What’s next for Northlake Mall after Apple store’s hasty exit and trio of shootings
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated March 17 with a statement from Northlake Mall.
Northlake Mall took another hit recently with Apple store’s abrupt closing that was preceded by a trio of shootings at the financially troubled complex.
And some of the north Charlotte mall’s other retailers are ready to follow Apple out the door.
“It’s literally kept me up at night,” Ed Washington, franchise owner of barbershop No Grease Northlake told The Charlotte Observer. “I’m worried about my employees. I’m worried about my customers.”
He’s not alone. Other store officials and retail experts say a combination of factors are jeopardizing the mall’s future. The northeast Charlotte mall is already on shaky financial ground after it went into receivership nearly two years ago.
“I think they’ve got a very serious problem since they’re already in (financial) trouble,” said Cindy Fox, a marketing and retail expert and professor at UNC Charlotte’s Belk College of Business. “And they’ve got a serious image problem that is going to be very difficult to overcome.”
On March 1, the Apple store closed in the middle of the day after 12 years at Northlake, the day after the latest of three shootings in three months on the property.
“I’d be surprised if others don’t follow” and leave as well, Washington said.
Following multiple requests for comment, Northlake Mall officials responded late Thursday after The Charlotte Observer published the store online. In a statement, the mall said it was aware of Apple’s plans to leave Northlake and relocate its store “for some time.”
Spinoso Real Estate Group, which maintains and operates the mall, said it has made progress attracting new tenants to Northlake Mall, including a new anchor tenant and more retailers, dining and entertainment venues expected to open “in the near future.”
Changes at Northlake Mall
The two-story, 1.1-million-square-foot mall went into receivership in May 2021 after failing to pay its debts.
Spinoso, of Syracuse, N.Y., completed five new tenant deals making up $454,497 in revenue with 15 tenants renewing leases, including Apple and American Eagle, and four lease renewals underway, N.C. Business Court filings in January showed.
Spinoso also had two deals in draft status, including a 70,000-square-foot gym in the former Dick’s Sporting Goods spot, which combined would add $1.06 million in revenue, court documents showed.
Additions like a gym and other services such as doctor’s and dentist’s offices, could help revitalize the mall as a destination for more than being a place to go shopping, according to retail experts.
“The trend (for retailers) is don’t be in a mall. The trend is to be in some convenient locations like a strip mall,” said Steven Cox, professor of marketing at McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte. “Malls need to build foot traffic and big box stores aren’t as successful anymore.”
Latest update on Northlake Mall sale, vacancy rate concerns detailed in court records
The ripple effect of Apple’s exit
Across the hallway from the darkened 6,293-square-foot Apple store, Maask Couture saleswoman Kayla Willoughby was surprised March 3 to hear the Apple store was gone. She had seen customers waiting for the store to open that morning.
“We moved to this spot from across the hall to make way for Apple’s break room,” Willoughby said. In mid-January, Maask Couture reopened in its slightly smaller location on the mall’s second level.
Apple’s closing is a big loss, Soho Denim Couture manager Hector Jesus said, because it helped drive traffic to the smaller stores. “It definitely raises a red flag because everybody goes there,” Jesus said. “It’s likely to lower sales for everybody.”
Washington, the barbershop operator wants out, despite spending $300,000 to open the Northlake shop four years ago with 17 employees.
“Certainly from a financial standpoint staying would make more sense. But it’s bigger than money when customers and employees don’t feel safe,” he said. “I can’t be the only owner thinking of moving their operations.”
National retailers leaving malls
Apple, with another location at SouthPark mall, did not say why it closed the Northlake store, only that it has plans to open another store in the Charlotte region.
Retail industry expert Greg Buzek said Apple wants to be seen in premium locations and Northlake isn’t fitting that image. And the latest shooting was likely the final straw.
“You’re losing a big name there and it becomes like an avalanche,” said Buzek, founder of retail and hospitality research firm IHL Group based in Nashville.
Over the past few years, several retailers have announced plans to leave malls.
Starbucks officially closed its Northlake shop Jan. 1, 2021, a year after the Seattle-based coffeehouse giant said it would leave malls to open drive-thru locations. Other local malls have lost Starbucks shops, too: Carolina Place mall in Pineville closed in 2021 too, and SouthPark malls’ main entrance coffeehouse closed Jan. 16.
Macy’s has been shutting down unproductive stores since 2020 while expanding with smaller, “off-mall” stores. Off-mall stores include free-standing and strip center locations.
“Off-mall is easier to shop and closer to where you live,” Kurt Barnard, president of Retail Forecasting told USA Today back in 2004. “The store wants to be where the action is.”
However, last summer, Macy’s added Toys R Us store-in-stores at all locations, including Northlake and SouthPark. Company officials did not respond for comment about its future at Northlake.
Bath & Body Works also has been leaving malls. Last year, the personal care and home fragrance retailer closed 48 stores, mostly in malls, and opened 95 off-mall locations, the company said last month in a letter to its shareholders.
This year, Bath & Body plans to open 90 off-mall stores and close about 50 mall locations. The company has not yet said which stores will close and if Northlake will be one of them. Company officials did not respond for comment.
“Malls have seen their day,” Cox said. “They worked well before the Internet became popular and it was acerbated by the pandemic when people who resisted buying online were forced to.”
Concerns about guns at Northlake
Northlake mall has had three shootings in less than three months: on Feb. 28 in the parking lot and Feb. 5 and Dec. 15 inside the mall. In each case, arguments between individuals preceded gunfire. In December, two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including a bystander.
Washington said he was there when the Feb. 5 shooting happened. He escorted No Grease’s customers to their cars. One man from Huntersville complimented Washington for the response but said he’d never come back.
“I saw the fear on employees’ and customers’ faces,” Washington said. “It was frightening for them. I was in protection mode so I didn’t have time to feel fear.”
After the incident, the barbershop emailed customers: “The incidents that happen are isolated. ... If we can’t find a solution to the problem, I will work with our attorneys to move this business to Huntersville, Mooresville or Harrisburg. In the meantime, we are committed to Northlake Mall.”
No Grease, based in Charlotte, has 13 locations including Concord Mills, SouthPark and Charlotte Premium Outlets, the latter also owned by Washington. Those three shopping center properties are owned and managed by Simon.
Washington said when similar incidents happened, for example at Concord Mills, Simon took swift action adding security guards at entrances and checking IDs.
“I think (Northlake) has dropped the ball and hasn’t done enough,” Washington said.
Washington told the Observer he plans to leave Northlake by the end of the year “unless something drastically changes.”
What can Northlake do?
On March 3, also the day Apple gave up on the mall, Northlake officials said they would begin rolling out safety measures in partnership with CMPD, including having an increased police presence. The mall had not yet released details of the changes.
“I think it’s concerning that it’s been the third shooting within 75 days, especially considering that there is security in the mall,” Soho Denim Couture’s Jesus said.
“This mall is made up mostly of small businesses and we’re going to feel it more and quicker than (chain store) Shoe Dept. Encore,” Elliot Riley, owner of The Grooming Lounge, said pointing down the hallway. “This is my business.”
Riley suggested the mall hold community days with business participation to build community trust to get people to come back to the mall. “Stop expecting people to come just because it’s a mall,” he said.
Buzek, the industry expert, said malls like Northlake need “out-of-the-box thinking” to drive traffic, such as bringing in churches, grocery stores and supercenters, restaurants, car dealerships and apartments to the mall complex.
“Whatever it takes to bring people into the location,” he said. “You can’t put the same recipe of stores in there and succeed because the market has changed dramatically.”
Not all are deterred
Despite all the turmoil surrounding the mall, a Florida developer is poised to help launch Northlake Mall into a live-work-play community.
Paramount Development of Sarasota, Florida, is in the process of seeking to rezone a 20-acre site along Northlake Mall Drive adjacent to mall for a gated, 603-unit apartment complex.
Tom Settle, Paramount co-principal, said the recent shootings are concerning but he’s confident the mall operator will do what needs to be done.
“One of the reasons we’re there is good real estate,” he said, referring to Northlake.
