46 Stores That Are No Longer at Jackson, Michigan’s Westwood Mall

If you remember when most of Michigan's shopping malls were still relatively shiny and new, your mind is rich with memories of car and boat shows, dance troops, magic shows, visits with Santa Claus, flowing fountains, celebrity visits, and eventually shopping. Lots of shopping, all in a sheltered environment at a constant 70 degrees. For Jackson, Michigan, our shopping and social mecca was/is the Westwood Mall.

RELATED: The Legacy Of Jackson, Michigan's Westwood Mall Cinema

Opened on August 3, 1972, the Westwood Mall first opened its doors to the Jackson community, and it was an instant hit. Its only competitor, the Paka Plaza (now the Jackson Crossing, but we still call the walkers there Paka Pacers), was, at the time, an outdoor shopping mall that didn't offer the indoor amenities the Westwood Mall provided.

The Westwood Mall's Original Store Directory

When I first came across this list on MLive, I thought for certain that at least one of the original 40-plus tenants of the Westwood Mall in Jackson, Michigan, would still be open, but that isn't the case. Here's the list:

1. Aladdin’s Castle
2. Albert’s Inc.
3. American Handicrafts
4. Bangles and Beads
5. Circus World
6. Claires Boutique
7. Crown & Carriage Gifts
8. Fanny Farmer Candies
9. Father & Son
10. Finger’s Office Supply
11. Flagg Brothers
12. Fritter Shop
13. Ganto’s
14. Grinnell Brothers Music
15. Haywards
16. Hickory Farms
17. Homemaker Shops
18. Hot Sam’s Pretzels
19. House of Flavors
20. Jean Nicole
21. Just Jeans
22. Kiddy Korner
23. Kinney Shoes
24. L.G. Haig Shoes
25. Margaret Mary Shop
26. Mary Jane Shoes
27. Merle Norman Cosmetics
28. Montgomery Ward (anchor store)
29. Motherhood Maternity
30. National Shirt Shop
31. Nobil Shoes
32. Nu Vision Optical
33. Orange Bowl
34. Recordland
35. Redwood and Ross
36. Regal Shoes
37. Shaw’s Jewelers
38. Shifrin Willens Inc.
39. Shoeland
40. So-Fro Fabrics
41. Spencer Gifts
42. Sports World
43. Tie Hut
44. Tiffany’s Bakeries
45. Walden Book Company
46. Wurzburg's Departmentnt Store (anchor)

Before you argue, yes, there is still a pretzel place in the same spot as Hot Sam's, but PRETZELMAKER is not Hot Sam's. If memory serves, the last store standing of the original 46 was Spencer's Gifts, but sadly, they rolled up their t-shirts and weird toys our parents wouldn't let us touch—or look at.

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But there is one Westwood Mall original still standing (or is it sitting?) tall: The Hippo.

Over the mall's 50-plus-year history, countless children have grown up to bring their kids and grandkids to the iconic hippotamus to be climbed on, straddled, and slid off. If you're a fan of classic 70s mall architecture, you owe it to yourself to take a stroll through Jackson's Westwood Mall.