The world has just lost one of the greatest contributors to American retail shopping as Adolph . Alfred Taubman has died at the age of 91 in his home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan yesterday. Considered by many as the driving force to bringing malls to American suburbs, can be honored to designing and constructing some of the exquisite shopping centers of his time.
Alfred was an American real estate developer and philanthropist and was born January 31, 1924 in Pontiac, Michigan. Born to immigrant parents Philip and Fannie, they worked very hard to get ahead in life, raising a son came with challenges, and getting a job was harder, his Father worked as a fruit farmer before getting into commercial real estate and designing custom homes, who knew it would rub off so hard on little Alfred.
Taubman's parents lost all they had with the Great Depression of the 1930's, and at age 9, had to find work to help support his family, and all he wanted to do was to have enough money to not only help himself, but anyone around his that needed it, He was truly one of most warm hearted men of Southeastern Michigan, and this is such a loss of the business world.
Taubman later studied architecture at the University of Michigan and Lawrence Technological University, yet, did not graduate from either, as he focused on where middle class families moving to the suburbs would shop, and only chose lavish areas to construct his malls, offering beautifully constructed fountains, and foliage and prestigious anchor stores like Nieman Marcus, Lord & Taylor, and many lost anchor choices since then like Marshall Field's and Detroit- loved Hudson's.
Said by many people working closly with him in the early years, Alfred was very meticulous, always paying attention to every detrail, everything had to be perfect, the tiles, the colors, the parking, the floor plan, "...He was an Incredible adviser.", said partner Louis Dubin. All that attention to detail paid of swimmingly, as some of his featured properties are still considered the best places to shop in the country, like The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, and Woodfield Mall in Chicago suburb Schaumburg and are ranked the most profitable centers in the country.
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| What made the Township of Bloomfield Hills ever better! |
Some of his best works...
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| Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Virginia |
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| The Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills, New Jersey |
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| Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan |
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| The famed Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois |
In 1983 and 1984, Alfred was majority owner of the Michigan Panthers and later the Oakland Invaders, due to scheduling. One of the danger's which faced mogul Taubman was surviving a hostile takeover bid in 2003 by competitor Simon Property Group and Westfield America at the time.
Taubman has many schools, offices and medical centers named after him where he donated generous amounts of money to over the years, as the University of Michigan was given the highest amount.
Such a great contributor and lover of people is what the name Taubman stands for, and with two sons Robert and William, dozens of malls and shopping centers encasing his vision of what perfect American shopping should be like, A. Alfred Taubman will never be forgotten as his dreams turned to reality will remain legendary.
-Thank You-
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