Zara clothing store makes NC debut in Charlotte. Fans are already making plans
As employees removed a barrier blocking the entrance into Zara at SouthPark mall on Wedneday, passersby made a beeline for the trendy fashion retail store.
“We’ve been counting down the months to the opening,” Kelly Scott of Charlotte said. She held up her crossed fingers, asking “Is it open?”
Not quite yet.
The Spanish-based fashion retailer Zara is making its North Carolina debut at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, just in time for the holiday season.
The 29,000-square-foot store is near Belk department store. Anticipation from folks like Scott and her sister has been building since Zara announced its Charlotte plans in 2023.
Yolanda Marant of Charlotte screamed with excitement Wednesday when she saw the lights on and doors open. Marant has shopped Zara’s stores in Europe and likes the open, fresh feel of the store and “cute” clothes. She’s excited to have Zara right here in Charlotte, near her hair salon. “That made my day.”
The trendy global retail sells fast-fashion clothing and accessories for women, men and children.
“It’s always up to day with what’s trending,” said Lola Young of Charlotte, who was making a video through the store window.
Young said she and a friend have shopped the Zara store in New York City for about a decade. It was the brand’s first U.S. store when it opened in 1989. “It’s luxury but not too expensive,” Young said.
The Charlotte Observer got to take a tour inside Wednesday. Here are three things to know about Zara at SouthPark.
Zara’s Charlotte store design
The two-story store, designed by Zara Architecture Studio, feels airy and open with neutral tones, natural wood finishes and large stone tile.
The left side entrance opens into the women’s collection, and the right side, into menswear. A second floor, reached by escalator or elevator, has more “youthful” trendy women’s clothing and a children’s section.
Each department is set up by collections from sophisticated to everyday wear, said Natalia Garzon, Zara’s regional commercial manager for the women’s collection.
Within the different sections are dedicated spaces for denim, lingerie, perfume, and a shoes and bags sections.
The men’s area has a wardrobe-type space in the center with seats for trying on shoes.
Upstairs, the design gets bright with lighted mural walls and stainless steel-sided wardrobes. Zara doesn’t use mannequins to display the clothing, but rather hangers in wardrobe style with full outfits on display.
Zara’s clothing designs in Charlotte
Zara has 250 clothing designers at its headquarters in Arteixo, Spain. Their inspiration comes from the street, music, art, culture, and global trends, according to Zara.
The store is more of a boutique concept and feel selling a limited number and sizes of each piece. New products twice a week. “The store is in constant change every day,” according to Zara. When an item’s store inventory sells out, that’s it. It won’t be restocked.
Most of the clothing is in shades of browns, black, creams and grays, with pops of color on the racks like red. And there’s plenty of bling with furs, sequins, leather and satin.
The most expensive item in the women’s collection for opening day was a long, faux fur patchwork coat of brown tones at $265. There was a puffer jacket for $129 and a blouse for $49.
Women’s sizes run from 0 to 16.
A stroll through the men’s section starts with the launch of a new collection in bright colors of green and blue is similar with separate sections from elevated with cashmere and wools to casual.
Tops run from small to XL, with some up to XXL, Nery Garcia, Zara’s natural product expert for menswear said. Trousers are sized 28 to 36.
The children’s clothing and accessories is for infants to age 14, said Beth Tofoya, natural product expert for kidswear. The clothing is bright and playful, from an embroidered dog knit sweater for $35.90 to a New York Yankees zippered sweatshirt with an embroidered bear for $35.90.
There’s also KPop Demon Hunters, Bluey, Cars, Mickey Mouse and more options
The children’s area is set up similarly as the adults with five dedicated spaces for girls and boys and different age groups and styles. There also are outfits in sets, for example a pink shiny skirt for $25 paired with a sparkly faux fur silver sweater for $32 for children aged 1 to 6.
“The goal is always to build the outfits for the parents to make it easy,” Tofoya said.
Zara’s in-store tech
Upstairs, lighted signs point the way to customer service and registers.
The Charlotte store has self-checkout stations, real-time inventory browsing that even shows where the item is in the store, and two-hour in-store pickup for online orders. Customers use a QR code at the pickup window, which can hold up to 650 packages.
In the denim section upstairs, a pair of jeans hangs in full view on the metal cabinet with the style scrolling across the top in light
The fitting rooms are even hi-tech.
Even before drawing the curtain, when a customer walks into the changing room, a lighted chart on the hallway wall changes the space from green to gray showing it’s occupied.
Upstairs, the Charlotte location includes clothing recycling and donation containers for pre-owned garments.
More about Zara
The Charlotte store is part of Zara’s U.S. expansion.
Zara parent company Inditex is investing 1.6 billion euros, about $1.7 billion, expanding stores and warehouses worldwide, including at least 10 new locations across the U.S.
This year, Zara has opened or expanded stores in major cities including Boston, Los Angeles, Austin, Las Vegas and New York.
Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store 50 years ago in A Coruña, Spain. Zara now operates more than 100 stores in 26 states with 6,000 employees.
Zara’s SouthPark store has 90 full- and part-time workers, according to the company.
About SouthPark Mall
Zara’s is the latest retail opening at SouthPark.
QUAY Eyewear made its North Carolina debut last month near Dillard’s and Old Navy. The Australian brand is worn by celebrities like Lizzo, Kylie Jenner and Jennifer Lopez.
Other recent additions at SouthPark include: menswear store Mizzen + Main; national men’s apparel brand Johnnie-O; CAMP, a family experience company that combines retail and immersive activities and events; Sarku Japan restaurant; the iconic watchmaker Swatch; Laguna Beach, California, jeweler Gorjana; and clothing brand Tommy Bahama’s first Marlin Bar.
Mall property owner Simon recently purchased nearby mixed-use shopping plaza Phillips Place. Simon, through an affiliate company SPC Retail LLC, paid $144.8 million for the site. SouthPark, at 4400 Sharon Road, has 172 stores and restaurants.
This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
