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Northlake Mall


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It's rather sad as I liked the idea and concept behind this mall, but it does seem to be headed in the wrong direction in terms of leasing and quality of tenants. Ironically the outparcels of this mall seem to be quite popular and there is an amazing 600,000+ sq/ft of retail under construction around NorthLake.
I love malls, but conceptually this place was a dinosaur before it ever started. The outparcels and across-the-street tenants are what's driving the retail industry right now, for better or worse, and Northlake seems trapped in another, less-popular, era.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Has anyone else noticed that the upstairs of the mall has higher-end stores than the downstairs part?

Upstairs has Brooks Bros., Banana Republic, Pottery Barn, Z Gallerie, etc.- nearly all at least moderately upscale. Downstairs has d.e.m.o., Spencer Gifts, DTLR, etc.- nearly all downscale and/or teenager stores.

Is that one basic rule of mall leasing that I didn't know about- nicer stores upstairs?

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I think the people that go to that mall like that mall. I think they problem they have is with the demographic that likes to go to this mall. It's a lot lower "class" than they would have wanted to attract. Some have said here in this thread that Northlake posed a danger to the stores at the Lake which cater to affluent crowd there, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all. Northlake is barely open a year and a few months, and they have had several notible closings already and there is still a lot of un-leased space in that mall. I think that someone posted here that for the first 12 months, sales were only about 50% of what was projected.

Even worse the mall has decided that on some of these unleased units, which are basically covered by painted sheetrock, they are going to install vending machines. To do this they did a cutout, and framed it with cheap trim from lowes which they didn't even bother to paint, and stuck things like coke machines in them. It has the look of something that deserves to be in a flea market and not what is supposed to be top tier regional shopping mall.

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I heard about all the startup problems and low sales, and noticed the closings. I haven't seen the horrible vending machine fiascos you're describing. That's horrible! I never figured Northlake would hurt the lake's business. Also, the outparcels off to the side, behind Olive Garden with the cutesy "small town down town" thing they were attempting...is there even anything in there now? Last I saw there was only a mattress store there!

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That outdoor portion is apparently the part of the mall that is thriving the most. Northlake seems to attract the North and east/west Charlotte areas of the county rather than the lake area, since exit 18 is betwen those two area and lake residents still prefer Birkdale to shop at, so Northlake hasn't had an effect

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Actually I think that out parcel that you are referring too is as popular as the mall itself. There is a Panera, Moes SW Grill, Sub Shop, some kind of Creamery, Zebos, some phone places. Chilies, some other kind of SW grill, Fox & Hound bar, and more coming. I think the difference is the "element" that is inside the mall does not frequent these outparcels because they don't cater to that crowd.

It's interesting as I know people in the area that have gone to that littel mini-town and have never stepped inside that mall.

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That outdoor portion is apparently the part of the mall that is thriving the most. Northlake seems to attract the North and east/west Charlotte areas of the county rather than the lake area, since exit 18 is betwen those two area and lake residents still prefer Birkdale to shop at, so Northlake hasn't had an effect

That's strange because Northlake definately has better stores than Birkdale.

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I like the mall overall; it is attractive inside (kind of like the Mall of Georgia) and has some pretty good stores upstairs, plus some basic department stores, so it's a good place to go in a rush for a gift or a tie or something for "necessity" shopping, as it's very convenient from central Charlotte. The movie theater is also very good, and is quiet.

For serious shopping, SouthPark (or, better yet, a trip to a bigger city) certainly still prevails.

I don't like (1) the horrid urban design of the entire development, surrounded by huge parking lots, and (2) the urban stores in the bottom of the mall. No wonder a non-upscale crowd goes to the mall, with stores such as DTLR downstairs.

If the lower level of the mall were blocked off and if the mall were in a more pedestrian-friendly area, with better mass transit, it would be pretty ideal.

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But with Southpark so close I can kind of see why there are some silly stores downstairs. Plus UNCC is 15 min away, what college student can afford some of the stores at Southpark? I know it was originally supposed to be "upscale" and hoped to attract people from around the lake, but hey...it's just a mall! And I totally agree, it is an ugly urban design with bad bad parking lots, too hard to get out of.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think that if Northlake was built in another town that didn't already have plenty of malls and shopping areas, it would be very successful. But it's in Charlotte, which has a wide array of good to great shopping choices, so it's a bit of an also-ran.

Does anyone have an updated population count of metro Charlotte? How many malls does the area have or shopping areas that are equivalent to a mall? I may be transferring to Charlotte and I would really like to know. Emporis just updated my current metro's population (Orlando) to over 2,500,000. There are currently 14 major shopping districts, 9 enclosed regional malls.

Orlando Fashion Square

Mall at Millenia

The Florida Mall

Park Avenue Winter Park

Winter Park Village

Oviedo Marketplace

Altamonte Mall & Uptown Altamonte

Waterford Lakes Town Center

The Loop Orlando Kissimmee

Seminole Towne Center

West Oaks Mall

Colonial Town Park Heathrow

Festival Bay Mall @ International Drive

Winter Garden Village @ Fowler Groves (under construction)

Bella Collina Village (under construction)

Lake Square Mall (Leesburg)

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Does anyone have an updated population count of metro Charlotte?

As of the last Census Estimates (2005)

Charlotte's MSA approximately 1.6M

Charlotte's CSA approximately 2.1M

BTW Emporus is notorious for being innaccurate. Orlando's metro population isn't anywhere close to 2.5M.

From the Census again.

Orlando's MSA approximately 1.9M

Orlando's CSA approximately 2.0M

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Bringing up the Ikea subject again......I have a better idea......why not Ikea be Northlake's last anchor?????

They like freestanding stores and no IKEAs that I know of are physically connected to a mall. Also I-85 is a more lucrative route for them as it connects to I-95 which has many of their ports/distribution sites along it.

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I don't see why that should be a big deal. 485 will loop right over to Northlake. It's just a spur off 85, as far as shipping goes.

I thought about that before I entered my post but they like to be on mainline routes and not the "spurs" (beltways & loops) for some reason. Generally if you look at where each of their stores are located, they are almost never on beltways. Plus, the remaining spur of I-485 from I-77 to I-85 won't be completed for some time and their distrubution centers dot the north around I-95 (trucks coming south to Charlotte would have to be re-routed to I-40 and then to I-77 which would be the long way around and be more expensive).

Edited by DaAchiever
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They like freestanding stores and no IKEAs that I know of are physically connected to a mall. Also I-85 is a more lucrative route for them as it connects to I-95 which has many of their ports/distribution sites along it.

The IKEA in Hicksville, NY is an anchor at Broadway Mall.

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Ahh true I forgot about the Long Island IKEA, I've never been but is it physically connected to the mall itself?

Yeah, it is physically connected. I think that is the only IKEA that is not freestanding (that I know of). I still think the issue with IKEA locating at Northlake Mall is the lack of visibility.

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I thought about that before I entered my post but they like to be on mainline routes and not the "spurs" (beltways & loops) for some reason. Generally if you look at where each of their stores are located, they are almost never on beltways. Plus, the remaining spur of I-485 from I-77 to I-85 won't be completed for some time and their distrubution centers dot the north around I-95 (trucks coming south to Charlotte would have to be re-routed to I-40 and then to I-77 which would be the long way around and be more expensive).

It's a bit of a stretch to think this will be an issue for them at Northlake vs City Blvd. The Harris Blvd exit on I-77 is just 5 miles from the junction of I-77 and I-85.

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