Saturday, September 17, 2005

spotted at northlake

I went to the Grand Opening of Northlake Mall in Charlotte late Friday afternoon. My gut was saying that this mall was going to be very typical, but it was substantially better than I imagined.

The interior design is really nice, the tenant mix is exceptional for a new mall, and the Hecht's and Belk stores are a lot fresher than I expected. Though as an out-of-towner, I'm still headed to SouthPark first if I drive down to Charlotte to shop, Northlake is a winner.

I have too many pictures to post right now, most of them mundame, so I'll focus on the entertainment and oddities that I saw for now:

Here's your friendly neighborhood blogger in Hecht's. You can make fun of the shirt. I know it's ugly. LOL

Th first of several elaborately dressed people on stilts roaming throughout the mall.

A country music trio upstairs near Hecht's. It's a little blurry. Sorry.

A human "statue" near Dick's Sporting Goods.

A little person in a weird antique vehicle.

A stilt person headed to Belk.

A pop 'cover' group in Center Court.

Yet another sighting of stilt people.

A little later, Center Court had a contemporary jazz band.

A solo saxophonist in the Food Court.

Last but not least, another jazz band, this time a trio, chillin' under the escalator at Hecht's

10 comments:

  1. I like that shirt on you. The synchronized swimmers in the next panel are nice, too. Looks like some people forgot to hop the bus last time Cirque de Soleil rolled through town and the orphans need to drum up some cash.

    Jeez, all they got around here is the piano lounge guy who plays fridays at the top of the escalator next to childrens' at Nordstrom.

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  2. The shirt fits really well. I got it at Wal-Mart last year when they were experimenting with tall sizes. I halfway thought about having Mom use it as a model to sew some shirts like it.

    The funky stilt people were awesome, probably my favorite part of the entertainment. This is also the second Hecht's I've been to with bands playing by the escalator. I'm not sure what's up, but I like it.

    Across town, Nordstrom typically has a piano player, but lately they pipe in smooth jazz.

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  3. There are few things I enjoy better than a mall's grand opening.

    But are "stilt people" a Southern thing? I have never seen such a thing before...

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  4. I've never seen people dressed like that in a mall before. It reminds me of something they do in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, at least from what I've heard.

    The closest thing I've ever seen to that was this funky "jester" motif SouthPark used on their holiday mall directories a few years ago. I'll have to try to find one of those old directories somewhere around here.

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  5. Since I've gotten obessed with the deadmall thing, every time I go into a mall I've never been too, or when a new one opens I always have to imagine if it will be on deadmalls.com in the next six or seven years.

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  6. Anita, if I didn't know you, I would say that was sick. :-)

    If it's any consolation, Eastland Mall across town seems poised for death.

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  7. That shirt is a good color on you!

    ~Carrie =)

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  8. Thanks Carrie. I liked the fit of the shirt, but I wasn't so sure on the color. Maybe it's better than I thought. :-)

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  9. Maybe someone could convince me to try stilts some day, but even if I were a natural at it there is no way they could get me to wear stilts while on the second floor of a mall!

    Thanks for the pics! I'm sure I'll swing by the mall someday soon. I'm sorry I missed the opening.

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  10. I bet you could do it, man. The most I could pull off is being the statue.

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