Bel-Air Centre

Bel-Air Centre is an regional open-air shopping mall located at 8400 East Eight Mile Road in Detroit, Michigan. The site was formerly home to Detroit's only drive-in movie theatre, also known as the Bel-Air. Opened in 1986, the tenants at Bel-Air includes a mix of 25 speciality stores, 3 anchors and an indoor movie theater. The current anchor tenant is wholesale clothing reatiler Forman Mills, while the other 2 anchors remain vacant. It is currently the largest shopping center in the city of Detroit with nearly 500,000 square feet of retail space.
History
During its peak in the 1990s, the mall was home to several national retailers, including Toys R Us, Target, AMC Theatres, Builders Square (later Home Quarters) and even a McDonalds on its outer parcel. In addition, it was also home to several popular regional retailers such as Arbor Drugs (later CVS Pharmacy), Farmer Jack and Sibley Shoes. However, since the early 2000s, the shopping center has experienced a slow and steady decline with all the Home Quarters' stores being liquidated in 1999, AMC Theatre shutting down its movie theatre in 2001 while Target & Toys R Us closed their doors in 2003. There was a brief resurgance during the mid 2000s as one independent company re-modeled and re-opened the shuttered indoor theater under the name "Phoenix Theatre - Bel Air." In addition, stores such as Big Lots, National Wholesale Liquidators and fitness center chain Bally Total Fitness all showed interest in the center and opened locations inside Bel-Air. Unfortunately this resurgence died as quickly as it grew as all 3 stores closed their doors by the end of the 2000s (National Wholesale Liquidators, like HQ, closed due to bankruptcy liquidation) and the theatre was shuttered once again. However, in 2009 a second independent company re-modeled and re-opened the theatre under the name "Bel-Air 10 Theatre."

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