Dead Malls Season 5 Episode 7 - Courtland Center

Courtland Center, or formerly Eastland Mall is a tiny mall which lies on the east side of the dying Flint, Michigan. This was a mall I truly had no idea what to expect from, but I was more than blown away..

Built and opened in 1968 it originally featured anchors Woolco, The Fair, and Federals, with the ladder 2 being based in the malls home state. It would also boast a 1000 seat movie theater, and 47 stores. Despite a much larger Genesee Valley Center opening just miles away on the west side, Eastland would THRIVE. Through the 60s, 70s, and 80s the mall would pull shoppers from all over the metro, and as far as Detroit. It was a power center to be reckoned with, often feeling pretty modern and having some amazing almost futuristic aesthetics despite its old age.

By the 90s however the dying city combined with the struggling retail brands at the mall would begin its downfall. Jobs would be lost and Flint would see vast swathes of its population leave in search of a better life.. While the factories once employing most of the cities blue collar demographic, Chrysler, GM, and Buick all closed up shop.. The now renamed Courtland Center was left to pick up the pieces.. Throughout the 2000s dozens of renovations, redevelopments and additions would be an attempt to bring people back, but as the recession swept through it was almost day and night. Each day in 2009 some other store was gone or holding a closing sale. Coupled with the anchors constantly changing hands or closing AND the theaters closing and reopening several times gave the mall a bad look.

By my visit in July of 2022 the mall was just a sad scar of a beautiful past. A look into the once beautiful Flint. And a look into a shopping destination which once held thousands in its halls…

Music used

PZA - Tropic

The Weather Channel is Always Wrong - 27 U H F

s t r o l l t h r u K M A R T - Squarecom

Skytower 2032 - Metallic Ghosts

Infatuated - Toadofsky

Thank you all for watching! Subscribe for more! ٩(^ᴗ^)۶

Links

#northcdogg22 #deadmall #deadmalls #northernfilms

[ltlbear]

Thank you so much for posting this. I grew up in Burton as a kid and teenager and have been thinking about this mall lately. I sold Girl Scout cookies by the conversation pits. All of my Homecoming dresses during my high school years were purchased from the Deb Store. I saw the Pokémon movie for the third time with my best friend at the NCG cinema. I would beg my mom to buy me some McDonald’s fries before we went into the dollar store, across from the Aladdin’s arcade.

I no longer live in Michigan but I’ve been thinking about this key part of my childhood and teen years.

Thank you for your exploration. ❤️

[animatedabe]

No matter how dead a Mall is, you’ll always find a Bath and Body Works

[detroitshadowlands]

People need to keep in mind that Flint, like Detroit before it, was once a prosperous city and home to Buick Vehicle City. When GM shuttered the plant, jobs and incomes dried up. It wasn't always a derelict region resembling a demilitarized zone. Michiganders are hardworking, dedicated folks but unfortunately the state failed to diversify their economy and the results are painfully obvious. That's the downfall of pinning everything on a single industry.

[mikepastor.k]

This was rocking in the 80's and even into the 90's. My first job, I worked at the J.C. Penny's in 88' to about 91'. Now it's the Planet Fitness. Always would go next door to Walden Books and read mags on my breaks. I remember earlier in the 80's as a kid during Christmas shopping season, there would be literally touching elbows and single file walking as the crowds would be unbelievable. Those were the mall days indeed.

[terrydablade]

Me and my friends used to spend so much of our free time at the Courtland Center just walking around or playing games at Aladdin's Castle it broke my heart seeing that sign not wanting mall walkers it's a real shame I live right across the street from the mall and I haven't been inside in YEARS lol nice to see the place is still looking pretty damn good on the inside

[stevebayt]

If anyone is viewing this is from Flint and was in either the Sagineerss from Saginaw or Flint Guardsmen drum and bugle corps it was great competing against you in the 1970's when malls were the ultimate place to hand out all day.

[JoJo-iesl]

That poor lone employee pacing the Bath & Bodyworks store.

[retroryan]

One of the most beautiful malls you visited. Modern malls today have nothing and these old ones have a lot of character.

[charlestonpinballarcade]

Another certified winner! I love learning more about these downtrodden towns like Flint.

[lizzwizz]

This mall was awesome to me. It was small but busy until GM left. I haven't been back. We drove past 3 yrs ago but didn't stop. Crime over in Flint is so bad you have to drive through Flint to get there and I69 is being repaired. Another sad mall.

[pheerbeard]

this mall is absolutely one of the best ones you've visited. i love it. the colors, the lighting, the flooring, the small decorative touches here and there along the storefronts, its sense of airiness and openness thanks to an abundance of natural lighting and quality fixtures. the fountains, flowers, and plants are tasteful and not overdone. though a lot of it lies empty, its clean and well kempt. there's an optimism and peacefulness to it like you'd find in a japanese zen garden. this is a mall that's very comfortable with itself despite everything.

[cynthiarose]

I just found your channel and subscribed. I love your videos. They are awesome. This mall must have been rocking back in the day. Such a beautiful fountain and mall. Love those conversation pits. I’ll be watching your videos from now on. Thank you for the great content.

[UmbreonFan]

Thank you for filming this video i remember this mall and only remember visiting it a few times

[TrueDeadMallLegend]

Dort Mall or Bay City Towne Center or Genessee Valley Next. Great Video.

[TaylorDelRey]

Your videos keep getting better and better. You kick ass.

[kendalloberley]

I definitely have come to realize I have that phobia of things like this that are suppose to be full of people and it's not and super errie, but what I'm so intrigued about this series is how you find so many dead malls that are still open! With like little to no retailers still occupying space there! Definitely interesting to me and I like the history you include!

[Wookiestick]

As of the time of this typing, I decided to go to this mall after not being there for some years. It's a harsh cold winter here in MI this year, with daytime temps in the single digits and lower if you include wind chill. I just wanted to see if they had the movie theater still open which it wasn't. If I recall from memory there was three stores that were accessible inside the mall. I went to bath & body works looking for read diffuser refills. There were two women there and they looked so happy just to have someone come in there. I talked to them for about 10 minutes. Unfortunately they didn't have reed diffuser refills. They tried to upsell me to an expensive proprietary model which I didn't want to be tied down to. I felt kind of guilty, and I ended up buying some hand soap just to justify their time. It was still nice talking to them. There was also a (expensive) massage parlor and a men's custom tailor shop. Neither Dunham sports, planet fitness, or JCPenney was accessible from the interior of the mall. It was kind of lonely walking through there with all the vacant buildings. I did look at the art from local amateur artists.

[davidcrawford]

"don't drink from it" very funny dude

[blackrain]

Love the content! The retro 90's love it!

[SynchroSk]

That “no mall walking” sign was serious business, damn.