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Northlake Mall

monsoon

By monsoon
in Charlotte Coffee House

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go_vertical

The traditional mid-range malls out there (your Northlakes and your Carolina Places) really need to be proactive and figure out what their identities are going to be in the "post mall/department store

PuppiesandKittens
PuppiesandKittens

I haven’t been to Northlake in a few years but was there when it opened.  The directory doesn’t list many stores that would appeal to me (a former uptown resident).  It reminds me of the Eastland Mall

CLT2014
CLT2014

Northlake's location was supposed to strategically be the gateway mall to the affluent northern suburbs of Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius, et. It only takes a few security incidents and the nightma

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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When are you going? Live Malls: Northlake Edition would rock!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know!

I have some unforseen and extended logistical problems this week, and it looks like said problems will continue for a short while. :(

Along with my previously scheduled travel plans, if I make it to Northlake within the next month or so, I'll be lucky.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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Ok I just got back from a visit to the mall and here are my observations

  • There are a lot of people in Charlotte that don't work 9-5 jobs as the place was packed at 3pm in the afternoon.
  • I haven't really seen anything like this in Charlotte since the opening of Eastland in 1975. It's fairly impressive for a new mall and hits all the marks that Carolina Mall missed when it opened in the early 90s.
  • The mall fills a big hole in Charlotte shopping that exists between the large number of people who find Southpark to be too stuffy, Carolina Mall too far away and too plain, and Concord Mills (which serves a different demographic all together).
  • Significant portions of the mall are not open yet. Some of the places had 2006 opening signs on them.
  • Anybody with kids in tow is going to head to this place to shop.
  • The Borders Book store, which is a cornerstone of the mall and not yet open, will be significantly larger than the one at Morrocroft.
  • The food court is typical mall, but it is laid out well, has a decent atmosphere, and has a few chains that I have not seen before.
  • The new parkway is as impressive as the mall. Its well designed, has sidewalks and curbs and even bike lanes. It gives fairly easy access to W. Huntersville. Right now there is a combo car and pedestrian bridge over the future 485. Are there plans to connect it to the highway?
  • There was a huge amount of security at the mall. I don't think I've ever seen so many agents at a mall before.
  • The mall entertainment was pretty good.
  • An huge amount of shopping construction is taking place in the area.

I'm not one for malls, so I didn't go in any of the stores except Pottery Barn and The Storehouse, but there is plenty of stuff there for people who are mall junkies. I predict this mall and the general area is going to have a huge effect on the shoping dynamic in Charlotte and most likely will surpass Southpark as the most desirable shopping location for Charlotteans.

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ilektronik Whistle-Stop

ilektronik

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[*]The new parkway is as impressive as the mall.  Its well designed, has sidewalks and curbs and even bike lanes. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yea that feature is nice. my daughter and i have been bike riding on that for a couple of months now. i'm curious to see how "safe" of a ride it will be now that it is open to traffic

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Skyybutter Hamlet

Skyybutter

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monsoon, when you say surpass SouthPark are you refering to more people simply in the market area of NorthLake?, or are you saying eventually the stores at NorthLake will be more desirable? Personally as the number of people who live in and around Lake Norman increases I can see upscale stores such as Burberry, Parisian etc locating at NorthLake. Any thoughts?

Edited by Skyybutter
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A2 Town

A2

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Ok I just got back from a visit to the mall and here are my observations
  • There are a lot of people in Charlotte that don't work 9-5 jobs as the place was packed at 3pm in the afternoon. 

  • I haven't really seen anything like this in Charlotte since the opening of Eastland in 1975.  It's fairly impressive for a new mall and hits all the marks that Carolina Mall missed when it opened in the early 90s.

  • The mall fills a big hole in Charlotte shopping that exists between the large number of people who find Southpark to be too stuffy, Carolina Mall too far away and too plain, and Concord Mills (which serves a different demographic all together).

  • Significant portions of the mall are not open yet.  Some of the places had 2006 opening signs on them.

  • Anybody with kids in tow is going to head to this place to shop. 

  • The Borders Book store, which is a cornerstone of the mall and not yet open, will be significantly larger than the one at Morrocroft. 

  • The food court is typical mall, but it is laid out well, has a decent atmosphere, and has a few chains that I have not seen before.

  • The new parkway is as impressive as the mall.  Its well designed, has sidewalks and curbs and even bike lanes.  It gives fairly easy access to W. Huntersville.  Right now there is a combo car and pedestrian bridge over the future 485.  Are there plans to connect it to the highway?

  • There was a huge amount of security at the mall.  I don't think I've ever seen so many agents at a mall before.

  • The mall entertainment was pretty good.

  • An huge amount of shopping construction is taking place in the area.

I'm not one for malls, so I didn't go in any of the stores except Pottery Barn and The Storehouse, but there is plenty of stuff there for people who are mall junkies.  I predict this mall and the general area is going to have a huge effect on the shoping dynamic in Charlotte and most likely will surpass Southpark as the most desirable shopping location for Charlotteans.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Great report MB...You definately have peaked my interest. BTW, what's the actual layout like. More of a Carolina Place, or something closer to SP. Just curious.

One more question:

Is the final size of the mall going to be 1,000,000 sq feet??? I heard somewhere where it would actually be as large as Concord Mills when TOTALLY complete....

A2

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f0xym0p Hamlet

f0xym0p

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One more question:

Is the final size of the mall going to be 1,000,000 sq feet??? I heard somewhere where it would actually be as large as Concord Mills when TOTALLY complete....

A2

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The press release from Taubman in May said it would be 1.1 million sq ft, but I don't know if that is actually the case.

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Miesian Corners City

Miesian Corners

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I predict that SouthPark will retain its domination in the luxury retail market. After all, Simon has invested as much money into SP's remodel as Northlake cost to build. And since the Charlotte market isn't big enough to support more than one luxury store, those will stay at SP. Prada, Cartier, Nordstrom, Neimans, Tiffany, St John, Burberry, Louis Viutton, Kate Space and Lacoste will not be closing up shop to move north. They thrive by being together, not spread out over a large georaphic area. End of story.

Edited by Miesian Corners
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f0xym0p Hamlet

f0xym0p

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As MB said, the construction around the mall is aplenty. I wonder how significant the impact will be on restaurants and stores near 77 in Huntersville, besides just Birkdale. Many people that I work with go to Huntersville almost every day to eat lunch or go to Target, Old Navy, etc. When all the restaurants and the SuperTarget open, there will be no need for them to go to Huntersville anymore. Northlake Commons plans to have O'Charley's and Chili's and I'm sure there will be some other repeats of what's nearby in Huntersville too.

Edited by f0xym0p
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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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monsoon, when you say surpass SouthPark are you refering to more people simply in the market area of NorthLake?, or are you saying eventually the stores at NorthLake will be more desirable? Personally as the number of people who live in and around Lake Norman increases I can see upscale stores such as Burberry, Parisian etc locating at NorthLake. Any thoughts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well what I meant by this is that Northlake is going to appeal to a wider range of people than what goes to Southpark. And a lot of people that go to SP go there because there is no other alternative in the city but Eastland. Sure there are plenty of people who will still go to SP, but as the city continues to grow, Northlake is going to surpass it as a shopping destination. While Northlake doesn't have marble floors, it does have a wide variety of shopping, it will have the only AMC Movie theatre in the city limits (which I think is the best movie chain out there), and it is going to appeal to familes which make up the bulk of Charlotte's population. I am not sure that stores that have $40,000 diamond rings and $1000 shoes translate to desirability as I am defining it.

Also Charlotte/Mecklenburg is a fast growing county. Northlake's location at I-77 & I-485 makes it very accessable to most of the city unlike Southpark which is difficult to get to from significant parts of the county. And Northlake has a huge amount of land available for major expansions in the future. If the crowds hold at this place expect to see a lot more cranes show up in this corner of the county.

I really do think the center of shopping in Charlotte will shift to Northlake over the next few years.

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dubone Megalopolis

dubone

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how strict is huntersville being just over the city limits? i'm imagining northlake as this pinevillish world in a few years and then you cross into huntersville and the roads shrink and there are trees and crickets. is huntersville planning to participate in the economic growth in this area, such as allowing subdivisions or are they going to try to contain it within charlotte limits?

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appatone Hamlet

appatone

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With all of the retail growth in Ballantyne, and with Ballantyne's extremely close proximity to Pineville and with renovations at Carolina Place I see the Pineville area and NorthLake essentially being the same thing on opposite sides of town and SouthPark holding dominance over both. After working in SouthPark for a while I can attest that many people go to SouthPark over Carolina Place simply for the sake of going to SouthPark. It makes them feel a certain way. People are vain, and even if they can't afford Louis Vuitton or Burberry it still gives them a feeling of "being wealthy" to shop at the GAP next to the Louis Vuitton. To stroll past it with their shopping bags, to go in and look even if they can't buy. SouthPark has created a strong brand of its own and an atmosphere that lures people the way the beltway malls won't be able to achieve. SouthPark's drawing power far exceeds metro Charlotte as well. Working there and talking to the shoppers was surprising because a large percentage of the people you see in that mall on a given Saturday have trekked all the way from Columbia, the Triad, or Triangle. A lot of these people also can't afford the higher end stores but once again people still like to shop next to those high end stores more than they like to go to a mall with the same stores that doesn't have the high end stores. A sort of luxury by association attitude.

Edited by appatone
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