South Park Mall (Charlotte, North Carolina)

South Park Mall is an upscale shopping mall built in what was then Sharon Township. The affluent South Park neighborhood is named after the mall. The mall is located approximately five miles (8 km) south of Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina at the corner of Sharon and Fairview Roads. With 1,676,223 square feet (160,000 m2), South Park is the largest mall in Charlotte and the Carolinas, as well as one of the most profitable malls in the country with sales at over $700 per square foot. It is the 10th largest on the East Coast and is the 28th largest in the United States. South Park is the most congested shopping area in the United States during Black Friday weekend.
South Park mall has restaurants such as Maggiano's Little Italy, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks, Reid's Fine Foods & Wine Bar, Gusto Farm to Street, Cowfish Sushi. Burger. Bar and Authur's.
South Park Mall is also the home of the South Park Community Transit Center, which opened in 2004, which serves the CATS bus lines 19, 29, 30, and 57. The Transit Center is located between Belk and Dillard's.
== History ==
South Park opened on February 12, 1970, with anchor stores Belk, Ivey's, and Sears. The area where South Park is today was considered to be the on the outskirts of Charlotte at the time it opened; people were skeptical about a big shopping mall in the middle of pastureland. The mall was developed by the Belk and Ivey families, owners of the eponymous department stores, who jointly owned and operated the mall, and included a Sears store as a complement due to its focus on housewares. The mall had approximately 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) when it opened, and the design of the shopping mall was starkly modernist, with an underground parking deck, a signature white brick facade, and tinted windows. The inspiration for the mall's original architecture reportedly was Dallas' North Park Center. A strip mall opened behind Sears in June 1970 with a Colonial Stores grocery store (later a Big Star food market, then acquired by Harris Teeter in the 1980s) and the South Park Cinemas I & II.
The mall did not face any real competition until the two-story Eastland Mall was built about 6 miles (10 km) northeast. Eastland had the same anchor lineup as South Park, but also included a JCPenney store and an ice skating rink giving that mall a competitive advantage.
=== 2000s & 2010s expansion ===
In the late 1990s mall owners announced that upscale retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom would join the mall in South Park's biggest expansion yet. In 1995, Belk Brothers Co. became the sole owner of South Park by purchasing the remaining 50 percent ownership stake from Ivey Properties. The next year, Belk sold the mall to Rodamco, a Dutch real estate investment fund. The mall was briefly managed by Trammell Crow after the sale. Rodamco soon sold the mall to Simon Property Group. In 2001 and 2002, Belk renovated and expanded its flagship store and Hecht's (opened as Thalhimer's as part of an expansion on August 25, 1988, became Hecht's in 1992 and Macy's in 2006) renovated and expanded its store in 2003 and 2004. The site of the former convenience center and movie theater has been redeveloped into Symphony Park, an outdoor amphitheater and pond, home of a summer concert series called "Pops in the Park." In 2003 Sears, citing under performance, closed their store in the summer of that year, which was eventually demolished to make way for a new outdoor plaza that included a Joseph-Beth Bookstore and a new Galyan's Store (which opened as a Dick's Sporting Goods as a result of a buyout). Saks Fifth Avenue pulled out of the expansion, and as of 2017 the company still does not have a Charlotte location, but Nordstrom opened its doors in 2004. This luxury expansion brought exclusive and upscale stores to the area, including Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Tiffany & Co. In late 2005, Simon Property Group announced that Neiman Marcus would be the tenant of the former Saks Fifth Avenue anchor pad, along with another wing of stores & boutiques. Neiman Marcus opened in late 2006. Also, three new parking decks have been added. Dillard's renovated its original 1970s Ivey's facade and interior, the last anchor to update, and Crate & Barrel joined the mall as an outparcel in 2007 in the new Village at South Park, which includes street-level retail and restaurants and luxury apartments. Joseph-Beth closed its bookstore in 2010 and The Container Store replaced it in August 2011.
On December 6, 2007 at approximately 12:15 PM EST, a portion of the Nordstrom/Neiman Marcus parking deck collapsed. The collapse of the deck was caused by a car colliding with a retaining wall on the third and highest level. Eyewitness accounts stated an elderly woman may have suffered a heart attack, which triggered the accident; the woman died. Two cars were destroyed by the collapsed section of concrete; no one was in either of the cars. At the time, this was the second American parking structure to collapse in two weeks, leading people to question the structural integrity of such buildings.
In 2011, a study released by TomTom showed that the area around South Park Mall is the most congested shopping area in the United States during Black Friday weekend. American Girl and H&M opened stores opened in the Fall of 2014.
== Stores ==
South Park Mall contains 177 stores, making it the largest mall in the Carolinas, and one of the largest by square footage on the East Coast of the United States. The mall is home to the Belk flagship store, the only Neiman Marcus store in the Carolinas, as well as Nordstrom, Dillard's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Macy's. It also features Old Navy, The Container Store and Urban Outfitters. South Park has several upscale stores not found within hundreds of miles from Charlotte, including Louis Vuitton, Burberry, David Yurman, and Tiffany & Co. There is also a Crate & Barrel outside the mall, which opened in 2006.
== Anchors ==
* Belk
* Dillard's
* Neiman Marcus (opened 2006)
* Nordstrom (opened March 12, 2004)
* Macy's (opened August 25, 1988 as Thalhimers)
* Dick's Sporting Goods (opened 2004 as Galyan's)
* Crate & Barrel (opened September 15, 2006)
== See also ==
* Northlake Mall
== Gallery ==
=== Videos ===
File:A Visit to SouthPark Mall (NC) (Feat. Multiple Anchors)|Mall Tour
File:Tall Schindler HT Hydraulic Elevator Near Nordstrom SouthPark Mall In Charlotte, NC|The Main Elevator
File:Talking Kone Traction Elevator At Dillard’s SouthPark Mall In Charlotte, NC|The Dillard's Elevator
File:Golden Schindler HT Hydraulic Elevator At Nordstrom SouthPark Mall In Charlotte, NC|The Nordstrom Elevator
File:Schindler HT Hydraulic Elevator At Neiman Marcus SouthPark Mall In Charlotte, NC|The Neiman Marcus Elevator
File:Montgomery Vector Hydraulic Elevator At Macy*s SouthPark Mall In Charlotte, NC|The Macy's Elevator
== External Links ==
* South Park Mall's Official Website
* South Park Mall on USA Store Fanon Wiki
Category:Simon Property Group Malls
Category:Multi-Level Malls
Category:Malls in North Carolina
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Largest Malls in the United States
Category:Malls that opened in 1970
Category:Belk-anchored Malls
Category:Dillard's-anchored Malls
Category:Nordstrom-anchored Malls
Category:Neiman Marcus-anchored Malls
Category:Macy's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Hecht's-anchored Malls
Category:Dick's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Galyan's-anchored Malls
Category:Old Navy-anchored Properties
Category:Crate & Barrel-anchored Properties
Category:The Container Store-anchored Properties
Category:Former Ivey's-anchored Malls
Category:North America