An ode to Lakeside Mall, the forgotten crown jewel of Michigan’s shopping malls

The year is 2007. I’m a sophomore in high school, it’s Friday night, and I want to buy the new album by my favorite band, Paramore. The only place I can get it is the FYE store in Lakeside Mall – the mall I feel like I’ve been to hundreds of times before. I find out I have enough money to buy it, so I ask my parents to drive me to the mall so I can meet my friends and walk around like so many teenagers have done before me.

That’s just one of the memories I have of Lakeside. Those memories of this massive mall will soon fade when Lakeside closes forever and is later demolished on Sunday, June 30th. It will be a bittersweet day for the countless people who remember their walks through this mall.

I’m not even sure when my memories of Lakeside begin, because I just always remember it. As anyone who grew up in Macomb County knows, there wasn’t much to do there, especially back then. If you were bored or wanted some light entertainment for your kids, taking them to Lakeside for an afternoon was a fantastic option.

From the breakfast play area (one of my favorites), to the ice skating rink, to the quirky larger than life sculptures, to the water slide, Lakeside offered so much more than just shopping. Although at the end of the day, the shopping was the best.

When it was time to shop for school supplies, we went to Lakeside. When it was time to get a suit for my grandmother’s funeral, we went to Lakeside. When I first wanted to buy my own clothes in high school, I went to Lakeside. Heck, that’s where I first met Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

From the many variations of Macy’s department store to my absolute favorite, Hot Topic, Lakeside was so much more than just a mall. It was a place to go with friends and family to just hang out and have fun. The memories it holds for so many East Metro Detroit residents are endless.

I know there are other malls in and around Metro Detroit, but they really don’t compare to Lakeside. Somerset is a fun place to visit, but it often feels very fancy and classy. Macomb Mall is fine, but it’s definitely not Lakeside. Even Oakland Mall, which looks and feels a lot like Lakeside, just can’t compare to the size of this soon-to-be-closed mall.

It’s sad that in many ways the internet has destroyed malls and the culture associated with them over the past 15 years. The last time I was in Lakeside was in 2021, and even though I only went there to shop at Macy’s, I took a quick lap around the mall and so many memories came flooding back. Even though I didn’t recognize most of the few stores that were there, you can’t help but think about trying free samples in the food court or how cool you felt riding down the escalator with your high school friends after a shopping spree at Abercrombie or Hollister. It makes me kind of sad that kids and teens growing up won’t have memories like that.

Mall culture is so ingrained in our lives that it’s hard to transform it into anything else. Can today’s teenagers really understand what it felt like the first time they went to the mall with their friends without their parents? Or when they got their first job at Auntie Anne’s or Claire’s?

As they say, all good things must come to an end, and this is the end for Lakeside. Macy’s and JCPenney will remain, but the rest of the site will be converted into retail, office and residential space, as well as a park and a hotel.

I’m sure it will all be very beautiful and probably serve the needs of this Sterling Heights neighborhood, but it will just never be the same. Long live Lakeside Mall, and thank you for the countless memories.