After 26 years at SouthPark mall, retailer reveals store makeover in Charlotte
Bath & Body Works is unveiling its latest layout at its newly remodeled store at SouthPark mall in time for holiday shopping.
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The Charlotte store is the first of three locations to debut what Bath & Body calls its “Feel Good” concept meant to make discovering fragrances easier and more fun for shoppers. Additional stores with the new concept will open in Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio, and Town and Country in Miami, Florida.
Feedback from customers and employees helped shape the new format, according to Bath & Body. “Charlotte will help us better understand how consumers engage with our brand, informing how we continue to evolve the store experience,” Maly Bernstein, chief commercial officer at Bath & Body, said.
The store, which opened at SouthPark mall in 2000, temporarily closed for about 19 weeks to undergo the redesign, Rachel Page, North America stores group vice president for Bath & Body told The Charlotte Observer. The store reopened at 10 a.m. Friday.
“This mall is such a great range of our market,” Page said. “It pulls from so many regional areas that we’re getting customers a little bit from all over.”
It’s the latest longtime retailer refreshing its brand at the mall. In April, U.S. apparel retailer Urban Outfitters reopened with a modern take at its only Charlotte store to reach its Gen Z shoppers.
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The 3,127-square-foot store has a simplified floor plan and elevated design, using materials such as natural stone and custom-colored tile, according to Bath & Body.
“Once you walk in, it is pretty clear, pretty quickly that it’s much easier to navigate,” Page said. ‘It’s an open, airy, elevated, modernized experience that feels different than what it looked like before we closed the doors.”
New features in the redesigned store include:
“There are so many different ways to experience the fragrance that we haven’t had the opportunity to showcase in this way before,” Page said.
Bath & Body has 26 stores in the Charlotte region, including two other Simon-owned malls Concord Mills mall in Concord and Charlotte Premium Outlets in Steele Creek.
Bath & Body, founded in 1990 in New Albany, Ohio, has more than 1,900 stores in the U.S. and Canada, and over 500 international locations. Bath & Body Works reported net sales of over $1.5 million for the second quarter ending Aug. 1, a decrease of 2.3% compared to the prior year.
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