The Streets at Southpoint facts for kids

The Streets at Southpoint is a large shopping mall located in Durham, North Carolina, in the United States. You can find it where Interstate 40 and Fayetteville Road meet. This popular mall opened its doors on March 8, 2002. In its first year, about 1 million people visited the mall every month!

The mall is owned and managed by Brookfield Properties Retail Group. It was built by Urban Retail Properties. The Streets at Southpoint has both an indoor area and an outdoor area. The outdoor part even has a movie theater called Southpoint Cinemas.

History of The Streets at Southpoint

Building The Streets at Southpoint took a lot of time and effort. It needed four years of planning and more than two years of construction. The mall officially opened on March 8, 2002. When it first opened, it had big department stores like Hecht's (which is now Macy's), Sears, JCPenney, Belk, and Nordstrom.

In its first three days, about 300,000 people came to visit the new mall! The Streets at Southpoint was special because it brought many "firsts" to the area. For example, it was home to North Carolina's very first Nordstrom store. It also had the first Apple Store in the area. Other new stores for the Research Triangle area included Aveda, California Pizza Kitchen, Hollister Co., and Pottery Barn Kids.

This mall was the first new one to open in Durham in almost 30 years. Its opening in March was even named the most important business story of 2002 in Durham. Later, on December 28, 2018, it was announced that the Sears store at the mall would close. It shut down in March 2019 as part of a plan to close many Sears stores across the country.

Mall Design and Features

The Streets at Southpoint was designed to look like an old-fashioned "Main Street." This idea came from Urban Retail Properties, who developed the mall. RTKL Associates Inc. were the architects. They also helped create the mall's logo and used it everywhere to make the mall's identity strong.

A Hybrid Shopping Experience

This mall is called a "hybrid mall." This means it mixes a traditional indoor mall with an outdoor walking area. A huge 70-foot glass wall separates the indoor and outdoor parts of the mall. The main indoor area is called Southpoint Boulevard. Each shop along this boulevard has its own special look and entrance. This helps create that "Main Street" feeling inside.

Special Details and Statues

Many small details add to the mall's unique design. You can find imitation manhole covers and street lights, just like on a real street. There are also bronze statues of children playing. These statues were made especially for the mall by A.R.T. Design Group. The mall's developer, Jim Farrell, wanted children to seem like they were always playing there. So, he asked for statues of children of local leaders. There are 23 statues in total throughout the mall. They took three years to create!

Inspired by Durham's History

Other design elements help the mall feel like downtown Durham. Over 2 million red bricks were used for both the outside and inside of the mall. The architects were inspired by the brick buildings in downtown Durham. They also looked at buildings at UNC and on Franklin Street. Handrails inside the mall even include parts of maps of Durham. The food court, called "Fork in the Road," was designed to look like old tobacco warehouses.

The "Main Street" feel continues into the outdoor part of the mall too. The bronze statues are also outside. Some are even part of the fountains. At the end of the outdoor area, there's a 70-foot smokestack. This is a tribute to Durham's history with tobacco factories. Large, mature trees and bushes were brought in from other places. This makes the mall look like it has been in Durham for a very long time. The outdoor Main Street also has bigger stores and stand-alone restaurants, like The Cheesecake Factory.

Southpoint Cinemas

Southpoint Cinemas is a large movie theater complex. It is part of AMC. The cinema covers 56,000 square feet. On May 20, 2011, a new 6,240 square foot section was added to the theater. Southpoint Cinemas is open every single day of the year.

Images for kids

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  70 foot glass wall separating the indoor and outdoor portions

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  Main Street & Southpoint Street

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  Nordstrom in the mall

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  Southpoint Boulevard

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  A water fountain at an entrance of the mall

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  A statue in the mall

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  JCPenney in the mall

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  Belk in the mall

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  Macy's in the mall

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  Former Sears in the mall

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  A juggler performs at the mall