The Cheesecake Factory's coming to Southpoint

By SUE STOCK, Staff Writer
The News & Observer

The folks at the Streets at Southpoint have finally given a date for the Cheesecake Factory's opening there.

After months of refusing to say the restaurant was coming, the Durham mall's management said this week that the restaurant is expected to open Oct. 10.

The restaurant will occupy 12,000 square feet and seat more than 400 people. It's going in the space of the former Big Bowl and Q-Shack, which are being merged into one storefront.

The Southpoint Cheesecake Factory will be the second in the area. The first opened two years ago at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh.

"Even though it's sometimes called Raleigh-Durham, they are two specific markets," said company spokesman Howard Gordon. "And the one thing we've found is that people in Raleigh-Durham love to eat."

The addition is good for Southpoint. Many experts consider Cheesecake Factory to be better than a traditional department store anchor. The average Cheesecake Factory racks up $11 million in sales each year. By the end of the year, Cheesecake will have 110 locations.