Apple closes store at Northlake Mall

CHARLOTTE — The Apple store in Northlake Mall is permanently closed, according to the company’s website.

Employees were notified Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported.

The closure comes the day after the third shooting at Northlake Mall in 75 days.

Breaking: After 3 shootings in 75 days, Apple is permanently closing its location in the Northlake Mall. This is arguably the mall’s biggest attraction. Employees were informed today, per Bloomberg @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/cxscbbTCzz
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) March 2, 2023

An argument between two people led to the latest shooting at the mall outside Macy’s.

No one was hit but four cars were shot into, police said. There is no word from the police on any arrests.

A new store is being planned in the Charlotte area, according to Apple’s website. It is unclear where that will be.

Northlake’s vacancy is 26.29%. The occupancy at Northlake Mall is 73.7% (59.5% permanent, 14.2% temporary).

Full statement from Apple’s website:

In preparation for a new store, we plan to open in the Charlotte area early next year, we will be permanently closing Wednesday, March 1 at 4 p.m. All of our team members will continue to support our Charlotte customers at Apple SouthPark and the Apple Store Online. Please visit our Apple SouthPark store or apple.com/shop to shop or connect with a Specialist. For service and support, visit support.apple.com.

The rise and fall of Charlotte’s malls

Historian David Erdman has seen Charlotte’s shopping malls bustle, but he’s also seen them bust.

“You have empty storefronts, that sometimes leads to additional empty storefronts,” said Erdman. “It would be tragic if a large commercial area like Northlake Mall began to falter because of tenants, businesses leaving and customers not being willing to come.”

Across town, the remnants of the Eastland Mall are gone from the large space on Central Avenue. Once a popular destination for shoppers and community members, the mall shut down as more stores pulled out of the building.

Channel 9 spoke with the shop owners at No Grease, a barbershop in Northlake, and they said they’re aggressively pursuing avenues to move to a new location due to the recent shootings.

For shoppers like Dre Perkin, he hopes it doesn’t get to that point at Northlake Mall.

“That shooting ... it probably wasn’t even over anything of real value,” Perkin said. “And our lives are priceless, you know your life is such a priceless thing.”

VIDEO: Shots fired during fight outside Northlake Mall, CMPD says