Black business owner wants answers after Southpoint mall pulls plug on successful store.

[ThrobbingHood]

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Black business owner wants answers after Southpoint mall pulls plug on successful store



Just days after headlines about chaotic violence at The Streets at Southpoint, one of the mall's few Black-owned businesses was informed that its license to operate at the mall was being canceled. Michael Phillips has six more days to shut down his popular specialty store, Sir Castle Tees.

Phillips suspects the mall is singling him out because of the negative publicity


"The store is doing fantastic," said Phillips, the southeast Raleigh-raised entrepreneur who more than met expectations after opening Sir Castle Tees at Southpoint last June. "Over the six months period of time we've been here, we made over $1 million at Southpoint mall. We are definitely the hot commodity because we do everything that everybody wants on the internet."


Phillips' custom-designed sneakers, game controllers and 3-D print creations are selling fast, boosted by a social media following of more than 600,000 people. But his Southpoint success story soured two days after Christmas.

"When I got that letter, honestly, I was really hurt about it," he said.

It was an email from mall management informing Phillips that his operator license is being terminated. The store and its 20 employees have to go by Jan. 11. No reasons were given in the termination letter. Phillips called the management office.

"She said, 'Well, we are looking to get rid of a few shoe stores. And we're going to get started with you.'" Phillips recalled. "So to me, it just felt like that it was something deeper than just the whole shoe portion."

Southpoint's mall directory lists 11 shoe stores. Sir Castle Tees is not one of them. It's listed as a specialty store.

Phillips suspects his business is being singled out after those frightening few days at the mall during the holiday shopping season: A triple shooting on Black Friday caused chaos and a raucous fight in the food court came just days later.

"I'm thinking the property owner is probably looking at it like, hey, so this is a really popular African-American male here. We may feel like he's the reason or the cause of the things that may have been occurring with the younger crowd," he speculated.

The move to oust Phillips' business comes seven months after Southpoint's parent company, Brookfield Properties, launched its Partner to Empower program. The company pledged $25 million to help Black and minority business owners open stores in the company's malls.

"(Brookfield) wanted to give all this money so African Americans and minorities can open up businesses here," Phillips said. "And for them to just say hey, you got 15 days to get out -- it's just kind of sad that they just want to just do this to me for no logical reason at all."

ABC11 reached out to Southpoint's parent company for more specifics on the termination decision.


A company spokesperson said, "All short-term licenses permit termination, and termination is not uncommon for these types of agreements. Because we do not discuss tenant or licensee matters, we are not able to comment on the specific circumstances of their departure."

Phillips' business was not part of the Partner to Empower program. When ABC11 asked Brookfield how many Black and minority-owned businesses had been helped by the program so far, the company did not respond.

 

[The Fade]

“Im white and i say so”

 

[Amerikan Melanin]

Attracting the wrong clientele to the mall. I understand both sides.

 

[NoMoreWhiteWoman2020]

Attracting the wrong clientele to the mall. I understand both sides.

 

[8WON6]

Wouldn't be surprised if somebody with the mall or some other white people just saw how much they were making and they decided to copy his entire store format.

 

[ThrobbingHood]

Wouldn't be surprised if somebody with the mall or some other white people just saw how much they were making and they decided to copy his entire store format.

But they’ll tell us - “Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps”.

 

[$cam-U-Well_Jack$on]

He ain't really all that off. That's Durham. Them nikkas will get to shootin' in da mall in a heartbeat and won't think twice about it.

 

[Max.]

Attracting the wrong clientele to the mall. I understand both sides.

idk its nerds buyn them anime controllers

 

[Stir Fry]

Merch looks dope. Hopefully he finds success elsewhere at somewhere that respects and appreciates him.

 

[KyokushinKarateMan]

Same exact thing happened here in Charlotte last year. Black barbershop in high-end South Park mall had their contract terminated just two months after opening.

Mall management eventuality reversed the decision, however, after receiving heavy backlash. Not sure why half of the article came out in italics but it’s an interesting read and kinda goes into how the contracting and leasing of mall space works.

SouthPark Mall management reverses decision to terminate barbershop’s lease early
March 4, 2021 at 11:07 a.m. UTC
By Glenn Counts

CHARLOTTE — The owners of a popular barbershop said on Tuesday their lease at the SouthPark Mall in south Charlotte was abruptly canceled. The next day, the management company said Knights of the Razor by No Grease can stay for the duration of its temporary lease.

Brothers Damien and Jermaine Johnson own No Grease barbershops. They have been in business for more than 25 years and have multiple locations, including the one in SouthPark Mall.

“So getting into SouthPark here in Charlotte puts you at the pinnacle of business,” co-owner Jermaine Johnson said.

No Grease Barber Shop Brothers Damien and Jermaine Johnson

The brothers had their eyes on a location at SouthPark while the other locations proved to be profitable.

“When you have come from Central Avenue, and you have made it all the way to SouthPark, you have taken the entrepreneurial journey,” Damien Johnson said.

The brothers got that opportunity late last year. They signed a lease and opened their shop in January. The Johnsons wanted a permanent lease, but they said the mall would only give them a temporary one.

They trusted Simon Properties, SouthPark’s manager, because they have multiple stores at other locations.

“Because the relationship was new, not necessarily with Simon Properties, but SouthPark, we were willing to take that temporary lease and say, ‘OK, 12 months, we’re gonna show you what we’ve got,’” Damien Johnson said.

The brothers said they were floored 10 days ago when Simon Properties terminated their lease at SouthPark, giving them 30 days to vacate. The mall has the right to terminate early under conditions of the lease.

No Grease Barber Shop

The brothers’ story immediately went viral across social media and news outlets.

____________________

SouthPark’s management company sent the following release on Wednesday:

“We are pleased to report that Knights of the Razor by No Grease will be staying at SouthPark for the duration of their temporary lease. We have delayed our other deal until next year and will be discussing with Mr. Damian Johnson and Mr. Jermaine Johnson the possibility of a permanent location for their barbershop beyond their current temporary lease term.

“Our other four locations with No Grease are all permanent leases. We’ve enjoyed a productive and growing relationship with No Grease for the past decade and look forward to expanding our relationship in the future.”

____________________

The brothers said they didn’t understand why the temporary lease was initially terminated, and they have gotten nothing but compliments from mall management.

“We did a great presentation here with the aesthetics and with the team of barbers that we brought here,” Jermaine Johnson said. “All the professionals we brought here. We brought our best.”

The brothers said they invested between $60,000 and $70,000 for improvements for the business at the upscale mall.

Under the Improvements and Fixtures section, the lease says improvements, “shall become Landlord’s property on expiration or earlier termination of this Lease without compensation to Tenant, unless Landlord and Tenant agree otherwise in writing.”

____________________

Statement from mall management on Tuesday:

We have always had a positive working relationship with Mr. Damian Johnson and Mr. Jermaine Johnson. We currently have five No Grease barbershop locations with them at Concord Mills (2 locations), Charlotte Premium Outlets, Sugarloaf Mills and SouthPark Mall and are open to adding more locations in the future based on their interest.

With respect to their Knights of the Razor by No Grease barbershop at SouthPark Mall, which is on a temporary lease, we have reached out to them and are currently in conversations to resolve the situation in a fair and equitable manner.

____________________

“We have a great relationship with Simon Properties,” Damien Johnson said Tuesday “So us taking a temporary lease, it wasn’t about the temporary lease, it was about the relationship. The respect and transparency we’ve had with them for the past 10 years.”

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

Sounds like New Jersey..

Any place where a lot of black people congregate scares cacs.

It's why apartment complexes don't put up basketball courts ...when I was a kid alit of them had courts...but then they don't like seeing all those black kids and so they convert the courts to a tennis court or volleyball...

Who the fukk plays volleyball IN JERSEY?

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

But they’ll tell us - “Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps”.

I mean he made $1,000,000 in sales. He can open up his own damn store. Meanwhile y'all anti bootstrap folks are broke busters living on the plantation

This is just a stumble in the process, breh will catch up

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

I wonder if they got online clientele. I'm tryna get my PS5 and PS5 controller customized with a Batman Dark Knight theme

 

[I Really Mean It]

He ain't really all that off. That's Durham. Then nikkas will get to shootin' in da mall in a heartbeat and won't think twice about it.

The type of dudes who will shoot up a mall aren’t shopping at a consignment shop.

 

[MF_BREW]

Caccs don't black folks to come up.