SouthPark mall is getting a new luggage store, a few months after old standby Sharon Luggage closed its doors.
Atlanta-based Mori Luggage and Gifts is set to open Friday, June 3. The 3,500-square-foot store, featuring designer lines including Vera Bradley, Tumi and Victorinox/Swiss Army, will be the company's first in North Carolina.
In addition to luggage, the store will carry "fine writing instruments, leather wallets, jewelry boxes, globes, chess sets, and... a wide selection of travel accessories including packing folders, luggage tags, and passport cases," according to the retailer.
The first 100 customers at the store on Friday, June 3, will get a free Vera Bradley zip ID case. The store will also have special sales and a raffle for hundreds of dollars of prizes during its first month at SouthPark.
While I think it's great that SouthPark is adding a new store, I do think it's ironic to have this be a 'headline' article on the CO's front page. It seems to reinforce that Charlotte is in such a bad shape jobwise that we're willing to tout a new store (gosh, all of 3,500 sf retail added!) as something that's newsworthy.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, our city and county officials are raising our taxes, cutting services and sticking it to the middle-class like never before!
Jennifer Roberts and her ilk KNOW that they can do such a thing now, then 1.5 years from now and JUST before the elections, they'll inplement a modest tax cut in order placate the taxpayers. These shenanigans are what caused us to be in this mess and why our taxes/fees are 25-30% HIGHER than similar cities/counties in NC!
Doesn't SouthPark already have a Tumi luggage store? I can't see how a mall can support two upscale luggage stores. Are people really traveling that much?
ReplyDeleteJust another place for the elitist soccer moms to go down there. They are going to split hell wide open.
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:08, you are reading a blog entitled "What's In Store" what did you think the subject was going to be about?
ReplyDelete12:56 The title of the blog is irrelevant IMO -- the way the article is presented, IS....
ReplyDeleteThey champion the addition of a rather small retail front (I'd imagine a 3,500sf retail establishment brings about 3-4 employees, most of which I would garner are part-time). And they do so as though it's huge, big news! What does that say to you about the status of new business here in Charlotte? How do you think this relates to the overall small business growth that drives the majority of new jobs in this city??
Meanwhile, our city and county council pursue revenue goals that hamper business growth and tax those middle-class payers that are already struggling with pay-cuts and higher gas prices and food costs. Do you NOT see the irony in reporting this as a 'big thing'??
Who cares? NO ONE!!!
ReplyDeleteI find it mildly amusing that people would pay thousands of dollars for "high-end" luggage that is going to be abused as much as Wal-Mart luggage by skycaps. Hee, hee...
ReplyDeleteJ - A $59 suitcase from Wal-Mart will be trashed in 6 months if you are a frequent flier. But I've had my 2 Tumi suitcases ($595 each) for 4 or 5 years. They they have been on literally hundreds of trips with me, and are still as good as new, except for a few scuffs. They also are designed very well for a traveler - the right pockets, built-in garment bags, buttons that expand the case for longer trips, etc. Design and durability are what makes these expensive, and to me, it's worth it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes this really is Mayberry.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, it's like every other place.
ReplyDeleteSan Francisco trumpets new store openings on sfgate.
New York talks about its retail climate all the time on nytimes.com.
Sometimes, people think bashing Charlotte makes them knowledgeable sophisticates when in fact, it just marks them as ignorant.
Can't get really excited about another trendy store opening in SouthPark. It might be interesting to see if their line of gift stuff will be the usual mishmash of Asian-made junk.
ReplyDeleteThe new phone books are here!
ReplyDeleteThe new phone books are here!
WooHOO!
and down at the other end of the mall where Joseph Belth WAS I understand they are putting in a tupperwear store....nice contrast huh? something for everyone...
ReplyDeleteThe Container Store is hardly a "Tupperware store." I moved here from Northern Virginia in late '05 and have been anxiously awaiting the opening of a Container Store here. Pop in when it opens. I think you'll be very impressed.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for amusing a Charlotte girl living temporarily in Costa Rica! Makes me homesick for y'all!
ReplyDeleteOh how class warfare never gets old.
ReplyDeleteWhen my wife and I would shop at South Park, Sharon Luggage was the only shop that even interested me. My wife could shop for hours, while I perused the offerings at Sharon Luggage and talked to the shop keepers!
ReplyDelete