07/30/2026
On this day 51 years ago, Eastland Mall opened to the public with a grand opening ceremony held on its ice skating rink. The mall would become a social destination for generations of young people and still has a special place in the hearts of many Charlotteans.
When Eastland Mall opened in 1975, it was unlike any other in the city. With 101 stores, it had more stores than SouthPark Mall, which had only opened five years before. Eastland was the first mall in the region to have a food court and a movie theater, and the only one with an ice skating rink. But for Charlotte’s young people, the new mall was much more than just a shopping center—it was a social destination.
Children would go to Eastland Mall for field trips and birthday parties at the Ice Capades Chalet, for holiday visits to see Santa Claus and the singing animatronic bears, and for a safe place to go trick-or-treating from store to store. For tweens and teenagers, Eastland Mall was the mall-as-destination hangout spot. It was the first place where many young Charlotteans could go without parental supervision, where they went to meet people and hang out with friends, and home to countless first dates.
For generations of Charlotteans, Eastland was a key backdrop for their lives growing up here. That’s why, despite being torn down in 2013, Eastland Mall and its iconic sun signs still has a special place in the hearts of many Charlotteans.
Eastland Shopping Center, Charlotte, NC, undated. MS0121 Mary Boyer collection of historical postcards and papers, UNC Charlotte.
Skating Party, undated. MS0356 Irwin Avenue Open School records, UNC Charlotte.
