- Northlake Mall in Charlotte, North Carolina saw a third shooting incident in 75 days on Tuesday.
- Apple shuttered its store there the following day, Bloomberg reported.
An Apple store in Charlotte, North Carolina saw its doors closed permanently on Wednesday, following three nearby shootings in three months, Bloomberg reported.
The store in Northlake Mall was open for business in the morning, before staff were told that the location would be closing immediately, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
The previous night, the mall suffered its third shooting in 75 days – and second in February – according to local news station WSOC-TV.
Nobody was injured during the incident outside a Macy's store, police said, nor was anyone hurt after a single shot was fired on February 5. An incident on December 15 outside a jewelry store in the mall, however, saw a 19-year-old charged with attempted murder, per WSOC-TV.
The Northlake Mall Apple store's website says it is "temporarily closed" at the top. A statement reads: "In preparation for a new store we plan to open in the Charlotte area early next year, we will be permanently closing Wednesday, March 1st at 4pm."
Plans for that new store were underway before the shootings, Bloomberg reported, but people familiar with the situation told the outlet that the recent violence contributed to the decision.
"All of our team members will continue to support our Charlotte customers at Apple SouthPark and the Apple store online," the website adds.
The tech giant operates about 270 retail locations in the US, but Bloomberg reports that shutdowns are rare, especially with such short notice.
Northlake Mall has been in receivership since 2021 after failing to pay debts, per the Charlotte Observer. The local newspaper also reports it has a vacancy rate of almost 30%, and Apple's departure is unlikely to help.
According to a 2015 Wall Street Journal article, the iPhone maker attracts so many shoppers that the presence of an Apple store can boost a mall's sales by 10%.
Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.