam Shoes
* Albert’s (clothing store)
* Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors
* Big Lots (1980s-1990s)
* Burlington Coat Factory
* Candle Light (1990s)
* Claire’s Boutique (1990s)
* Docktor Pet Center
* El-Bee Shoe Outlet (1990s)
* Fashion Bug (1990s)
* Federal Department Store
* Fiesta Hair Salon (1990s)
* Fort Saginaw Cinemas (owned by General Cinema Corporation)
* General Nutrition Center (GNC) (1990s)
* Graystone Company (men's clothing) (1990s)
* Greenley Appliance
* Jo-Ann Fabrics
* Kmart
* Kmart Foods
* Lite & Delicious Deli (1990s)
* Muir Drugs
* Nadine’s Jewelers
* Nobil Shoes
* Norman’s Sporting Goods (1980s-1990s)
* Phar-Mor
* Prime Time
* Scott’s 5 & 10 (later T G & Y)
* Thal's (clothing store)
* Thom McAn Shoes
* Wig Land
* Yoko Health Spa (1990s?)
Other stores included a TV store, a cafeteria (may have been part of the Scott's/T G & Y), and a water bed store.
Photo gallery
I took these photos sometime in 2004ish with a disposable camera. Since these are scans of pictures, they're a bit on the muddy side (I know; I didn't own a digital camera until much later.)
This is the former east anchor, last occupied by Phar-Mor.
East entrance. The orange awning to the left was Big Lots, which didn't open out into the mall concourse as far as I can tell.
A close-up of the east entrance.
The southern entrance. Notice the “entrance to mall” sign. When the Kmart pharmacy closed, its prescriptions were transferred to a nearby Kroger.
Kmart.
Former Big Lots.
Looking east on Holland Avenue (M-46) behind the Kmart. If you look closely, you can see the “store closing” banner for the Kmart, as well as the “Fort Saginaw Shopping Center” sign. Note also the recently built Burger King; this replaced a store across the street, now occupied by a Subway.
Vacant for only a decade or so, the mall is already deteriorating.
Two views of an enormous junk pile behind the mall. I think the yellow delivery doors led to the former theater.
The west entrance.
Another shot of the entrance sign.
The following images are courtesy Matthew Weaver, who acquired them from an old Saginaw tourism book. He and I presume that the pictures date from the late 1960s.
Alberts Clothing, in the center court.
East wing, with Muir Drugs, Nobil Shoes, Thal's, and Thom McAn; Federal is in the background.
Greenley's Furniture, a local store which also had a store on State Street at the time.
Kmart and Kmart Foods.
The Kmart wing, Scotts 5 & 10 on the right. Note that this wing only had stores on one side.
External link
For more abandoned retail buildings in Saginaw, see Saginaw For Sale blog.Back