Worker Questionnaire

Worker Questionnaire

We’re 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 a documentary about Michigan malls. We’d 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 your help.
EVERY STORY MATTERS.
TELL US YOURS.

STOP! Please read before you continue!

Please feel free to answer as many (or as few) questions as you can. You are doing a great favor to this project. Thank you very much!

This questionnaire is intended for people who worked at the mall.

For a questionnaire intended for people who visited the mall, please...

👉 Fill out our visitor questionnaire!

Thank You!

- Project Lakeside Mall

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Last Updated: September 4, 2025

Section 1: Disclaimer
Please read the Disclaimer below.

Disclaimer

This is a free, non-profit project with no commercial gain. All interviews, whether written or video, are conducted on a voluntary basis. The purpose of this project is educational, historical, and entertainment-focused. The project seeks to preserve stories and insights for archival purposes.

The primary scope of the project is Lakeside Mall, a currently-closed, soon-to-be demolished, commercial and cultural icon.

However, we extend our scope to and encourage discussion of any shopping mall in the Detroit area or any in the State of Michigan.
Have you read, and agree to the "Disclaimer" above?*

Yes.

Section 2: Privacy Notice
Please read the Privacy Notice below.

Privacy Notice

1. The intent of this project is to collect the minimum necessary details for survey use and inclusion in a video documentary. Details may include: Questionnaire Responses, and Personal Information.

2. Personal Information: If you wish to remain private or anonymous, you are within your right to do so. You are doing a great favor to this project. You should mind your best interests before helping others.

3. Contact Information: responses which shall be private and never public. This project will require at least one (1) response.

4. Definitions of key words:

• "anonymous": any Questionnaire Responses that you specify to remain disconnected from all Personal Information.

• "private": any Personal Information that you specify to remain disconnected from any or all Questionnaire Responses.

• "Contact Information": a telephone number, an email address, and/or a social network user name.

• "Personal Information": first name, age, and/or sex.

• "Questionnaire Responses": responses to questions.
Have you read, and agree to the "Privacy Notice" above?*

Yes.

Section 3: Consent Statement
Are you an adult (18 years of age or older)? Select "Yes". If your answer is "No", please stop and do not continue further. Otherwise, this questionnaire will be discarded.
Are you an adult?*

Yes.

Section 4: Personal Information
Why is this required? Please read the Privacy Notice above in Section 2.
Your First Name*
Your Last Name (optional)
Age*
Must be 18 years or older. Max: 121.
Sex*
Anonymity Notice (1 of 2)

The next time you will be asked is in Section 12.
Specify which "Personal Information" responses to remain 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞:

First NameLast NameAgeSex

Section 5: Contact Information
Please provide Contact Information for at least one (1) of the following fields.
Telephone Number
Email Address

Confirmation EmailEnter and confirm.
Social Network Platform Name
Social Network User Name
If "Other", please specify:

Section 6: Choose Your Mall
1. Which 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 do you wish to talk about?*
If you do not see your mall, please select "Other..." and specify.
1. (continued) If "Other", please specify:
2. How did you 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 about us?

Advertisement or FlyerNewsSocial MediaWord of mouthOther...

Section 7: Questionnaire (1 of 5): Introduction
1. What was the 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 of the business you operated or worked for?

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2. What was the initial 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 you came to work at the mall?

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3. How 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 did you work at the mall? How 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 did your business 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 at the mall?

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4. What were the daily or periodic 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 of your business?

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Section 8: Questionnaire (2 of 5): Environment
1. How would you describe the mall’s 𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞? How about during its 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞? What made it stand out?

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2. What 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, or 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 do you recall most? How did they 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 business?

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3. What 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 did you observe in foot traffic and shopper behavior?

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4. Did the 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 or 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 change over time?

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5. Did any 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 or 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 occur in your time at the mall? Did any 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭 business?

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6. How much did 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 and 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 affect your business over time? Did rent 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 significantly over time?

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7. Was your 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 voluntary or involuntary? May we ask, what was the 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧?

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Section 9: Questionnaire (3 of 5): Reflections
1. What 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, or 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 did you gain from your time working at the mall?

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2. What will you 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 most about working at the mall?

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3. If given the chance, would you 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 at any mall again?

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Section 10: Questionnaire (4 of 5): Operations
1. How were the 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 between workers, management, and security?

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2. Did you ever experience any 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 with customers, management, or neighbors?

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3. What was your 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 customer like?

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4. What was your 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 customer like?

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5. How did your business handle extraordinary 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: thefts, emergencies, etc.?

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6. How did broader factors affect your business?

Examples, given the timeline of malls in Michigan (1960s → present):
1. Lock downs in response to “pandemics” (2020 and later).
2. Lakeside Mall
  1. Loss of remaining major anchor stores (2010s → present).
  2. Transmutation of original anchor stores (Crowley’s → Hudson’s → Macy’s).
3. Transition to online shopping:
  1. Amazon (founded 1990s, took off in early 2010s).
4. Market crashes:
  1. Black Monday (1987)
  2. Dot-com bubble (about 1997 — 2000)
  3. Global Financial Crisis (2007 — 2008)
5. Currency inflation:
  1. constant inflation of the U.S Dollar (and prices of goods) since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
6. (see above)

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7. How was the 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of non-public (employee-only) areas?

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8. How did you 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 for holidays or big retail events?

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9. Does the mall have any 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, or 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬?

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10. What is the 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 which happened to you or someone else at the mall?

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11. Do you have one or more 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞-𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 or 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 about the mall? If so, what do you 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰?

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Section 11: Questionnaire (5 of 5): Conclusion
1. If you have any home movies, photos, or souvenirs, would you be interesting sharing it or a copy (if applicable)? You shall receive full credit, and may request any faces, likenesses, and/or properties be blurred and/or obfuscated.

Note: this is entirely optional, and an incredible favor to help preserve the history of the mall.
1. (see above)

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2. What did you or will you 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐞 after leaving the 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 (if applicable)?

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3. Do you believe that 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 have a 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?

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4. What are your thoughts on the 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 of the 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 (if applicable)? Do you believe politics, economics, or something else led to it?

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5. Lakeside Mall: In your opinion, which plan best suits the future of Lakeside? (Please review the pictures below)
Picture #1: re-zone and re-open.

Note: Multiple malls across the United States have re-zoned for private residence use, which is arguably cheaper than complete redevelopment. See reference #1 in Section 14: References.
Picture #2: original 2018 plan: Lakeside Mall with new surrounding buildings.

Note: this is titled Concept B. The process involved will involve partial redevelopment. See reference #2 in Section 14: References.
Picture #3: current 2022 plan: Lakeside City Circle.

Note: the process involved will involve complete redevelopment. This is predicted to take up to "10 to 12 years", according to Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor. See reference #3 in Section 14: References.
5. (see above)

𝐀. 𝐫𝐞-𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧: do not demolish, and do introduce new business-only tenants.𝐁. 𝐫𝐞-𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧: do not demolish, and do introduce new non-business tenants; include event hosting, housing/residential, government/municipalities, offices, supermarkets, etc. See 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 #𝟏 above.𝐂. 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞: do not demolish, and do redevelop the surrounding parking lots only (original 2018 plan). See 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 #𝟐 above.𝐃. 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩: do demolish and redevelop both the building and the surrounding parking lots (original 2022 plan). See 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 #𝟑 above.𝐄. 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: turn it back into farmland.𝐅. None of the Above.𝐆. Other...
6. Do you have any 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭-𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 or 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬? Please feel free to advertise.

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Section 12: Anonymity Notice (2 of 2)
The last time you were asked is in Section 4: Personal Information.
Specify which any "Questionnaire Responses" (by section and question number) to remain 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬:

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Section 13: Submit Questionnaire
Notes and/or Suggestions (optional):

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Thank you for sharing us your story! Please click Save and Submit before leaving this page!

Section 14: References
1. How Shopping Malls Are Being Transformed Into Apartments In The U.S. CNBC. December 5, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2025.
Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GIF6VNipE.
Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20241206000603/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GIF6VNipE.

2. Lakeside Mall could make way for downtown Sterling Heights. Macomb Daily. October 1, 2018. Accessed July 7, 2025.
Original: https://www.macombdaily.com/2018/10/01/lakeside-mall-could-make-way-for-downtown-sterling-heights/.
Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20240701155321/https://www.macombdaily.com/2018/10/01/lakeside-mall-could-make-way-for-downtown-sterling-heights/.

3. $1B proposal would demolish Lakeside Mall, redevelop the site with housing. Detroit Free Press. October 28, 2022. Accessed July 7, 2025.
Original: https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/plan-demolish-lakeside-mall-redevelop-housing/69600089007/.
Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20221028224547/https://eu.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/plan-demolish-lakeside-mall-redevelop-housing/69600089007/.
Should be Empty: