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Another store is closing at Northlake Mall amid financial and safety struggles

Another store is leaving Northlake Mall. The property has made headlines recently about violence at the financially struggling north Charlotte shopping center.

Buckle will close at the end of the day Sunday, according to the company’s website. The Nebraska-based retail chain sells men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and accessories. Buckle has two other area mall stores at Concord Mills in Concord and Carolina Place in Pineville.

Buckle did not say why it’s closing. It’s the second store to close this month after the Apple store shuttered in the middle of the day on March 1, the day after a third shooting in three months on the property. Apple, with another location at SouthPark mall, did not say why it closed the Northlake store, only that it will open another store in the Charlotte area.

What’s next for Northlake Mall after Apple store’s hasty exit and trio of shootings

Gunfire at the mall

Northlake mall had three shootings in less than three months: on Feb. 28 in the parking lot and Feb. 5 and Dec. 15 inside the mall. In each case, arguments between individuals preceded gunfire. In December, two people were hurt, including a bystander.

The mall plans to increase security measures, Spinoso Real Estate Group, which maintains and operates the mall, previously told The Charlotte Observer. Details have not yet been released.

Financial struggles

The two store closings and recent shootings are the latest struggles for the two-story, 1.1-million-square-foot mall that went into receivership in May 2021 after failing to pay its debts.

Northlake tenant occupancy is nearly 74%, according to N.C. Business Court filings in January. The national average is 89%.

The mall completed five new tenant deals, and renewed 15 tenants leases, including Apple and American Eagle, Spinoso of Syracuse, N.Y., said in the January filing.

Spinoso also had two deals in draft status, including a gym in the former Dick’s Sporting Goods location. In 2021, Dick’s relocated to Simon mall Concord Mills about five miles away.

Two more stores — Custom Place and Hot Tamale — are also planning to open at Northlake, according to the mall’s website.

“Northlake Mall will be announcing new stores in the coming months,” Spinoso said Friday.