Multiple mall shootings prompt Apple Store closure in North Carolina

An Apple Store in a mall

The Northlake Mall Apple Store in Charlotte, North Carolina, has abruptly closed permanently after multiple shootings occurred in the mall in recent months. New store to open in 2024.

Apple has two retail locations in Charlotte, North Carolina — Northlake and SouthPark. The Northlake location shut its doors permanently on Wednesday afternoon, though Apple hasn't provided a direct reason.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the Northlake Mall has suffered from at least three shootings within recent months, which prompted Apple to close the store. It was an abrupt closure, as the website for the store didn't indicate a closure a day earlier.

A message on Apple's website for the store states that a new store will open in Charlotte in early 2024. Customers will need to use the SouthPark location or Apple Store Online until the new location opens.

The Northlake employees were told by Apple that no layoffs would occur, according to the report. They would be transferred to the SouthPark store or assume roles at the online store.

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22 Comments

radarthekat 3844 comments · 12 Years

About 1 year ago

One wonders if Apple had been in active discussion with the mail operators in order to gain some level of assurance regarding security of Apple Store staff and patrons and maybe failed to gain the level of assurance they were seeking. This would be a plausible backstory for an abrupt shutdown.

AppleZulu 2016 comments · 8 Years

What? I thought these states’ inexorable march toward unregulated, unrestricted gun sales and ownership was supposed to make everyone safer. You know, because of all the “good guys” wandering around, armed to the teeth. Did Apple check first to see if the mall shootings weren’t just some of those good guys exercising their freedom and protecting us?

bloggerblog 2457 comments · 16 Years

The more we automate jobs, the higher the crime. More jobs will be going away, from rig drivers to container ship captains to pizza workers and delivery. And yes there maybe a higher need for engineers, but those are few and far apart. Also if you’ve tried new AI platforms like ChatGPT, you can see how some of the software engineering roles are already being replaced by AI

9secondkox2 2737 comments · 8 Years

AppleZulu said:

What? I thought these states’ inexorable march toward unregulated, unrestricted gun sales and ownership was supposed to make everyone safer. You know, because of all the “good guys” wandering around, armed to the teeth. Did Apple check first to see if the mall shootings weren’t just some of those good guys exercising their freedom and protecting us?

Riiiiiiight like it was a legal, permitted, gun owner/carrier just shooting up the place… such citizens would have been able to put a stop to these types of crimes in a hurry. You take away someone’s RIGHT to bear arms, then only the law abiding citizen is de-armed. The criminal still gets their guns and has a one-up on everyone else. Because the criminal doesn’t care about breaking the law. Simple math

nobody wants guns being sold like candy with no responsibility. Total micharacterization to pretend to have a point.

These kinds tissues are what you have when “defund the police” is a rallying cry and criminals know their victims cant defend themselves. The possibility of a gun is a much better deterrent than a purse weirder by granny to would be criminal minals, terrorists, etc.

darelrex 138 comments · 11 Years

FYI, Northlake Mall has been dying for some time, and Apple was already planning to move out. This latest shooting just provoked a decision to close the store the very next day, likely for the safety of Apple's employees and customers. I presume that Northlake must have been doing well when Apple first put a store there, but lately it's turned into a has-been ghost town, and sections of the mall are being converted to non-shopping uses.