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National chains keep coming to town. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

By Corey Inscoe

Updated October 16, 2019 1:38 AM

Anthropologie recently opened at Atherton Mill, which is located at 2140 South Boulevard in Charlotte. Luna's Living Kitchen and the Atherton Market are two other stores there.
In Charlotte's South End area developers say they're set on creating a mix of local and national retailers, both in the "soft goods" and food industry, like restaurants, bars and grocers. They're simultaneously working to make South End more walkable.
The photos were made on Friday, September 25, 2015. — Anthropologie recently opened at Atherton Mill, which is located at 2140 South Boulevard in Charlotte. Luna's Living Kitchen and the Atherton Market are two other stores there. In Charlotte's South End area developers say they're set on creating a mix of local and national retailers, both in the "soft goods" and food industry, like restaurants, bars and grocers. They're simultaneously working to make South End more walkable. The photos were made on Friday, September 25, 2015.

Who:

Peralta, who covers retail for the Observer, didn’t initially see that in Charlotte. But things are starting to change around town, especially at places like Atherton Mill in South End, which is undergoing a makeover and attracting new business.

What: On this week’s The Good News Is… podcast we talked with Peralta about Charlotte’s retail trends, including the national chains that are moving into the area, especially in places like Park Road Shopping Center. Are these national chains a good thing? Are they pushing out local businesses? We asked Peralta.

We also talked about how House Bill 2 is affecting the business climate, and Peralta gives us her thoughts about the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte and when we should know if it’s staying or going.

That’s what she said: “It’s a blessing and a curse for Charlotte. It says that it’s a growing city and there’s demand there. These places want to be here. It says a lot about what our city is, but it also at the same time comes with growing pains for the little guys.” — Peralta on national chains coming to Charlotte.

The Good News Is — presented by The Charlotte Observer and powered by OrthoCarolina — is a weekly podcast with a similar mission to what we do here at C5: To get you CharlotteSmart, fast with fun, interesting and useful news about the city. It’s hosted by Corey Inscoe and Sarah Crosland.

As always, you can find our episodes on Soundcloud, iTunes and now Stitcher. You can follow us on Twitter @TheGoodNewsCLT, on Instagram @TheGoodNewsCLT, on Facebook and you can shoot us an email to thegoodnewsisclt@gmail.com.

Photos: John D. Simmons/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 11:13 PM with the headline "National chains keep coming to town. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?."

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