Lakeside Mall opened in 1976, once had Michigan’s first indoor tubular waterslide, and closed for good on July 1, 2024. For nearly fifty years it was where this part of Macomb County bought clothes, and two generations learned their habits inside it. Those habits are worth examining now that the building they were formed in has gone.
What a mall taught
Browsing. You went without a specific plan, looked at what was out, and bought what appealed. That works beautifully for most clothing and works badly for exactly one category.
Why a suit is the exception
Because the thing that determines whether a suit is any good is whether your particular size exists in it, and a store that carries everything carries one rack of suits in a narrow size range. Browsing finds you a suit that exists. It rarely finds you one that fits.
What replaces the habit
Going deliberately to a floor that carries depth: 32,000 suits, 34 short to 70 long with portly included, so the trying-on is between several that fit rather than between one and nothing. From M-59 and Van Dyke it’s I-696 west.
Also for Sterling Heights: A Billion-Dollar Town Center, and What It Will Ask For. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
