Cotswold Village — Local services in Charlotte

I have to drive a few miles to this location but it's such a nice store, I don't mind. They have an excellent bakery and deli. There's a hot food bar, Asian-inspired on one side, other food on the opposite side, as well as a salad bar, rotisserie chicken and freshly-baked pizza. They also sell a variety of meal kits that come with ingredients to make a meal for four. On Thursday afternoons, they sell slices of cooked prime rib. They have themed special events from time to time, such as barbecue with sides or chicken tacos (reservations required.) There's a bar where you can sip wine and listen to live music. The store has a fine variety of groceries. The produce is excellent. Some say HT's prices are high, but they have great sales and you can save a lot if you have an "e-VIC" card. They have a clearance rack where items are often priced at more than 50% off. The store is clean and I've never encountered a rude employee. Now, what I don't like about this location is that he store and parking lot are always crowded. You have to be very careful as lanes and parking spaces are narrow. It's a little dicey entering and exiting the shopping center. All in all, it's a...

Why does this old-style Charlotte mall make me smile? I've been shopping at this mall for the entire 30 years I've lived in Charlotte and I love it. Maybe it's the ecletic mix of shops (though I still grieve their loss of Steinmart 5 years ago). You'll find the neighborhood grocery store, a simple drugstore, a wonderful toy store, a couple of restaurants and artisan-type places tucked in the back, a Hallmark and a Marshalls, etc. All of life's essentials with none of the fru-fru upscale stores that define South Park Mall, a few miles to the southwest. Maybe it's the tenacity of the owner to keep this mid-range mall open despite the high-dollar real estate it sits on (I suspect real estate developers have offered high dollars.) Maybe it's the "close in, but not too close in" location that makes it convenient yet just far enough from uptown Charlotte madness. Maybe it's the decent-sized parking spaces or the multiple convenient entrances from both Randolph and S. Sharon Amity. Whatever it is, I'll hope to still be frequenting "Cotswold Village" (formerly known less pretentiously as Cotswold Mall) for...

There are SO many options here! The last time I visited was close to Christmas. I had a few more things to buy, which I did at World Market. We were still planning food for the holiday and I needed groceries, so after I left WM, I hit up Harris Teeter. Sadly they were out of the vegan egg replacement we usually get there, but I was able to get the produce and other things I needed.

I also went to the Marshall's there. I wanted to buy my daughter some nice pots for her plants, and I thought they might have some. To be honest, I prefer to support local, but the local nursery I called several times not only didn't answer, but they didn't have their hours posted, so I didn't think they were open.

I found some really great pots there and got in line, which was ridiculous. The thing about Marshall's is they know how busy they're going to be, so they're prepared. They had at least 14 cashiers open, and while the line was extremely long, it went very fast.

I really can't wait to go back here now that the...