Struggling malls have been in the news a lot lately.

What You Need To Know

  • Local markets can only support so many retailers

  • National chains are moving to plazas drawing shoppers away from malls

  • Online shopping continues to be on the rise, reducing mall traffic

Great Northern Mall, once a thriving shopping center, is now more of a zombie mall with just a few stores keeping it clinging to life.

One of them is owned by Mike Theiss. University Sports Shop has been selling everything Orange at the mall since 1988, staying put for more than 32 years as he hopes to hang on in the empty center.

University Sport Shop stocks tiny SU jerseys and cheerleading outfits. He laughs when he says who buys most of the little outfits.

“The children of parents that have moved south. They might be in North Carolina, so the grandparents want to make sure their grandkids don’t become Duke fans,” Mike jokes.

Mike’s bright laughter matches his bright outlook for his store, despite being one of the few retailers left in the mall.

"It’s slower [here] than Destiny by far. You can see there’s a lot of closed storefronts, and it’s gradually declining over the years. At one time, it was one of the best malls in town,” he admits.

As a businessman, Mike knows some of the reasons malls like this one resemble ghost towns.

“It is difficult to support three area malls,” Mike says. “Then, when Carousel expanded to become Destiny, it put even more pressure on retailers in the outlying malls, and there’s been a lot of pressure from online shopping, and there’s been a shift. A lot of the national retailers, for whatever reason, they decided they want to be in a shopping plaza rather than a shopping mall, which I don’t understand in our weather. You think you’d want to be inside.”

He remains optimistic, despite being down a similar path before.

“I had a store at Shoppingtown Mall, and I had the good sense to get out of there before it became even what it is today,” Mike says. “I just hope that Great Northern Mall doesn’t follow the same path.”

What does Theiss think when he sees his neighbors’ doors close?

“Great Northern Mall, there are small businesses. It’s sad," Mike said. “You know, there’s a person behind every small business; a family. You wonder what is going to happen to them.”

He said he has an exit plan if he needs to take his business out of Great Northern.

“Yeah, sure. The thought crosses your mind, but you know you can’t dwell on that. You have to think about it because you need to have a plan in place. I’ve been here for a long time and I’d like to stay here,” Mike says.

Theiss hopes that maybe by doing so, he can help bring a spark of life back to the mall.