Grading all 23 kiosks at SouthPark mall

Here’s a quick look at the 24 kiosks in SouthPark mall (these are very fast, first glance grades). Hope this helps with your holiday shopping! Yes, it was kind of creepy snapping all these pics with my iPhone.

(1) S/L Accessories. Grade: C. Decent cell case selection, but do we really need all of this?

(2) Obaku Denmark. Grade: C-. Denmark watches are a tough sell.

(3) Polar X. Grade: B+. Ornaments are heavier than you think and nicely made.

(4) Young Plantations. Grade: B. Seems like something you’d find a Cracker Barrel. Not sure that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

(5) Hotel Comfort. Grade A-. Brutal name (bamboo pillow?), but the actual pillow was incredibly comfortable.

(6) SL Accessories. Grade C+. Too many options.

(7) La Bamba. Grade: A-. This photo is terrible, sorry, but this is kiosk is like an off brand Lululemon and provides value.

(8) Get Grillin’. Grade: B-. Seems like a gift you give to somebody when you’ve given up.

(9) MCK Initial Impressions. Grade: B+. Don’t be fooled, this kiosk was hopping. People like their names on stuff.

(10) UV 400. Grade: D. Couldn’t figure out the differentiation of this vs other sunglasses places with more selection.

(11) Sutra. Grade: N/A. Didn’t understand what’s happening here. Maybe because I’m a guy (?).

(12) 3D Innovations. Grade: C. Weird. How do they do this?

(13) Hickory Farms. Grade: B. Solid gift basket type stuff.

(14) Dewey’s. Grade: B. Same assessment as above: solid gift basket type stuff.

(15) ER Repair. Grade: B+. Horrific signage, but their marketing promise is quite clear – they fix phones and they do it in 20mins.

(16) Hot Shot E-Cigarettes & Vapors. Grade: C. Are we in Europe? I know this market is growing, but can’t wrap my head around the product.

(17) See’s Candies. Grade: B. It’s solid candy. Owned by Warren Buffett which is cool.

(18) Beauty Bar. Grade: D-. Staff was fairly aggressive and I’m not even in their target demo.

(19) Living Lockets. Grade: C. Not sure about the locket market, but might be more demand than I think.

(20) Touch of South. Grade: C-. Felt like they were trying to be like other Southern brands (ex, Vineyard Vines).

(21) This Land. Grade: A. Cool backstory and fun collection of items. Love it.

(22) One Eared Cow. Grade: B+. Funky glass that is so weird that people may dig it.

(23) Sunglass Hut. Grade: C+. I thought they had an actual store instead of a kiosk?

Photo: John D Simmons / Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published December 11, 2014 at 12:57 AM with the headline "Grading all 23 kiosks at SouthPark mall."