Great Outdoor Provision Co. closes at Northgate

The Great Outdoor Provision Company -- a Northgate Mall fixture since 1995, as well as a community partner on a number of charitable efforts -- closed its doors yesterday, becoming the latest retailer to close its doors in light a stuttering economy and a mall in transition.

The outdoor equipment retailer maintains its Raleigh and Chapel Hill locations, according to this company press release; the store manager has a new home at one of the City of Oaks shops.

GOPC had been located along the Gregson St. side of the mall, one of two outdoor stores on that end of the plaza. The shop opened in 1995, amidst the family-owned mall's heyday, when the once purely-midmarket mall was becoming the upscale mall in town, attracting retailers like Ann Taylor and Talbots as South Square suffered.

Today, South Square is a SuperTarget, and the Streets at Southpoint serve as the retail epicenter for Durham commerce.

And two-thirds of that retail troika listed above at Northgate are gone -- though not Talbots. A local Internet message board's rumor of Talbots' closing appears to have missed the mark; the retailer has closed its interior mall entrance but is still accessible from Gregson St. at slightly reduced hours.

Also gone from Northgate: Ultimate Comics, which appears to have wholly replaced its brief Northgate stint with its new digs on Ninth St.

(Incidentally, if you haven't been to the Northgate web site in a while -- stop by and check it out. The new photo montage in particular is most interesting.)

Comments

[James Martin]

My that photo montage is VERY Caucasian, isn't it?

[Mark]

Too bad GOPC didn't make it; that's a great store. With three REIs now in the Triangle and their very generous return policy, its hardly surprising though.

As for the photos on Northgate's web site...very interesting indeed. They hardly look representative of Durham's population. In fact, I wonder if they hired models and shot those photos at a time when the mall was closed, because I've certainly never seen it look much like that.

[Retro Grouch]

Crap. nothing like checking GOP on the way in our out of a movie.

REI may have more inventory, but driving to Southpoint is a major drag.

(and the location of REI at Sprawlpoint certainly seems against the ethos of an outdoor gear company)

This kind of retail seems like what might dovetail successfully with American Tobacco if AT had more retail presence. (beginning of American Tobacco Trail certainly a plus)

[VCShahid]

I'm with James..........Northgate's site is quite interesting........doesn't seem representative of Durham's population.......why is that?

[Jared]

The "vitality" one on the montage is priceless..."style" isn't too far behind.

[JG]

I am not too surprised by the closure of the store. I hardly never go to the Northgate area (I might stop sometimes on my way back from the NC museum of Life and Sciences) and much prefer the Streets at Southpoint (nicer and safer).
I agree with the author, Southpoint is now the major retail area of Durham.

Also, as an regular REI customer, I have to say that I was never inclined to go shopping at the GOPC. I sometimes go to their Chapel Hill location on my way out of Trader's Joe.
Again as noted in the post, their very generous return policy is hard to match.

So in other words, if I am sorry for the lost jobs, and the closure of the store, I have to admit that I won't really miss them.

[Carol]

My husband will certainly miss it. We live nearby so its great not to have drive to the Southpoint area or Raleigh. Sorry to hear that Northgate is losing another store. It used to be a wonderful regional mall. I'm waiting for it to rise from the ashes again.

[Connie Coppertone]

The gramma feeding the baby has some serious sun damage! Does that count as local color?

[TrinityRez]

Considering no white people have shot anyone at Northgate since I can remember I can understand Northgate's pictures. Is it representative of Northgate's demographics? No. Do I feel safer at Southpoint? Hell yea. Wonder why that is?

[TrinityRez]

Considering no white people have shot anyone at Northgate since I can remember I can understand Northgate's pictures. Is it representative of Northgate's demographics? No. Do I feel safer at Southpoint? Hell yea. Wonder why that is?

[KeepDurhamDifferent!]

Will the last upscale retailer please turn out the lights? Even money on Talbot's vs. Macy's, although Sears may be bankrupt soon.

The former Harris Teeter site at Northgate (now Guitar Center / Office Depot) would make an awesome Trader Joe's. Just sayin'.

[KeepDurhamDifferent!]

Will the last upscale retailer please turn out the lights? Even money on Talbot's vs. Macy's, although Sears may be bankrupt soon.

The former Harris Teeter site at Northgate (now Guitar Center / Office Depot) would make an awesome Trader Joe's. Just sayin'.

[Kevin Davis]

@KDD! -- My pick for a Trader Joe's site someday would be Dollar General at Markham and Broad. But I think that's a while coming...

[Bullicious]

Southpoint's safer? Not. Here's a post from a crime forum last November:

"I was eating lunch at Doc Greens yesterday afternoon when the police cars amassed in the hhgregg lot. I should have learned though, the last time I went to a 6pm movie at Southpoint about a month ago, as I was leaving at 8pm, I walked down one of the side roads to the parking lot and passed about 40 young people all in plain white tshirts, white baseball caps on sideways, and lowhaniging blue jeans... I felt like I was in a scene out of the West Side Story, and the Durham cops were just sitting there watching them..."

I take my kid to Northgate any time we have weather unconducive to park activities so she can burn some energy on the carousel and the moonwalk. Never have I felt threatened in any way.

As for Keeping Durham Different, hankering for a national chain to "choose us! choose us!" isn't the way to do it. Not Trader Joe's, not The Gap, not any of them. Not to worry, though--it'll be a loooong time before TJ opens a store here. We ARE different.

[Bullicious]

Maybe the safety perception of Northgate is old news:
According to Durham Crime Mapper

Northgate (1058 W Club Blvd):
Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2007
61 reported crimes
5 assaults (3 simple, 2 aggravated)
3 motor vehicle thefts
1 burglary
1 robbery
1 homicide
50 larcenies, mostly shoplifting

Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2008
79 reported crimes
79 larcenies (mostly shoplifting)

So larcenies were up, and everything else was nonexistent.

For comparison, here's Streets at Southpoint (6910 Fayetteville Rd):

Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2007
164 reported crimes
5 assaults (5 simple)
2 motor vehicle thefts
1 burglary
larcenies, mostly shoplifting
156 larcenies, mostly shoplifting

Between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2008
165 reported crimes
2 assaults (2 simple)
1 robbery
162 larcenies, mostly shoplifting

[Toastie]

The Streets of Southpoint website (http://www.streetsatsouthpoint.com), in contrast, shows lots of diversity. You have to wait hit refresh a few times to get a new splash page image. Look for "Reconnect over Coffee".

But I agree with Connie Coppertone...Northgate granny has enough different pigmentations going on to represent everyone.

@KD - I've recently discovered how GREAT it is to have a Dollar General in the neighborhood. I bet the Office Depot goes out of business someday. Trader Joe's can go there.

[Ellen C]

Every time I hear of, or see, a closed store at Northgate, it makes my stomach lurch. I've been going there since forever, since when there was a movie theatre there; since Roses was approx. where GOPC was; since Thalheimer's; since the Capezio store and Sharon Luggage and Paul Harris and when the Scrap Exchange was a tenant, too. I loathe going to Southpoint! 1) it's too far for me to drive; 2) the food choices stink (this includes both the so-called "upscale" places and the food court places); and 3) navigating the ring road around the whole development is a nightmare, and the parking sucks, too. By the time I get there I just want to turn around and leave. If it weren't for the Apple store I'd never go at all.

Please support the Bowman family (owners of Northgate) and the businesses there as much as you can. Losing that mall would not only be a huge blow to the folks who would be unemployed, but just THINK of what might happen to the property, especially considering how very close it is to residential neighborhoods (Trinity Park, Trinity Heights, Walltown, Northgate Park.....I'm sure I'm leaving a few out, but it's not intentional). A fight over a different development of the Northgate parcel would make other Durham zoning/development issues pale in comparison.

THANK YOU @Bullicious for posting the crime stats comparisons. Take THAT, those who cast aspersions and perpetuate misinformation!

[Ellen C]

Heading off the comments: yes, I know there's a movie theater at Northgate now. But there hasn't been one for a long time, and before that, there was one.

[cd]

Feeding a baby seems like an odd activity to show as indicative of Life at the Mall.

Almost any time I have to find photos my clients' graphic design projects, they will specify that they want to show a diverse range of ethnicities. I can only assume that the photos on the Northgate site were consciously chosen to show the opposite.

[bb]

So for those who don't like to read statistics, Bullicious points out that Streets at Southpoint has significantly more criminal activity on a pure incident basis than Northgate Mall. Don't know how that figures into their relative sizes though...

[Carol]

Many thanks to Bullicious and Ellen for pointing out some of the good things at Northgate. I grew up in the area and have many a great memory of Northgate. I really hurts to see it go in decline. Regarding the comments of no diversity on the website... I think they are desperately trying to portray themselves as an upscale mall. Unfortunately, many people I know act like going to Northgate is dangerous. I've never had a problem, but then I'm not there on Friday night. I don't remember if I learned this from Kevin or the news, but Northgate's real challenge is competing with the mall corporations that own many malls. Retailers can get a bigger bang for their buck and lease multiple stores. I would love to see Northgate find some local boutique style retailers since the national chains don't seem interested. I also don't like going so far to Southpoint. Its nice for a change, but its still the same old stores that you see at Crabtree, Triangle Town center. I think people are ready to have the "neighborhood" mall again. We can still visit Southpoint but not frequently. The demographics of the local area have also been sited as reasons for stores not to come to Northgate. I remember that people from outlying communities, Creedmoor, Roxboro etc would shop there when good stores were present. Also,look at the opportunities for people shopping at lunch from Duke Hospital, Durham Regional Hospital and we all know that the Trinity Park crowd has moolah. I know plenty of people who overspend if presented with the option. Enough of my rambling. I still hope Northgate will return to its former status. I miss it.

[TrinityRez]

Do the stats break it down per capita? Be interested to see the results. Also, the homicide and shootings in and around Northgate do nothing positive for their image. I too hate to see Northgate fail for various reasons. Being from Durham I have found memories of NG. Also, being a TP resident and hating to drive I would love for NG to thrive.

[Todd]

The new movie theater at Northgate is the nicest one in Durham. Leather seats, tons of leg room, and big theaters that are rarely full.

I have never had an issue with crime at Northgate. Don't fall for the paranoia.

[S Gwaltney]

I miss the real mall of North Durham...North Duke Mall. Great baseball card shop.

[www.bydianedaniel.com]

I have to say that I, too, thought that Northgate was trying to look "whiter and brighter" on its website and I was offended. Maybe you should start on new string on this, Kevin, instead of tucking it under the store closing, because it has attracted attention. Anyway, after reading everyone's comments, I picked up the phone and called Northgate marketing chief, Paula Harris. As a citizen. (OK, I'm a journalist too, which I told her later, and I'm not writing about this except here.) I'm not going to play reporter here and relay the discussion, but she promises to post something here Monday or Tuesday. She had a meeting scheduled with owner Monday morning and will bring it up. She totally gets what folks are saying, and wasn't being defensive. She said she didn't plan for the outcome to look like we think it does, nor was there a hidden agenda. But I'll leave that for her to say, if she wishes. And I hope she does.

[Gary]

Diane: if the Northgate marketing chief didn't plan for the outcome to look like we think it does, then she is not a very good marketing chief.

[Michael Bacon]

AUGHH!!! And it was just about time for me to raid the winter clearance sales! You mean I'm going to have to drive to @!#($&!#@($&*!#@$(* Southpoint to buy clothes now? This seriously bums me out. I can't believe I missed the clearance sale!

On another note, TrinityRez, per capita crime statistics for malls are really, really hard to do, because, well, nobody lives there. There's no residential population listed by the census. So you have to estimate the ambient population somehow. I did a study at my old job using an ambient population database called LandScan to do that, but it's a very tricky procedure.

[Emily]

I also have mixed feelings for Northgate.

My mother lived in Durham prior to marrying (and having me) and went to Duke. She used to tell me stories when I was young about walking over to "the new mall" (a.k.a. Northgate) from campus and buying her first formal dress (from Talbot's, which as far as I can tell has been there since the 70's, and which may explain why they are still there today given the other shops closings) as well as going to the DMV office at Northgate to pick up the title and registration for her first car (a Datsun).

Even though I didn't grow up in Durham, by the time I ended up at Duke myself it was a nice bit of nostalgia to have for the place. Of course things are different now; I wouldn't have walked from Duke to Northgate (not because of any perceived crime or anything, but because Buchanan is not exactly pedestrian friendly!).

[Kevin Davis]

Thanks, all, for the comments.

For the record: I live in walking distance from Northgate and would desperately love to see the property succeed. I think it's uniquely Durham to have a family-owned shopping center like this make it through multiple generations to boot.

The real-estate watcher in me has long been skeptical that an indoor mall is the right way to go; unless you have the demographics, size, and national retailer draw to pull off a Crabtree Valley Mall or a Southpoint, it's a bad business to be in.

And it affects even older shopping centers to boot: check out Cary Towne Center one of these days, which is a much more vacant, tired-looking feeling of its former self, presumably since SoS opened. The indoor mall in Burlington is also getting its lunch eaten by the lifestyle center there, despite attempts to remodel the older indoor center.

I think the fears of safety are way, way overrated at Northgate, as Bullicious points out. My wife and I drive or walk to the mall and have never felt unsafe. The new movie theater *is* the best place to see a mainstream film in Durham. We'll also visit for TigerDirect and a few other stores; there's just not as much there to capture our retail dollar as we'd like.

I'd still maintain that the long-run future for that site really seems to be less likely to be a mall than a mixed-use or residential development site. A re-use of Macy's as a Target or other big-box store, coupled with condos/townhouses on the site while keeping entertainment like a theater, would seem to be a great outcome for that property over time. Between a revitalizing downtown and the eventual East End Connector providing easier access to RTP via I-85/70/147, the property is, as Gov. Blagojevich would say, well, you know.

I don't disagree with the notion that getting neighborhood support for a large project on that side might be a challenge. On the flip side, the elected officials to whom such eventual approval would fall would, I suspect, be more swayed by the tax base implications from redeveloping a major tax generator like Northgate than by the kind of arguments that have impacted smaller developments in urban neighborhoods. (Note that I'm speaking for myself and not on behalf of the TPNA.)

In terms of the web site -- thanks, Diane, for the thoughts. Always glad to have Paula or others comment on the blog. The new site struck me as unusual when I saw it; it'd be great to know more from the owners and their management team. I put it in as an aside, but the subject clearly has drawn some interest.

[Lin]

The Chapel Hill GOPC is just 10 miles down the road...and winter clearance is in full swing!
http://greatoutdoorprovision.com/shops/chapel-hill/

[Paula Harris]

Locally owned and operated, Northgate is proud to be a part of this unique, diverse community for more than 50 years. Our neighbors, friends and customers are very valuable to us.

As we continue to expand business during these difficult economic times, thanks for the feedback about our recently launched website. Our hope with this fledgling website is to bring traffic into the Mall not only from Durham but from other markets as well. It is still a "work in progress" and we will certainly consider all of your comments as we move forward.

Please do not hesitate to call or pay us a visit in person if you have questions or other suggestions. Our doors are always open. Paula Harris, Marketing Director, Northgate Associates

[Chuck Millsaps]

As a staff member of Great Outdoor Provision Co. I wanted to address some the issues raised here regarding our closing of the Northgate shop. Comments from the January 29th post suggest that Great Outdoor Provision Co. may have closed its Northgate location due to competition and a “generous return policy.”
Let’s start with the latter. Great Outdoor Provision Co.’s (GOPC)generous return policy is indeed the best in the industry. We guarantee satisfaction on everything we sell. GOPC even takes “satisfaction” a step further by offering customers a credit on qualified defective products even if the customer purchased that product somewhere else. See the “Our Guarantee” video at http://greatoutdoorprovision.com/resources/guarantee/.
So the product return had nothing to do with the closing unless one assumes that GOPC accepted so many competitors’ returns that it had to close their doors. (And that is simply not the case).
Then there is the competition issue raised by the person who posted. At first, the notion that REI’s trifecta big-box footprint (60,000 square feet of retail in the Triangle) has squashed another local retail shop sounds plausible and rattles those pulling for the underdog. Yet a closer look reveals that the locally owned GOPC ‘s product offering is greater than that of REI, which pushes its own brand among a cherry-picked selection of major vendors. Further, one could say that GOPC is more efficient and eco-friendly by merchandising their superior selection in neighborhood-based shopping centers convenient to their customers. (Cycling products are not considered in the comparison since GOPC feels the local cycling shops—more than 9 in the Triangle--serve our community well. Visiting a typical GOPC 10,000 foot shop (the NorthGate location was small at 4,000 ft.), one can easily see the depth of product mentioned above.
Which brings us to the real reason Great Outdoor Provision Co. closed the Northgate store. Simply put, in 2004, when we planned and opened the 10,000 square foot store in Chapel Hill’s Eastgate Shopping Center, it was our intention that the Northgate lease, which was up for renewal, would not be renewed. This decision should not be construed as a criticism of Northgate or the Bowman family's superb running of that property, but simply a matter of market size. Chapel Hill and Durham have always been pretty much the same market, and a larger store in a great shopping center in Chapel Hill simply is more efficient. The Chapel Hill store gets one-third of its business from Durham zip codes, which reinforces our decision. In the 14+ years we were open for business in Durham, we enjoyed great working relationships with the Bowman family and other Northgate tenants. We also formed close ties with our Durham customers, many of whom we continue to see in Chapel Hill and, in some cases, Raleigh.