Anthropologie opens today at Atherton Mill: A sneak peek

Champagne was passed by well-trained staff, black tablecloths covered every food and beverage surface and a Pinterest-perfect table of pastries adorned the space in front of the cash register.

It could have been any other well-executed preview at a SouthPark Mall, or even on Broadway in Manhattan for that matter.

What made the evening especially memorable (aside from the great fall season selections) was that Anthropologie has chosen to restore a 6,000-square-foot space in a brick factory building built in 1919.

Charlotte’s South End continues to explode with apartment complexes and chain grocery stores that inevitably come with the arrival of the light rail. Despite the surge in population and the sea of construction sites, Atherton Market continues to move forward with a Brooklyn-like responsibility to maintain the integrity of the original building’s structure.

EDENS, a retail real estate development group based out of Columbia, South Carolina, owns the Atherton Mill property. You might recognize some of their other developments, such as Park Road Shopping Center and Kenilworth Commons.

The EDENS team worked together with Anthropologie’s senior district visual manager (and resident Charlottean for over a decade) Michelle Castelloe to find a new Charlotte location for the brand.

Anthropologie has always been a brand that embraced the arts with stunning, handcrafted window displays and floor installations. The Atherton Mill location is no disappointment. The soaring ceilings with huge windows bring light into the center of the store and a refreshing amount of Vitamin D for shoppers.

Highlights included a multi-layered zip up jacket in olive and grey ($198), hourglasses in various sizes with rippled glass and filled with shimmery pearls of sand (starting at $12), a “Paris is always a good idea” T-shirt ($68), and an antique swimming pool hanger from Belgium circa 1930 ($300), because, why not?

Not to be missed is the home goods section on the right side of the store with a bedroom vignette and an assortment of bath towels seemingly inspired by trips to Morocco.

The preview party was dedicating 10 percent of proceeds to the Behailu Academy, founded by the owner of Summit Room, Deedee Mills. The academy is a free, arts-based out-of-school-time program for middle and high school students in NoDa with a 100 percent high school graduation rate among participants in the first two years.

Anthropologie at Atherton Mill
2140 South Boulevard, Suite 200
Charlotte, North Carolina 28203