At its peak, it had approximately 200 inline tenants and six anchor stores: Hudson's (later Marshall Field's, then Macy's), Sears, J. C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, and Kohl's.

Two tenants opened ahead of the mall: a Kroger supermarket began operation in 1961,[4] and a Montgomery Ward department store in February 1962.

According to then-company treasurer Dennis Gershenson, the mall had "fallen behind current shopping center design" and had lost many key tenants such as the Cunningham Drug store due to chains going out of business.

[12] This was part of an expansion first announced in 1987, which added 470,000 square feet (44,000 m2) of retail space, along with a Service Merchandise catalog showroom, a MainStreet department store (bought out by Kohl's soon after opening),[13] and a connection to the existing Sears.

[15][16] After the loss of these two anchors, Summit Place Mall began losing inline tenants, primarily to Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, which opened in nearby Auburn Hills, Michigan in 1998.

Namco announced plans to change the name of the mall to Festivals of Waterford, and add a family entertainment center as well as a $700,000 kid's play area and a waterpark, the latter of which would be located in the former Montgomery Ward.

[21] State legislative action in 2005 resulted in a law that would allow the owners of Summit Place to receive a tax abatement for redevelopment of the site.

[31] On December 7, 2014, the store closed, leaving the entire mega-shopping hub vacant and thus it became a magnet for vandals, vagrants and scrappers.

[33] In September 2018, ARi-El Enterprises, a Southfield-based real estate firm, purchased the mall for an undisclosed sum.