Are malls thriving or dying? Charlotte ‘prime example’ of a growing divide
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — They gained massive popularity in the 1960s and ’70s, and now commercial retail experts are going back and forth over whether malls are thriving or dying out.
“The mall remains completely relevant in regard to being a retail asset type,” said Brandon Isner, head of Retail Research for the CBRE commercial real estate firm.
Despite their relevancy, Isner says there is a very big divide between the prime malls and the Class C malls, which are typically smaller.
In Charlotte, the story of three malls can be seen as a prime example of what’s happening across the nation.
SouthPark Mall
SouthPark Mall is seen as a shopping destination, with high foot traffic and a low vacancy rate. Retail experts and a mall spokesperson both attribute that to its ability to attract and keep a handful of luxury brands as well as other components like the addition of a brewery, green space, and children’s area.
“One of the great things about SouthPark is that we do have stores in line that want to be here. One good, maybe not good thing, is that we run out of space a lot, but that just makes it more exciting for the new brands that come in,” SouthPark Mall Director of Marketing and Business Development Holly Vancleave said.
Northlake Mall
Over the last couple of years, Northlake Mall has lost a handful of major retailers including anchor store Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2021. Last year, two other major retailers left, citing a rise in crime as a reason.
In November of last year, Northlake announced eight new retailers were added to their lineup. A spokesperson with the mall said they were not turning away big-box retailers but were seeing more interest from local small businesses.
Eastland Mall
In 2010, the former Eastland Mall closed after a decline in sales, crime, and the departure of department stores. The property was torn down in 2013. After years of back and forth over what to do with the property, last year, Charlotte City Council members passed a plan to turn the former Eastland Mall site into an indoor sports complex and community learning center.
Isner says we are going to start seeing more “struggling malls” across the county be transformed into other uses like community centers.
“Developers will look at some of these struggling malls as an opportunity to develop as you get a lot of land and some of them can almost be a clean slate in order to build. You can create demand where there wasn’t demand before because there are a lot of retailers out there that want to expand, so having good new space, modern space is important,” Isner said.
Despite the popularity of e-commerce and online shopping sites like Amazon, Isner says the availability of retail space is at an all-time low, meaning the demand for physical locations remains.
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