Concord Mills

Concord Mills is a shopping mall located in Concord, North Carolina. The mall is in Cabarrus County, just a few hundred feet from the Mecklenburg County border and Charlotte city limits, and about 12 miles (19 km) from Uptown Charlotte. It is one of two malls in Concord, the other being Carolina Mall.

Concord Mills

Entrance 6 to Concord Mills
Location	Concord, North Carolina, United States
Coordinates	35°22′10.04″N 80°43′20.60″W
Opening date	September 9, 1999; 25 years ago (September 9, 1999)
Developer	Mills Corporation
Management	Simon Property Group
Owner	Simon Property Group (59.3%)[1]
No. of stores and services	200[2]
No. of anchor tenants	19 (18 open, 1 vacant by 2020)
Total retail floor area	1,362,404 square feet (126,571 m2)[1][3] (GLA)
No. of floors	1
Website	concordmills.com

2010 aerial photograph of Concord Mills

The mall is a single-floor oval building with a floor area of 1,362,404 square feet (126,571 m²).^[3] Inside, a single main hallway runs around the building in an O shape, with stores along either side. A single circuit of the main hallway is about 0.85 miles (1.37 km). Formerly operated by the Mills Corporation, it is now managed by Simon Property Group, who owns 59.3% of it. It is North Carolina's largest single-site tourist attraction, attracting 17.6 million visitors in 2005.^[2] The mall is located about a mile from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Incidents

On August 21, 2000 on a construction site near Concord Mills, a natural gas pipeline ruptured sending flames to heights of about 100 feet (30 m).^[4] As a result of the explosion, law enforcement officials closed local roads around the mall and Interstate 85 around rush hour (4 p.m.); the roads were reopened one hour later after the situation was contained. The event received national network television coverage and news helicopters provided much of the video shown on national television.

In March 2019, a man was shot by an 18 year old male inside the AMC theater after a dispute over seating. This incident lead to yet another panic which resulted in a total evacuation. The suspect was arrested the following day and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and intent to kill.^[5]

In December 2019, a 13 year old girl was struck and killed by a stray bullet after she attempted to escape a fight between a group of teenage males. Two other teenagers were also shot but did not receive life threatening injuries. In an unrelated case, the girl's cousin was himself murdered earlier the same hour.^[6] One of the suspects in the shooting was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and felony riot on the Wednesday morning following the attack.^[7] Two days later, Police announced they had arrested another suspect. This was the first instance of murder on mall property.^[8]

See also

• I-85 Corridor
• List of shopping malls in the United States