Carolina Mall is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

. It is one of two shopping malls in the city, the other being

Concord Mills Concord Mills is a shopping mall located in Concord, North Carolina. The mall is in Cabarrus County, just a few hundred feet from the Mecklenburg County border and Charlotte city limits, and about from Uptown Charlotte. It is one of two ma ...

. Opened in 1972, Carolina Mall is owned and managed by

Hull Property Group Hull Property Group is a shopping mall management company based in Augusta, Georgia. It was founded in 1977. The company owns, manages, and re-develops shopping malls in relatively small communities, mainly in the south and mid-west United States. ...

. The anchor stores are Staples,

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

, and

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

. There is 1 vacant anchor store that was once

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

History

Construction began in 1968. The mall opened on September 21, 1972 with about 25 stores, including a

. It was built by North Hills, Inc. J. C. Penney was added in 1987. The addition of this store resulted in the closure of J. C. Penney stores in downtown Concord and in nearby

Kannapolis Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

. In 1998, several new stores opened, including

American Eagle Outfitters American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., also known as American Eagle, is an American lifestyle, clothing, and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverma ...

LensCrafters LensCrafters is an international retailer of prescription eyewear and prescription sunglasses. Its stores usually host independent optometrists on-site or in an adjacent store. The company has its corporate headquarters in Mason, Ohio, a suburb ...

, a new Staples store, a new Sears store, and a food court. These additions were part of a mall-wide renovation that also included the renovation of the Belk store and the expansion of J. C. Penney. A year later,

opened. A 2004 article stated that this mall, which is more than twice the size of Carolina Mall, did not "overshadow" it due to Concord Mills featuring entertainment-oriented and outlet stores instead of traditional mall stores. In April 2002, Carolina Mall was sold to

. On November 8, 2020, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 7 stores nationwide. The store closed on January 24, 2021.

References

External links

Official website
{{Charlotte malls Shopping malls in North Carolina Concord, North Carolina Shopping malls established in 1972 Buildings and structures in Cabarrus County, North Carolina Tourist attractions in Cabarrus County, North Carolina Hull Property Group 1972 establishments in North Carolina