Charlotte Premium Outlets Grand Opening - July 31-Aug. 3 - Check Out the Schedule and Giveaways

I could say, "the time has finally come" but it's more like, "man that got here quick" -- the grand opening of Charlotte Premium Outlets. The dates for the four-day grand opening celebration were announced months ago, but it's still astonishing to see this 100-store outlet mall come to fruition after only breaking ground last September. I've driven past it each of the last two weekends, where you can see it clearly from Interstate 485 (Exit 4 NC 160/Steele Creek Road). I blogged in March about how Charlotte Premium Outlets will greatly transform that part of town.

Photos credit: Facebook

The grand opening events kick off this Thursday at 10 a.m., and there'll be live bands performing over three days in the commons areas--Charlotte favorites like 5 on Sundays, Early Ray, and Hot Sauce. There will also be two prizes given away every hour between noon and 5 p.m. Plus, there will be in-store events and entertainment taking place at several of the stores, such as DJs inside the Converse, Puma, and Hilfiger stores; and gift card giveaways at Aeropostale, Eddie Bauer, J.Crew, Lane Bryant, Nike, and many others. Reality TV star, author, and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel is scheduled to appear Saturday at the VIP Shopper Club Lounge. It's also possible that other celebrities and special guests could appear throughout the weekend.

Click here for the full schedule of grand opening events.

Charlotte Premium Outlets now has social media accounts: facebook.com/charlottepremiumoutlets and twitter.com/CharPremOutlets; the hashtag for the grand opening is #CPOGO (stands for Charlotte Premium Outlets Grand Opening, FYI). Charlotte Premium Outlets, 5404 New Fashion Way, 704-523-8865, charlotte@premiumoutlets.com, premiumoutlets.com/charlotte.

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Charlotte Premium Outlets Taking Shape, Scheduled to Open Mid-Summer

UPDATE: The website for Charlotte Premium Outlets has gone live -- premiumoutlets.com/charlotte -- and there you'll find additional info, including details for its May 2 Job Fair and July 31-Aug 3 Grand Opening.

Over the last few weeks, I've traveled up and down Interstate 485 several times, from my home exit, Exit 16 (NC 16/Brookshire Boulevard) down past Exit 1 (NC 49/South Tryon Street). And by taking that route--most recently on Friday--I've noticed the rapid progression of construction for Charlotte Premium Outlets, which is visible from the interstate near Exit 4 (NC 160/Steele Creek Road). I used to travel along that Steele Creek Road exit often a few years ago, so I recall the large plots of vacant land around there. That's all about to change when this new outlet mall opens, with its target opening date of July 31.

Rendering of Charlotte Premium Outlets.

Charlotte Premium Outlets is a 50-50 joint venture between Simon Property Group (premiumoutlets.com) and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers (tangeroutlet.com), which each operate dozens of outlet shopping centers around the country--in the region, Simon operates Concord Mills and Gaffney Premium Outlets (as well as SouthPark Mall), for example, and Tanger operates two across North Carolina, two in Myrtle Beach, and one in Charleston. On Monday the companies announced the latest news on Charlotte Premium Outlets, including the scheduled opening date, that the number of planned stores has increased from 90 to 100, and a partial list of tenants that are already under contract.

The announced tenants are:

Adidas, American Eagle, ASICS, The Body Shop, Brooks Brothers, The Children’s Place, The Cosmetics Company Store, Crabtree & Evelyn, Fossil, Gold Toe, Haggar, Jockey, Justice, Kay Jewelers, Kitchen Collection, Le Creuset, Lindt Chocolate, Perfumania, Rack Room Shoes, Robert Wayne Footwear, Samsonite, Seiko, Skechers, Swarovski, The Uniform Company, Vitamin World, Wet Seal, and Wilson’s Leather.

That list of stores isn't anything to write home about, but keep in mind that this only reflects a little more than one-fourth of the total stores that will be housed there. And according to Construction Data Company's Building Blocks Blog, which regularly breaks news on commercial construction projects, many more tenants (more impressive ones at that) are planning stores at Charlotte Premium Outlets, such as:

Ann Taylor, BCBG Max Azria, BeBe, Calvin Klein, Charlotte Russe, Coach Store, Cole Haan, Famous Footwear, Finish Line, Guess Factory Store, Kenneth Cole, Levi's Outlet Store, Michael Kors, Oakley Vault, Perry Ellis, Polo Ralph Lauren, Saks Off Fifth, Soma, Tommy Hilfiger, White House Black Market, Zumiez, and others.

Charlotte Business Journal published a behind-the-scenes article and photo gallery of Charlotte Premium Outlets on Friday. The general manager of the outlet mall said she anticipates the first retailers will begin moving in about 60 days before the July 31 grand opening. Once completed, the stores will provide more than 900 full-time and part-time jobs.

I expect that this project will greatly transform this part of town, spurring a lot more development along I-485 Exit 4 and Steele Creek Road--pretty much the same way Northlake Mall did to its section of West W.T. Harris Boulevard when it opened in fall 2005. There were hundreds of acres of unused land around there before then. Today, there's not only the mall with its 150-plus stores, restaurants, and movie theater, but other shopping centers, big-box stores (Target, Lowe's, Best Buy), restaurants (P.F. Chang's, Mimi's Cafe, this new McDonald's), and a hotel (Drury Inn & Suites) have sprung up there over the years. New apartment complexes and townhouses have also been developed, with more currently under construction, and along the way I-485 Exit 21 opened, which helped make getting over there even more convenient.

Because of where Charlotte Premium Outlets is located, only four miles from the South Carolina border, it will undoubtedly draw plenty of shoppers from Fort Mill and Rock Hill. I also suspect it will attract a lot of visitors from Columbia because I believe this will become the closest outlet mall to them--about an hour-and-15-minute drive.

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