# Crabtree (shopping mall)

Crabtree (formerly Crabtree Valley Mall) is a regional shopping mall located in Raleigh, North Carolina. At 1,343,109 square feet (124,778.9 m$^2$), it is the largest enclosed mall in the Research Triangle area. The mall features Macy's, Belk, and Belk Men's Store.

## History

Crabtree Valley Mall opened in August 1972 at the intersection of US 70/NC 50 (Glenwood Avenue) and the I-440 Beltline. Original anchors were Belk, Sears, G.C. Murphy, Miller & Rhoads and Thalhimer's.
From the start, the mall pulled shoppers from all over central and eastern North Carolina. Many of them came to the 251,000-square-foot (23,300 m$^2$) Hudson Belk, which is still the largest store in the complex and serves as a Belk flagship. The mall was remodeled in the mid-1980s and added many specialty stores and a food court. It faced little competition in its market until the 1990s, when Cary Towne Center in nearby Cary doubled in size and spawned a companion mall, Crossroads Plaza.
In response Crabtree embarked on a major expansion starting in 1993. G.C. Murphy, Miller & Rhoads, and Piccadilly all closed down during this period. Thalhimer's converted to Hecht's, and began planning for a new, larger location at the mall. In 1993 a 40 by 110-foot (34 m) section of the parking deck collapsed just three months after it had been completely rebuilt. Sears closed its Crabtree store in 1994 and opened a new location adjacent to it that August. The old Sears was reconstructed for additional stores and connected to a new, larger Hecht's which opened in August 1995, while the original Hecht's became a Lord & Taylor which shuttered entirely in 2006 after being repositioned. The upper level became a Belk Men's store while the lower level was reconstructed for additional specialty stores including the first H&M in North Carolina in 2010. Hecht's transitioned to Macy's in September 2006.
On August 22, 2018, it was announced that Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to phase out of its traditional brick-and-mortar format. In June 2019, it was unveiled that the previous Sears outpost will transform into a 30 story tower and that the mall had already begun seeking zoning approval. The cost estimates for the initial portion of the project are cited at about $290 million, with expectations to create more than 1,300 jobs.
On July 5, 2019, a small fire burned in a Macy's fitting room. The sprinkler system extinguished the flames before firefighters arrived. On July 25, 2022, the News and Observer reported that furniture stores Pottery Barn, Arhaus, and Williams and Sonoma have closed their stores at Crabtree due to the opening of Fenton, a new shopping center that recently opened in Cary, across the street from the defunct Cary Towne Center.

## Crabtree Special Police

Crabtree Valley Mall was the only mall in the Research Triangle area that had its own private police force. The force was sworn in under North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 74E, more commonly known as the Company Police Act, which gave them the power of arrest, and required them to be state certified officers as any municipal police agency. Crabtree Police officers were not allowed to carry firearms while on duty.
The force was disbanded in April 2020 after a change in mall management.

## Flooding

Crabtree Valley Mall is situated in a low spot along Crabtree Creek, a tributary of the Neuse River that begins near Morrisville and winds through Umstead State Park as well as western and North Central Raleigh. Because the watershed around the mall has become increasingly covered with impervious parking lots the creek floods easily following major storms. Such floods occurred frequently in the mall's early years, but diminished with the construction of Lake Crabtree and large retaining basins upstream of the mall. However, the problem has returned and lower levels are still likely to flood during heavy rains in the summer months.
Heavy rains caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto flooded the lower level parking lots of the mall on June 14, 2006, as well as a great deal of the bottom level of anchor stores, forcing the mall to close for the day. A similar situation occurred with Hurricane Fran in 1996, when flood waters flowed through the first floor of the mall and caused a few stores to remain closed for nearly two months.
The lower level of the parking structure along with small parts of the main building have also flooded in 2013, March 2016 and, on July 16, 2016 when during an intense storm Crabtree creek rose 8 feet, closing some roads that surround the mall and flooding parking lots. The storm left dozens stranded and cars flooded.

## Incidents

Crabtree Valley Mall has been the subject of several mass-panic events involving the mistaken perception of an active shooter due to loud, sudden noises. A widely reported event in August 2016 officially concluded with no shots fired, and no explanation as to the cause of the sudden noise despite extensive follow-up investigations and recorded noise analysis. Similar events occurred in August 2022, as well as both February and November 2023, with each requiring wide-spread lockdowns, extensive police involvement and frequently injuries in panicked attempts to flee.