SHINY 90s Mall - Rivertown Crossings - Grandville, MI

Name: SHINY 90s Mall - Rivertown Crossings - Grandville, MI
Uploaded: 2026-11-02T20:53:28.813Z
Duration: 14 min 34 s
Channel: lyd wetzel

lyd wetzel

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9 Video Views·Nov 2, 2026 #mall #shopping #shop

#mall #shopping #shop #michigan #retail #grandrapids

RiverTown Crossings is a major two-story, enclosed super-regional shopping mall located in Grandville, Michigan (just southwest of Grand Rapids). As the largest shopping center in West Michigan, its history spans planning battles, corporate shifts, and major retail evolution.
1. Planning and Development (1981–1997)
Early Proposals: The concept for a major regional shopping center in the area originated long before construction began. General Growth Properties (GGP) initially purchased land in Grandville in 1981.
The Mall Wars: In the early 1990s, another developer, Homart Development Company, attempted to build a massive competing mall nearby. The City of Grandville initially rejected Homart’s proposal, favoring GGP’s existing land. GGP officially acquired Homart in 1995.
Local Pushback: The project faced intense local opposition, notably from the Taubman Company (then-owners of the competing Woodland Mall in nearby SE Kent County). Despite political and legal friction, Grandville voters ultimately favored the mall's construction, prompting GGP and the city to reach a formal agreement in late 1996.
Groundbreaking: Following a scaled-down design plan, construction officially broke ground on December 6, 1997, with a price tag of roughly $160 million.
2. Opening and Early Years (1999–2000s)
Grand Opening: RiverTown Crossings officially opened its doors on November 3, 1999, just in time for the holiday shopping season. It was hailed as the first major regional shopping center built in the greater Grand Rapids area in 30 years.
Original Anchors: The mall opened with five original anchor stores: Sears, Hudson’s, Kohl’s, Younkers, and JCPenney, alongside major junior tenants like Barnes & Noble and a 20-screen movie theater. Galyan's (later converted to Dick's Sporting Goods) opened shortly after in 2000.
Name Changes & Evolution:
In 2001, the Hudson's name was retired and rebranded as Marshall Field’s, which was later rebranded again into Macy’s in 2006.
Galyan's was acquired and rebranded as Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2004.
The original Cinemark theater was acquired by regional theater powerhouse Celebration Cinema in 2007, maintaining a major entertainment anchor for the property.
3. Transformation and Retail Shifts (2010s–Present)
Like many traditional enclosed malls across America, RiverTown Crossings experienced major retail shakeups over the years as anchor chains shifted or liquidated:
The Loss of Traditional Anchors:
Younkers closed its doors in August 2018 after its parent company (The Bon-Ton Stores) went out of business.
Sears closed its doors in early 2021 as part of nationwide corporate downsizings.
Macy's concluded its run at the mall, officially closing in March 2026.
Repurposing Space: To combat traditional retail loss, the mall successfully backfilled and adapted portions of its massive footprint. H&M opened a large second-floor space in 2021, family entertainment concepts like Soar N Bounce moved into the former Younkers upper level, and external outlots welcomed new developments (such as a Raising Cane's opening on the former Sears Auto Center site). Newer additions continue to fill inline and anchor footprints, including plans for Crunch Fitness and JD Sports.
Core Legacy
Despite changes in ownership (transferring from GGP to Brookfield Property Partners) and retail trends, RiverTown Crossings remains a commercial anchor for West Michigan, surrounded by a dense web of outer retail developments, big-box stores, and restaurants that transformed the stretch of Grandville along RiverTown Parkway.

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hey guys before i begin the video i want to thank my latest donors kenneth john and charles thank you guys so much for your donations that really helps the channel if you guys would like a shout out for donation there's cash at paypal or venmo which is linked in the description there's super chat there's like dislike comment subscribe and share um don't forget to hit the notification bell um and also i'm gonna pin manny quackio's channel in the comments and don't forget to subscribe to him and that being said enjoy the video Hey guys, I'm in Granville, Michigan in the Grand Rapids area at the Rivertown Crossings Mall. They opened in 1999. The original anchor stores were Sears, Hudson's, Coles, Yonkers, and JCPenney. The Hudson's, Marshall Fields in 2001, Macy's in 2006. The Macy's just recently opened this year in March. The current anchor stores are JCPenney, Coles, Dix, and Soar and Bounce. Jazz is like a bounce zone in this place. Yeah, and you can obviously see the Sears right there. It's going to be like a completely dead mall, but I don't know. It might be like a struggling mall, I guess you would say. That's just my guess. So we're about to find out. Let's go walk around and see if we can find it. Classic Sears. There's a lot of Sears that look like this. Standard, like, organized. I feel like that was a 90s style. Can anybody let me know? A lot of them look like that. Very common Sears style. It's like when they started making the Sears look generic. Fail. That didn't open the... That did not open the door. It opened this one. Oh, it did. No. Okay. We're greeted with empty vending. So, I don't know. Take that as however you want. This must be the newest place I've ever filmed. Very pretty. This is a crawler. These look pretty cool. Other people in the shop as much as I can, but we're not always possible. Wow! Whoa, look at that. I want to go to this one. Jordan and, uh... That is pretty cool. This is, what do you think, one of my favorite places so far? Yeah. Wow. That's freaking crazy. So they're missing a Yonkers, a Macy's, and a Sears. But it kind of, it doesn't feel like that. Oh man, this is a good thing. It doesn't feel... Dead in here like that but they are missing a lot of anchors. That is freaking a great verse. Yeah I definitely would say it's more of a struggling place but I think it said they were demolishing the Sears for for parking and restaurants so I think this place could be could be okay. The floor is very shiny. It's like perfectly shiny. Is it going to open? I don't know. The light's on. I've got the people downstairs. Oh, they're gonna come. Yeah. Yeah. What do you want from there? Okay, how is it? There we go. There we go. Wow, look at this. This is an 8k Hey, hey. Montgomery elevator for Montgomery Ward. What? Montgomery Cove. Montgomery Cove. Oh wow. let's see what the upper level has to offer what is that a painting oh there's a lot of this this is very dead up here yeah this is where the deadness comes granville state bank you guys could see how the deadness looks that must have been the sears right there it's a nice aesthetically pleasing It definitely has that late 90s vibe to it, modern of us. It's sad that this is dying like the way that it is. It's kind of weird to see a Kohl's like in the mall like that. We're near a crab hole. Same thing on one of the hats we just got now. Downstairs maybe. So down here I think is the abandoned Yonkers. Here's more of these lamps. which I keep seeing. This was uh or was that Sears again? Actually that might be that might be the Sears. Were we just up there? I don't you know I don't I don't know. Old gravy. All right let me know what you guys think of the Rivertown Crossing Mall in Granville, Michigan. And I'll see you guys on the next video.