UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A Union County strip mall is the latest example of the county’s recent growth spurt.

Union and Mecklenburg counties, and the city of Charlotte, all saw roughly 20% growth from 2010 to 2019.

Local business owners in Union County said they noticed the growth, and it’s leading them to take more chances, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • Union County grew by about 20% from 2010 to 2019

  • Business owners are cashing in, opening in locations which previously had "bad luck"

  • Union County is growing as fast as Mecklenburg, according to U.S. Census Bureau

  • Several new businesses have revitalized a strip mall since COVID-19 pandemic began

 

Kelsey Sakamoto is one of those business owners.

Earlier this year she opened Maplehurst Auctions, an auction house located in a strip mall on the corner of N.C. 75 and Potter Road.

Sakamoto was raised in Union County.

"I graduated from Weddington High School, I went off to N.C. State, and I came back after about 10 years of doing my own thing up in Raleigh and around there,” she said while organizing auction items.

She’s one of several new business owners in the shopping center.

Sakamoto returned home and wanted to start a business from her passion, organizing auctions. She’s spent an adult lifetime scouring estate sales, other online auctions and customers’ personal items. She said she finds joy in helping others.

"It’s just something I’ve always had a knack for, and I’ve sold and resold for people for years. And I just like the auctioning so much. I’m a nerd. I’ve studied up on auction theory,” she added with a laugh.

In February, she opened Maplehurst Auctions and in March held the first auction.

 

 

Now, auctions are held for a week’s time every other Friday. When she’s not auctioning, she’s cleaning, organizing, packing, shipping and sending out items.

"I don’t have beaucoups of money sitting around to where I can say, 'oh I want to give back to the community.’ But, in a way I can 'cause I don’t make money unless the sellers make money. And the more they make, the more I make. So, it’s kind of like we can work hand and hand, and I can get some more money into the people of Mineral Springs and Union County’s pockets as well,” Sakamoto said.

She wasn’t the first new tenant at the strip mall.

Union County Entrepeneurs, a business that helps people grow small businesses, moved in first.

"We’ve seen it — just one after the other,” said Karen Johnson, the director. “It was pretty lonesome for a while — I mean we didn’t really start seeing anything else happening until September."

Johnson said after months of courting other business owners, using the low rent rates and highlighting the growing community, she was able to convince Carolina Kid Coders to move into the UCE’s old space.

As UCE moved, other businesses followed.

A bible store moved in, then a computer and drone spot, a new clothing and design business and Sakamoto’s auction house.

"I always knew that this spot was just destined to get bigger and bigger. And right now it’s just — that intersection is a huge traffic point, everyone passes here on their way to and from work,” Sakamoto added.

But it wasn’t the easiest decision, she knew this strip mall had a struggling reputation.

"A lot of people thought it was a gamble because it has been empty,” Sakamoto said, referencing the N.C. 75 and Potter Road corner of Mineral Springs.

Undeterred, she said she checked housing development permits and learned the county was experiencing a growth spurt in the area.

"I think now that we’re all here, and we’re packed in here, it makes it easier to thrive. Because, if you pass any given day, any given time, there’s people in the parking lot,” Sakamoto stated with a smile.

And she won't be the last to move in either, a small pharamacy is set to move in next to the auction house this summer, according to Sakamoto.