Eastland Mall Redevelopment

[49er]

there was an Express in Founders Hall until about 4 or 5 years ago. Cant see Limited brands coming to downtown proper anytime soon.

[mallguy]

there was an Express in Founders Hall until about 4 or 5 years ago. Cant see Limited brands coming to downtown proper anytime soon.

Agreed- there was also a Limited in Independence Center.

I also heard about a Brooks Bros. formerly in Founders Hall- no longer.

[StevenRocks]

I just happened to drive by the old Super Kmart at Independence and Sardis Road North yesterday and noticed it had sprouted a Steve & Barry's sign, although the building still looks empty.

I hope that's not a new S&Bs. They tend to do better in shopping centers than as freestanding stores, and that location has low visibility from Independence.

They would make a great fit for Belk Eastland, but I'm imagining that won't happen.

[mallguy]

Surprising that an anchor store would announce its closing, and have a liquidation sale, during the holidays. Isn't that the time when the store could generally get the most demand (and thus high prices) for its merchandise?

[StevenRocks]

Surprising that an anchor store would announce its closing, and have a liquidation sale, during the holidays. Isn't that the time when the store could generally get the most demand (and thus high prices) for its merchandise?

Not sure why they wouldn't wait until at least the 26th to start the liquidation, but I think they were hoping the publicity along with holiday crowds would help them liquidate faster.

[mallguy]

I went to Eastland this week, on a weekday. The mall seemed no busier than on a typical Saturday. I used to think that the mall had enough customer traffic to stick around, but if it's not particularly crowded right before Christmas, no wonder Belk is closing.

[DigitalSky]

There's a big closing ad I saw today for Belk in the O

[StevenRocks]

I went to Eastland this week, on a weekday. The mall seemed no busier than on a typical Saturday. I used to think that the mall had enough customer traffic to stick around, but if it's not particularly crowded right before Christmas, no wonder Belk is closing.

Part of the reason the customers aren't coming is because there's not a particurally compelling tenant or merchandise mix at Eastland.

Most of the hot gift items this year are either available in small quantities or not available at all at Eastland. There's almost no electronics, or toys, or designer apparel to be found. The housewares and furniture selection are similarly pitiful. All you have there, in general, are sneakers, cheap clothes, and even cheaper jewelry.

[elvigy]

Amazing what can happen in 30 years. I remember going to Eastland mall with my parents, shortly after it opened. At the time, I was very impressed and it quickly became my mall of choice. I remember thinking that it would put Southpark out of business.

I have memories of Southpark being a rinky dink little place that smelled bad near that tall fountain.

Lesson being, don't ask me for advice on city planning.

[monsoon]

Yes same here. It's particularly sad seeing what happened to what was once the Carolina's best mall. Now when you go in there and you see signs that say that "We ship to all Correctional Institutions", you know it is pretty bad.

[xyhamiltonboi]

What's the official word on Limited Brands. Are the leases at The Limited, Bath & Body Works, Express, Express Men and Victoria's Secret up soon or what?

[mediamongrel]

Not been there in a while, but this mall seems like it is awfully close to being consdered a "dead" mall. It would probably be best suited to demolish the enclosed mall building in the future and build a single strip retail outlet with discount merchants such as Wal Mart, Aldi's, Dollar General, etc.

[monsoon]

There is a Walmart going in not too far from there on Independence Blvd. in another abandoned strip mall, so it's not likely they would build another store at Eastland. One of the problems with this location for a major big box retailer is that it is not on a major through highway which is where they prefer to be located. Eastland is bound by Central Ave. and Sharon Amity which are basically big neighborhood streets. They are only used by the people living in those areas and not by people going through the area so it limits exposure.

In addition, the mall itself is not at grade. There is a considerable drop from the streets into the mall property. This isn't much of a problem for a building that is as massive as Eastland, but anything else is going to be pretty much hidden from view so I can see retailers not really wanting to locate on this property for this reason as well.

It's a tough property to do something with. There is an abandoned fairly new grocery store (not the HT but another one) right next door to it and nobody has seen fit to come in and re-develop it. It's been sitting there vacant for several years.

[mallguy]

It's a tough property to do something with. There is an abandoned fairly new grocery store (not the HT but another one) right next door to it and nobody has seen fit to come in and re-develop it. It's been sitting there vacant for several years.

It's now a flea market. I'd think that from the perspective of marketing the mall to new tenants, it'd be better just to demolish that grocery store (along with the vacant Harris-Teeter and the abandoned gas station at the corner of Central and Sharon Amity), as all of them diminish the mall's curb appeal.

[monsoon]

I was over there a couple of weeks ago and it appears that Shell station is now gone. The only thing left is the rusting supports for the sign that used to be there and some comcrete. I bet the fuel tanks are still underground and have no doubt contaminated the land.

[DigitalSky]

It's now a flea market. I'd think that from the perspective of marketing the mall to new tenants, it'd be better just to demolish that grocery store (along with the vacant Harris-Teeter and the abandoned gas station at the corner of Central and Sharon Amity), as all of them diminish the mall's curb appeal.

Yeah the Shell, Harris Teeter and Hannaford former buildings aren't good for the mall's curb appeal

[MZT]

The mall was buzzing with activity this evening. Yeah it's the Friday before Christmas, but if more days were like this, I don't see why Eastland would need to close.

Even so, stores like The Limited which don't fit Eastland's demographic were empty. The Sears is pretty quiet as well. I have to think they too will give up, before much longer. (Especially the hardware section... who the heck goes to Sears anymore, for tools? Lowes and HD have pwn3d that market.)

Edited December 23, 2006 by MZT

[dubone]

Well, shortly before you posted that, there was a shooting inside the mall, injuring a shopper!

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/new...ws/16302576.htm

I'm just not sure how much more I can support the place.

[MZT]

Yeah I left around 7:30. Just walking around, I was in jest wondering how many people were "packing heat".

Well it ain't no joke!

Edited December 23, 2006 by MZT

[StevenRocks]

The Sears is pretty quiet as well. I have to think they too will give up, before much longer. (Especially the hardware section... who the heck goes to Sears anymore, for tools? Lowes and HD have pwn3d that market.)

Hardware is the last really strong department Sears has. Lowe's and Home Depot have really killed Sears in applicances, and the apparel department is a train wreck.

Sears didn't help itself by selling its credit portfolio to CitiCards, which pretty much pi**ed off half the cardholders with suddenly higher interest rates and restricted credit limits

But at Eastland, they'll be the last anchor standing. It's hard to kill a Sears.

[monsoon]

I could see Sears moving to NorthLake one day. Something like that would work fairly well there, if Sears managed to revamp it's stores to be a bit more relevant than it is now. The closest Sears to the Lake area is at Carolina Mall in Concord but I, like most people in this area, don't go to it that often.

[voyager12]

How sad that I was not even surprised to read about the shooting at Eastland yesterday. It has become so blase and expected

[mallguy]

I went to Eastland today and the mall was PACKED. Every store but the Limited ones seemed busy.

Big treat- the Belk seemed to have some pretty high-end things brought in from SouthPark- Hart Schaffner Marx, BCBG Max Azria shirts, etc.- all for cheap!

[StevenRocks]

I could see Sears moving to NorthLake one day. Something like that would work fairly well there, if Sears managed to revamp it's stores to be a bit more relevant than it is now.

There was a point when it opened that Northlake wouldn't have considered Sears, but I think it's possible now.

Big treat- the Belk seemed to have some pretty high-end things brought in from SouthPark- Hart Schaffner Marx, BCBG Max Azria shirts, etc.- all for cheap!

Not suprising. They'd have to bring in some better stuff to make the sale worthwhile. The regular stock was getting pretty tragic.

[mallguy]

The Observer reported on Saturday that Eastland's traffic is up 12% since Thanksgiving, compared to the same period last year. Curious that Belk thus waited until this season to shut down.