What many people may not know about the Kalamazoo/Portage area is the fact that we were on our way to becoming the Mall capital of Michigan. During the 80’s Kalamazoo had a minimum of 4 malls. Today, there is only one. Is the Crossroads Mall going to be the exception, or will it too join these abandoned and demolished malls of Kalamazoo’s past?
What many people may not know about the Kalamazoo/Portage area is the fact that we were on our way to becoming the Mall capital of Michigan. During the 80’s Kalamazoo had a minimum of 4 malls. Today, there is only one. Is the Crossroads Mall going to be the exception, or will it too join these abandoned and demolished malls of Kalamazoo’s past?
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The empty Steketee s store inside Maple Hill Mall (date unknown) - Unknown credit from Lablescar website
KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time living in the Kalamazoo area knows that there were a lot of malls around town decades ago. At one point, there were five indoor malls in the metro area, not including the outdoor walking mall in downtown Kalamazoo.
Maple Hill Mall in Kalamazoo, Michigan (date unknown) – Unknown credit from Lablescar website
They included Crossroads Mall and Southland Mall in Portage, as well as Eastowne Mall on the city’s east side, and West Main Mall and Maple Hill Mall, directly across the road from each other on the city’s west side. It was a shopper’s dream. But we all know the era of shopping malls has ground to a halt in recent years and currently only one of those indoor malls remains as it was constructed. That being Crossroads Mall in Portage, which is itself struggling now.