Saturday, November 04, 2006

Briarwood Mall Fountain


Ann Arbor, Michigan - circa early '80s

A nice compliment view of the same court and fountain I shared a shot of before, only this one's a little closer for more fountain detail. This is, of course, another beautifully complex and angular Taubman Center shopping mall--who's headquarters are right in my own backyard (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan). Briarwood Mall isn't all that far from me either, actually. Some history from Wikipedia:
"Originally developed by developer A. Alfred Taubman in 1973, it was anchored at the time by Hudson's, JCPenney and Sears. Lord & Taylor added a store in 1980, only to close it in 1994. The store would then be replaced by Jacobson's, which went bankrupt in 2002 and was replaced by Von Maur. A theatre complex in the mall would close in 2005 but later re-open. Hudson's adpoted the Marshall Field's name in 2001 before converting to Macy's on September 9, 2006. H&M also arrived in 2006."
Mall history: 1973 - present
Developer: A. Alfred Taubman
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2



14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I could go white water rafting in that fountain!

Sat Nov 04, 02:24:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It looks like a very cool mall. Did anyone ever confirm if the chrome cube scupture in the #1 post is still there??

Sat Nov 04, 10:56:00 PM  
Blogger Scott Parsons said...

Ha ha! White water rafting!
The architecture screams Taubman. Also the clearly defined "Information" booth. Love it!
Scott

Sat Nov 04, 11:22:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Briarwood is a rare one-level Taubman mall, like (former Taubman) Meadowood in Reno, NV. The Bowring store in the photo is of interest. There used to be one on the upper level of Woodfield on the Sears wing, near the grand court.

Sun Nov 05, 03:51:00 AM  
Blogger Mike said...

Hi Keith -- Mike Janssen again -- did you see my e-mail from Friday? My editor at Retail Traffic wanted a little more detail in some places in the article, so I had some follow-up questions. Was worried perhaps it ended up in your spam folder again. E-mail me if you don't have it -- m_janssen at mac dot com. Thanks!

Sun Nov 05, 08:47:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is anyone familiar with the mall in Johnson City Tennessee? Went there as a kid and was wondering if it was a Taubman mall, it looked a little like this.

Mon Nov 06, 06:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bowring used to exist in the U.S. at one time? Not bad for a company that started in Newfoundland in the early 1800's.

Wed Nov 08, 12:40:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know if that's the same Bowring or not. But hey, Abercrombie & Fitch dates from the 19th century, so...

Thu Nov 09, 12:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

People had stated to me that recently the water fountain broke shooting water soo high, it hit the ceiling and caused a flood in the mall.

Sun Apr 13, 11:11:00 PM  
Blogger Mike M. said...

can anyone tell me what the fountain was made of? Brick or stone? What kind I remember it being all over Ypsi's architecture when I was younger.

Fri Dec 07, 11:38:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

It’s not.

Thu Jan 10, 01:19:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

It is!

Sat Jan 09, 07:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not there anymore. Went last weekend and half the stores are gone, no more water features and no cool statues. I miss being a kid in the late 90’s going to this mall. This was some of my best memories with family and friends. Now it’s gone. Everything that made it awesome is gone.

Wed Jul 27, 07:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brick. Everything was brick. I miss it. I can’t even show my kids because everything is gone.

Wed Jul 27, 07:04:00 PM  

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