Shoppers flock to Carolina Place mall

Charlotte Business Journal

Carolina Place mall, which opened its doors at 1 a.m. Friday in an unprecedented move to draw more holiday traffic, says shoppers have been flocking to the south Charlotte, N.C. mall.

"It ended up being well-beyond expectations," Carolina Place General Manager Michael Payton says.

Between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., Payton says, personnel had counted more than 15,000 cars in the mall's parking lot, making it 85% to 90% at capacity.

Payton estimates Carolina Place's early-morning opening, a program that was rolled out at other malls owned by General Growth Properties Inc., attracted some 30,000 shoppers.

That's well beyond the 5,000 to 7,000 people mall spokeswoman Jackie Tyson had previously predicted would hit the early morning sale, dubbed Rockin' Shoppin' Eve.

"On Black Friday, we'll typically have 20,000 to 25,000 cars throughout the day," Payton says. "We're expecting between 50,000 and 60,000 people (Friday)."

Payton attributes the steep increase in traffic to the normal holiday season as well as aggressive pricing by the mall's retailers.

"Rockin' Shoppin' Eve was a smoking success," Payton says. "If there's good value for the consumer, the consumer will take advantage of it."