SouthPark Mall

[tozmervo]

1 hour ago, LKN704 said:

My hometown of Albany with a metro population of just a hair over a million is getting a Zara.

How does Charlotte still not have one?

None of their stuff fits me, that's why.

[Temeteron]

Hollister has closed and Express is relocating in that spot. Also, Villa Pizza in the food court has closed. It will be cool to see one of those new concept pizza places come like "Blaze Pizza".  In the former Porsche Design spot a store called "Johnny was California" is coming soon. 

Edited February 7, 2017 by Temeteron

[kickazzz2000]

Porsche Design was useless but I'll miss Hermes.

[CLT2014]

Johnny Was is kind of that Bohemian style that is popular right now, like Anthropologie. Tops start around $150+.

[Dale]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 9:08 PM, KJHburg said:

They go in high performing malls. They are 2 in Atlanta at Lenox and Perimeter probably the 2 best malls in that city. SouthPark does not have the space unless someone leaves and that is rare event. And I am sure that is where they want to go but maybe there could be an opportunity in South End  or maybe even uptown but not sure if they would do that. 

I thought that SouthPark was one of the best-performing malls in the US ?

[CLT2014]

4 hours ago, Dale said:

I thought that SouthPark was one of the best-performing malls in the US ?

It is, we don't have at least 20,000 square feet available at the moment without re-stacking some of the stores to take out walls and create a large space within SouthPark (like the H&M). 

[nakers2]

This is purely speculative, but how likely is it that Southpark could see another expansion or a second level added? I've heard all sorts of talk but never really seen solid plans for years now. As an outsider looking in I think making Southpark into a 2 million+ square foot mall would not be entirely far fetched. It seems like there's almost never an empty space without another store in line to jump in, unlike some malls where a space may stay empty for months. This makes it difficult for some retailers who want to be in the mall with specific space needs who can't just squeeze into whatever opens up. I'm not an engineer but I'm sure some internal work could be done to allow a second level onto perhaps the "food court side" of the mall, this would leave the "luxury wing" more exclusive while giving more modest income shoppers more options and high end retailers more space. Another option could be expanding into the surface lots on the Dick's side of the mall, maybe either submerging parking or eliminating it altogether (typically these lots are less utilized anyway except on really busy days) and improving transit access to the mall, especially from Uptown for business travelers and maybe from tourist areas as well (Carowinds, etc) to avoid people needing to drive in the first place. Of course if I had my way the mall would already have a massive underground transit center, but I can dream. 

Obviously a bit ambitious, but does any of this, in any form seem likely in the near future? 

[Guest]

52 minutes ago, nakers2 said:

This is purely speculative, but how likely is it that Southpark could see another expansion or a second level added? I've heard all sorts of talk but never really seen solid plans for years now. As an outsider looking in I think making Southpark into a 2 million+ square foot mall would not be entirely far fetched. It seems like there's almost never an empty space without another store in line to jump in, unlike some malls where a space may stay empty for months. This makes it difficult for some retailers who want to be in the mall with specific space needs who can't just squeeze into whatever opens up. I'm not an engineer but I'm sure some internal work could be done to allow a second level onto perhaps the "food court side" of the mall, this would leave the "luxury wing" more exclusive while giving more modest income shoppers more options and high end retailers more space. Another option could be expanding into the surface lots on the Dick's side of the mall, maybe either submerging parking or eliminating it altogether (typically these lots are less utilized anyway except on really busy days) and improving transit access to the mall, especially from Uptown for business travelers and maybe from tourist areas as well (Carowinds, etc) to avoid people needing to drive in the first place. Of course if I had my way the mall would already have a massive underground transit center, but I can dream. 

Obviously a bit ambitious, but does any of this, in any form seem likely in the near future? 

Not happening. Speaking that Simon tried to kill numerous developments in the adjacent area because of added traffic to the surrounding streets, that felt would make their customers less likely to visit the mall.

[Norm2]

2 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Not happening. Speaking that Simon tried to kill numerous developments in the adjacent area because of added traffic to the surrounding streets, that felt would make their customers less likely to visit the mall.

 

What I think is eventually going to happen is that some upscale shops will pop up in another part of town.

[nakers2]

14 minutes ago, norm21499 said:

What I think is eventually going to happen is that some upscale shops will pop up in another part of town.

Oh I don't deny that for one minute, but my thinking with the mall was that there are few malls in the US that are as successful as Southpark, even if you're not a fan of enclosed shopping malls you cannot discount Southpark's importance on the mall landscape in Charlotte. It would seem to me that Simon would like to, yes, keep some sense of exclusivity at Southpark, it definitely helps fill up empty space when it does come available, and for a premium too. But to snag some larger high end retailers, (I'm not talking like department store scale, but something more along the size of an H&M), I would think Simon would want to attract those into the mall, unless there are some other endeavors we don't know about.

3 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Not happening. Speaking that Simon tried to kill numerous developments in the adjacent area because of added traffic to the surrounding streets, that felt would make their customers less likely to visit the mall.

Perhaps they tried to kill those developments to benefit some plans of their own? Plus depending on what kind of retail they bring in, the traffic impact could be minimal. If they want to attract the highest of the high end, something that's not out of the question considering some of the wealth in this city and the state in general, they need to invest in space. If a place like Louis Vuitton (I know we already have one) can pay its rent for the day with one sale then how many trips is that really adding? Maybe my "proposal" was a bit ambitious but seeing some addition at some point would be welcome in my book. 

[KJHburg]

SouthPark is the one of the top performing malls in the USA and one of Simons best. The rezoning back in the 1990s  to enlarge the mall to its current size was a huge fight and I can tell you expanding the mall won't happen.  When a store fails or closes they have them lined up to go in there. However with retail quickly changing they would not want to be caught with lots of extra space to lease. If a larger store ever closes they might redevelop that but I would not think the mall would ever be expanded. Some high end stores will spread around town but SouthPark will be king for the future sorry uptown mall proponents. The wealth concentration around the mall south of the of mall and acres of free parking will always bring them in. More areas of upscale shops think south Charlotte and Lincoln Harris's Rea Farms Village at Providence and 485.  The economic demographics in that area are off the chart. 

Last time I looked SouthPark sales are in excess of $700 sq ft and it is 1.6 million sq ft. Not the top in the USA but in the top 10%. 

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by KJHburg

[LKN704]

I might be mistaken, but I seem to recall reading somewhere (maybe even on this site) that an additional level on top of the existing one isn't structurally possible at the moment, and the structure would have to undergo a major redesign to the point where adding an additional level wouldn't be economically feasible.

[southslider]

Build and expand where there are surface parking lots.

[CLT2014]

I think SouthPark is wise to not add additional square footage in order to keep their premium on rent and be sensitive to the changing nature of mall retail. Several of their major tenants will likely fold in the coming years. Gap Group, Abercrombie, etc... are all struggling. If Macy's gets acquired or continues to struggle, there is the very real possibility in 5 years that large site needs to be redeveloped. 

[mad_park]

8 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

I think SouthPark is wise to not add additional square footage in order to keep their premium on rent and be sensitive to the changing nature of mall retail. Several of their major tenants will likely fold in the coming years. Gap Group, Abercrombie, etc... are all struggling. If Macy's gets acquired or continues to struggle, there is the very real possibility in 5 years that large site needs to be redeveloped. 

Agree - lots of redundancy between Macy's and Belk. They could redevelop that space for smaller brand name retail stores. 

[Crown]

Any ideas what could be taking the express space? Zara's typical footprint is 25K sf. 

By comparison, the H&M at Southpark is 20K. Abercrombie's space is listed at 13K which seems big to me. 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Crown

[cjd5050]

1 hour ago, mad_park said:

Agree - lots of redundancy between Macy's and Belk. They could redevelop that space for smaller brand name retail stores. 

I wonder if they would abandon the idea of keeping it retail and maybe doing something different.  

For example, they could demo Macy's and build a 'conference center' all the way to Morrison and add another hotel on top.  Turn inward and maybe redo the food court with an upgrade and replace/move stores like H&M and Abercrombie with more entertainment oriented options.   

[Crown]

BCBG closing

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article132414984.html

[CLT2014]

11 minutes ago, Crown said:

BCBG closing

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article132414984.html

The retail bloodbath continues. I expect it to continue throughout 2017. SouthPark's store is closing along with 120 other BCBG stores worldwide. Stores that are closing were either under-performing or they had the ability to exit the lease. Look for a Chapter 11 filing later in the year.

The company does have a plan in place to slim down to 50 stores in the USA (heavily concentrated in their home state of California) and 128 stores worldwide in waves as the opportunity arises to exit leases.

Edited February 13, 2017 by CLT2014

[TylerFerreroSorel]

So what are you guys thinking will replace Hermès and BCBG? I think Burberry might try to move into one of these spaces - rumor has it they wanted a smaller boutique in Charlotte. Gucci, Ferragamo, or Jimmy Choo would probably all do well in the Neiman Marcus wing. Maybe Omega? 

Let me know what you think!

[Temeteron]

11 hours ago, TylerFerreroSorel said:

So what are you guys thinking will replace Hermès and BCBG? I think Burberry might try to move into one of these spaces - rumor has it they wanted a smaller boutique in Charlotte. Gucci, Ferragamo, or Jimmy Choo would probably all do well in the Neiman Marcus wing. Maybe Omega? 

Let me know what you think!

Even though I don't necessarily shop at this store, I'm not sure why Gucci hasn't opened at SouthPark yet. They've had a store in Charleston for decades. I think Jimmy Choo and Ferragamo would do well at SP but not in the Neiman wing. I believe those spots should be "Destination spots" just like Louis and Burberry are. Not just shoe stores. Hugo Boss and Ted Baker  I think would do well also.  Since 2003 when the expansion opened, none of the original stores in that wing survived except for Burberry and Louis. 

Edited March 9, 2017 by Temeteron

[LKN704]

I'd LOVE a Massimo Dutti (smaller, more upscale version of Zara, prices for men range from 35-80 for most clothing articles) but considering we don't have a Zara and they only have 3 stores in the US, we'll probably never get one.

[Crown]

Not necessarily SouthPark mall news - but BeBe did close their SouthPark store earlier this year (if my memory serves correctly). 

"In a securities filing Friday, Bebe said it anticipates it will close all of its stores by the end of May. The apparel chain operates two stores in Charlotte – at Northlake Mall and at Charlotte Premium Outlets."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article146011234.html

[Temeteron]

26 minutes ago, Crown said:

Not necessarily SouthPark mall news - but BeBe did close their SouthPark store earlier this year (if my memory serves correctly). 

"In a securities filing Friday, Bebe said it anticipates it will close all of its stores by the end of May. The apparel chain operates two stores in Charlotte – at Northlake Mall and at Charlotte Premium Outlets."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/whats-in-store/article146011234.html

This is old news. Bebe closed its southpark store last Summer

[Crown]

Just now, Temeteron said:

This is old news. Bebe closed its southpark store last Summer

wow didn't realize it had been that long.