Designed by Victor Gruen, the mall initially included a four-level Hudson's with a ring of stores surrounding it.

Additions included five other department store anchors: J. C. Penney in 1975, MainStreet in 1985 (sold to Kohl's three years later), and TJ Maxx, Target, and Montgomery Ward in the 1990s.

Hudson's—at its Downtown Detroit location on Woodward Avenue—grew to become the second largest department store (next to Macy's of New York City) in the United States.

In 1948, architect Victor Gruen convinced Hudson's, then reluctant to build branch stores, to take advantage of suburban growth by constructing a ring of four shopping centers surrounding the city of Detroit.

Besides Hudson's, Northland opened with a number of other local retailers including: Hughes & Hatcher, Max Green's, Kosins, The Wild Pair, Barna-Bee Children's Shops, Cunningham Drug, Baker's Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Big Boy restaurant, Himelhoch's, Winkelman's, Albert's, S.S. Kresge Corporation, Robinson Furniture, Raimi's Curtains, Better Made Potato Chips, Kroger, Barricini Candies, and Sanders Confectionery.

There were also additional tunnels, although much narrower, that ran between the mall and an old power station, police substation and Firestone building.

Federated Department Stores' short-lived MainStreet chain opened in 1985 and was later acquired by and rechristened Kohl's in March 1989.

Montgomery Ward shuttered due to the chain's financial troubles in 1998; JCPenney and T.J. Maxx closed in 2000 and 2004, respectively.

[13] Ashkenazy Acquisition defaulted on a $31 million payment in the summer of 2014, and Spinoso Real Estate Group was named receiver.

[15][16] The only remnants of the original property that would be spared are the maintenance garage, the network of tunnels underneath the mall, the water tower and the building that formerly housed Hudson's/Marshall Field's/Macy's.

[19] In September 2021, demolition started to pave the way for a new $403 million redevelopment project that includes large-scale housing and some retail.

The first phase of the redevelopment was slated to feature "1,546 new for-rent housing units, the majority of them in 14 planned five- and six-story buildings.

[20][21] During Northland's early years, it enjoyed a large consumer base, with little competition from rival malls.