Universal Mall

Universal Mall is a redeveloped open-air power center located in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The first phase opened in mid-2009 with Target, Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, and Petco. It is on the site of a former enclosed shopping mall also called Universal Mall, which opened in 1965.HistoryThe original mall opened in 1965 as Universal City with Montgomery Ward, Woolworth, and Federal's as its anchor stores. By 1979, Federal's had closed and was converted to Crowley's. 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. After the addition of Mervyns and the food court, the mall was renamed "Universal Mall".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. 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.