A Apple closed its store located in Northlake Mall — in Charlotte, a city in the US state of North Carolina — after the mall where it is located has suffered at least three shootings in recent months.
According to information from the Bloomberg, the company informed store employees yesterday (March 1) that the location would close immediately. The unit was open normally during the morning of this Wednesday and information on its website did not show plans to change business hours or close.
After notifying employees, Apple updated its page to show that the location was “temporarily” closed.
According to the report, Apple said that there will be no layoffs and that employees at the closed store will be transferred to the store in SouthPark – near Charlotte – or to functions at the company’s online store.
In addition, the company will also open a new location in Charlotte next year to replace the Apple Northlake Mall. Plans for this store were already in the works before the recent shootings.
In preparation for a new store we plan to open in the Charlotte area early next year, we will close Apple Northlake on Wednesday, March 1st at 4pm. All of our team members will continue to support our Charlotte customers at Apple SouthPark and the Apple online store.
According to local reports, shots were fired outside a store in the Northlake Mall on Tuesday, while another shooting took place in early February. There have also been shootings this past December and in 2021.