SouthPark Mall

[tozmervo]

In that case, I'd recommend the top levels of the Dillard's parking deck. Even on a slow day, parking under the mall is a pill.

[StevenRocks]

The Dillard's deck will be the least busy, but the Belk deck usually has a few spaces. Forget the Nordstrom-Neiman Marcus deck and most of the surface parking. They're almost always full.

[nyxmike]

Bob Ellis is closing. That's a pretty decent sized spot in the Nordstrom wing. Should be interesting to see what replaces it.

[101_ce]

Bob Ellis is closing. That's a pretty decent sized spot in the Nordstrom wing. Should be interesting to see what replaces it.

GUCCI??

[Temeteron]

Bob Ellis is closing. That's a pretty decent sized spot in the Nordstrom wing. Should be interesting to see what replaces it.

Yikes.......Gucci, A/X, Diesel, now is your chance!!!

[StevenRocks]

Bob Ellis is closing. That's a pretty decent sized spot in the Nordstrom wing. Should be interesting to see what replaces it.

I figure this is where True Religion is going.

I hate to see Bob Ellis go. It reminded me of the old-school shoe stores my mom and her sisters used to shop in back in the day. Service was good too. The biggest problem, I think, was that they were rather expensive and trended a little older than the stores around it. Oh well, time marches on...

Edited October 20, 2009 by StevenRocks

[Temeteron]

I figure this is where True Religion is going.

I hate to see Bob Ellis go. It reminded me of the old-school shoe stores my mom and her aunts used to shop in back in the day. Service was good too. The biggest problem, I think, was that they were rather expensive and trended a little older than the stores around it. Oh well, time marches on...

This is a shame. I strongly feel that Charlotte needs more upscale shoe boutiques, and now we are losing one instead of gaining more.

[101_ce]

I figure this is where True Religion is going.

I hate to see Bob Ellis go. It reminded me of the old-school shoe stores my mom and her sisters used to shop in back in the day. Service was good too. The biggest problem, I think, was that they were rather expensive and trended a little older than the stores around it. Oh well, time marches on...

That would make since, however, it looks too big to be True Religion.

[StevenRocks]

That would make since, however, it looks too big to be True Religion.

I could be wrong about that particular space, but I have a hunch that it might be somewhere in that wing. Something could move into the Bob Ellis space to make a location for it.

[flyingmachine]

True - I didn't think of C&B since it is its own building. I just remember a couple months ago I went to The Counter and this brand new upscale extension of SouthPark seemed like a 60% boarded-up abandoned development with a couple high-end retailers. The place was never full, and then to lose Origami Ink, the nice luggage store there, and The Grape...it almost seems like The Village was yesterday's news before it even got built (aside from C&B, that is).

Apologies for chiming in kinda' late. However, I just noticed your postings.

Unfortunately, Simon had no clue what they were doing with this add-on. They had been sitting on a successful mall for years and coasted on it's success. With the addition, they were un-equipped and severely lacking in creativity and Know-how to fix the issues that were killing it from day one.

It's horribly laid out, has completely inadequate Sign-age, it's confusing and frustrating to get in to, and was given no thought whatsoever regarding branding. It's bland, boring and stupidly designed.

To make matters worse, Simon teamed up with Hanover for a partnership that went downhill from the start, culminating in both players basically drawing a line and refusing to put another nickel into fixing the grave errors that have been openly admitted to. No retailer (particularly independent retailers that they were courting) could ever survive a year straight of zero foot traffic. On any given Saturday, one can count 3 to 4 potential customers walking through the entire center, while these stores were paying rents based on the successful Southpark Mall's statistics.

[101_ce]

Apologies for chiming in kinda' late. However, I just noticed your postings.

Unfortunately, Simon had no clue what they were doing with this add-on. They had been sitting on a successful mall for years and coasted on it's success. With the addition, they were un-equipped and severely lacking in creativity and Know-how to fix the issues that were killing it from day one.

It's horribly laid out, has completely inadequate Sign-age, it's confusing and frustrating to get in to, and was given no thought whatsoever regarding branding. It's bland, boring and stupidly designed.

To make matters worse, Simon teamed up with Hanover for a partnership that went downhill from the start, culminating in both players basically drawing a line and refusing to put another nickel into fixing the grave errors that have been openly admitted to. No retailer (particularly independent retailers that they were courting) could ever survive a year straight of zero foot traffic. On any given Saturday, one can count 3 to 4 potential customers walking through the entire center, while these stores were paying rents based on the successful Southpark Mall's statistics.

Have you ever been to SouthPark?

Edit: Oh Village at SP. I am sure its not doing that terrible, just no where near as good as SP

Edited November 4, 2009 by ct36

[atlrvr]

Sounds believable. Simon got the idea back in 2004 or so that they wanted to start doing Mixed use, and Charlotte was their first forray (probably because the land basis was low enough that they could experiment cheaply here). The project is completely ridiculous. I have never ever been to this part of the mall because it looks confusing to get to. I looks difficult to walk to, and I'm not even sure how it is parked. The reality may be that it is not hard to access at all, but perception is what matters here. You can't have 100 apartments or whatever, and think that you have created a mixed-use district full of rich residents strolling from store to store splurging.

[49er]

I think the problem here is the perception that it is supposed to be a part of the mall. To me, it is a separate development that happens to be in the same superblock as the mall. People who visit C&B or those small shops aren't necessarily shopping inside the mall on the same trip. I think the building itself has a lot of redeeming qualities. It gives a little bit of an urban edge on that corner and it looks better than the boring parking garages elsewhere on the site. I have more of an issue with the wimpy outdoor plaza in front of Dicks.

[StevenRocks]

I think the biggest issue with the Village at SouthPark is the lack of connectivity. The design itself is no better or worse than any of the other mixed-use developments around it, but having Crate & Barrel sitting in front of it and an easily missed driveway leading to it makes it look like it's not part of the mall. Positioning Crate & Barrel differently so that the stores inside the Village could be seen would have helped tremendously.

[Temeteron]

Body Central is opening a store (from what I hear it is a temporary spot) where PacSun was.......Journey's apparently backed out of their opening...meanwhile there is a rumor going around the mall that Forever 21 has plans to open a gigantic SP location....

[DigitalSky]

Do you think Forever 21 will include a Men's department too?

[StevenRocks]

Forever 21 at SouthPark? I hope not. I don't think they're a good fit for that market.

[101_ce]

Forever 21 at SouthPark? I hope not. I don't think they're a good fit for that market.

Thats exactly what I thought.

[mljones99]

I decided to venture to the other side of the mall on my lunch today and noticed that Geox is gone. Appears to be an art gallery now.

[ScottCLT]

Thats exactly what I thought.

Forever 21 does have flagship stores called Forever XXI. I've been to one in NYC that was more like an H&M in atmosphere (granted, it was NYC). They are actually opening one in the old Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Maybe that's what this could be instead of the run-of-the-mill Forever 21? I don't know if the clothing quality is any better and have no idea whether this will be a Forever 21 or Forever XXI, but just thought I'd throw that out there.

[AuLukey]

I decided to venture to the other side of the mall on my lunch today and noticed that Geox is gone. Appears to be an art gallery now.

That closing was part of a nationwide cutback for the brand. One of my friends was the store manager of that particular location, they didn't see the closing coming.

[Temeteron]

Forever 21 does have flagship stores called Forever XXI. I've been to one in NYC that was more like an H&M in atmosphere (granted, it was NYC). They are actually opening one in the old Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Maybe that's what this could be instead of the run-of-the-mill Forever 21? I don't know if the clothing quality is any better and have no idea whether this will be a Forever 21 or Forever XXI, but just thought I'd throw that out there.

The Forever XX1 stores (which is the roman numeral for 21 which I'm sure you guys knew that already ) are stores that are High Volume....usually Platinum stores.....like the one in Carolina Place. The other ones that are called simply Forever 21 are just regular mid to low volume locations. Concord Mills & Northlake for whatever reason are not as busy as Carolina Place. I dont think it would be smart to open a Forever 21 or a Forever XX1 in SOuthPark. I work at SP and have for quite some time, and SP has not even half the teenagers that CP, NL or CM have. Teenagers are Forever 21's target clientele.

[101_ce]

The Forever XX1 stores (which is the roman numeral for 21 which I'm sure you guys knew that already ) are stores that are High Volume....usually Platinum stores.....like the one in Carolina Place. The other ones that are called simply Forever 21 are just regular mid to low volume locations. Concord Mills & Northlake for whatever reason are not as busy as Carolina Place. I dont think it would be smart to open a Forever 21 or a Forever XX1 in SOuthPark. I work at SP and have for quite some time, and SP has not even half the teenagers that CP, NL or CM have. Teenagers are Forever 21's target clientele.

I dont think that Forever 21 will open at SouthPark either. Today, most of the stores were packed. But I happily saw less cheap store bags (Aero, American Eagle, Finish Line, and a few others). Every store that I went into was so packed (Burberry, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nordstrom, Belk, and Neiman Marcus). It was almost hard to get around the mall. There is no space for 21 and I hope there will not be enough.

[StevenRocks]

Nordstrom Rack is opening in Durham across from their store at The Streets at Southpoint in fall 2010. I wonder if they'll open a SouthPark-area store anytime soon.

[ScottCLT]

Nordstrom Rack is opening in Durham across from their store at The Streets at Southpoint in fall 2010. I wonder if they'll open a SouthPark-area store anytime soon.

I have heard from a Nordstrom employee that yes, we are getting one in Charlotte. It is supposed to be on South Blvd. near 485 - my guess would be in the old Circuit City or CompUSA spots.