Brightleaf Square is a quaint retail development located in the center of the Brightleaf…read moreneighborhood in downtown Durham. I'd call it a "shopping center," but it's not like a typical suburban shopping center. The development consists of two repurposed brick warehouses, originally built in 1904, that used to store bright leaf tobacco (that's where the name comes from). So, Brightleaf Square looks and feels historic, and that's what makes it charming. That said, the development is kind of small and there's not that much here. If you want to walk across the street to, say, Rose's or Jeni's, then yes, the neighborhood (also known as the Brightleaf District) has more to offer. I highly recommend Rose's, by the way, for their ramen and ice cream sandwiches. Strictly speaking, within the square, Emmy Squared Pizza is terrific for their Detroit-style pizza. It's among the best deep-dish pizza anywhere, in my opinion. There's also Clouds Brewing, which is a craft brewery and restaurant. Other businesses are local/boutique shops, such as Bull City Art & Frame Company and Mill & Meadow Stationery Shop, and private offices. The brick/stone walkway, old-fashioned lamp posts, string lights, trees, benches, and early-1900s buildings can make for a fun, whimsical stroll with friends and family before or after lunch or dinner. It's also a good date spot, especially if you incorporate the larger neighborhood (e.g., pizza at Emmy Squared followed by ice cream sandwiches at Rose's). For parking, I suggest parking in the surface lot at the corner of W Main St and S Gregson St. You can enter the lot from either of those streets. Pay attention to signs as you may have to pay during certain days and times. Fun fact: Durham's infamous "Can Opener Bridge" is located on the south end of Brightleaf Square. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the bridge's Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Southern%E2%80%93Gregson_Street_Overpass Also, watch some of the videos on this YouTube channel to see the Can Opener in action: https://www.youtube.com/@11foot8plus8 The camera that captures those videos is mounted on one of the buildings at Brightleaf Square.

Brightleaf Square looks like it'd be cute and fun to walk around in, but that's really all it is…read more Pretty market lights and small shops but nothing actually to do..? Hopefully they add better restaurants and more variety of boutiques here because the square is not living up to its potential. Basically, I'd skip this and head over to ATC.

Eastgate Crossing is a modest shopping center, anchored by stores such as Aldi, Petco, Trader…read moreJoe's, and Ulta, on the northeast side of Chapel Hill. Surrounded by Village Plaza (anchored by Whole Foods) to the south and Rams Plaza (anchored by Food Lion) to the east, this predominantly retail area is known as the Blue Hill District, formerly the Ephesus Fordham District: https://www.townofchapelhill.org/government/departments-services/chapel-hill-2020/future-focus-areas/the-blue-hill-district. According to Kite Realty, the Trader Joe's here is the "highest-performing" Trader Joe's in North Carolina. At the time of writing this, there are nine Trader Joe's locations in the state, going as far west as Asheville and as far east as Wilmington. Businesses my wife and I have visited here include Trader Joe's, Chipotle, Chopt, Kipos, and Starbucks. The business we've been to the most is Kipos. It's a great local Greek restaurant and I believe one of only two local restaurants at Eastgate Crossing, the other being Twisted Noodles. There's also Guglhupf Bake Shop which sells food from Guglhupf Bakery in Durham. Other than that, everything else here is a chain and/or big-box retailer. Aside from the aforementioned, examples include Bruegger's Bagels, Rise (biscuits, chicken sandwiches), Shake Shack (relatively new), and Snooze (breakfast) (food), and Dollar Tree, Great Outdoor Provision Co., and Talbots (retail). We don't shop at Trader Joe's much so the main reason for us to come here is for the restaurants. Not the best lineup, but not bad either.

Oct 2025: Still closed from July 2025 flooding. Repairs appear to be in progress. It was a good…read morestore and I hope they come back soon.

During our time in Chapel Hill, from June 2020 through July 2024, my wife and I visited University…read morePlace for: 1. bartaco - one of our go-to restaurants, recommended https://www.yelp.com/biz/bartaco-chapel-hill-chapel-hill 2. Hawkers Asian Street Food - good https://www.yelp.com/biz/hawkers-asian-street-food-chapel-hill-5 3. Harris Teeter - better than the Meadowmont and Hope Valley Harris Teeter locations https://www.yelp.com/biz/harris-teeter-chapel-hill University Place used to be known as University Mall. When we first visited University Place in 2020, it was evident it was an old-school indoor American shopping mall that had seen better days. University Mall opened in 1973. It was cut in the same mold as malls across the country, the kind that have become ghost towns and been closing over the past 20+ years. However, it was also evident *this* mall was trying to change with the times and not just die out like the others. For example, the additions of tenants like bartaco and Hawkers, with outward-facing storefronts and outdoor spaces, give the property a more modern look and feel. Silverspot Cinema, with 13 screens and stadium seating, still brings a lot of visitors to University Place. Every time we ate at bartaco, I always saw folks coming and going from the movie theater. When I ran errands on Saturday mornings and drove by, I noticed the Chapel Hill Farmers' Market in the mall's parking lot. Currently, the farmers' market is open every Saturday 8am-12pm and every Tuesday 3pm-6pm. In the winter (November-March), the farmers' market is open Saturday only, 9am-12pm. According to a January 2024 video by the News & Observer ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huEoZCpBX-E ), plans are underway to transform University Place into "an open-air shopping center with 350,000 square feet of retail space" and "60,000 square feet of offices, apartments and hotel." The farmers' market will move to a large public lawn called the Commons (the Commons per ABC11). A new Chick-fil-A will open on the site previously occupied by K&W Cafeteria. Also according to ABC11, in a March 2024 report ( https://abc11.com/university-place-in-chapel-hill-construction-temporarily-close-mall-entrance-set-to-welcome-new-tenants/14561741/ ), a location of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is on the way as is a new parking garage, with local art, that will add 150 spaces.

Inside of mall is closed! Only restaurants around outside. No clothing shops even though they still…read morepop up in searches or on maps. Frustrating

Interesting review left by Mr. H. (Mr. Haberdasher) here on Yelp for the Glen-Lennox Shopping…read moreCenter in 2012. It's written from a local's perspective whereas for me, I'm just one of hundreds of thousands (millions?) who've passed (or are currently passing) through Chapel Hill over the years. During our time in Chapel Hill, Glen-Lennox Shopping Center has been the small L-shaped strip mall we pass to get to and from UNC's main campus, downtown Chapel Hill, and Carrboro. To date, we've visited for two restaurants: 1. Jujube - Asian food, opened in 2005. Yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jujube-chapel-hill 2. Bin 54 Steak & Cellar - upscale steakhouse, opened in 2006. Yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bin-54-steak-and-cellar-chapel-hill-2 The fact that both Jujube and Bin 54 have managed to stick around for 17, 18-plus years should tell you something. You can read my reviews for each of those restaurants on their respective Yelp pages, but in a nutshell, I thought Bin 54 was phenomenal and Jujube was fine. During our visits, Glen-Lennox's parking lot has been mostly full. Aside from the restaurants, we've had no other reason to visit Glen-Lennox - for example, for the dry cleaner, eye doctor, beauty salon, Sherwin-Williams paint store, kitchen and bath store - since we already go to other places for that stuff or haven't needed those types of things/services. There's a Bank of America ATM here plus two drop boxes, one for USPS and the other FedEx. No UPS drop box though. We go to another shopping center down the road for the drop boxes. This shopping center has been around since 1950. For the history of this place, I refer you to the aforementioned Mr. H's review plus https://glenlennoxvision.com/, the current official website for this property. The banner at the top of the site says, "Established 1950, re-established 2020." I don't know what they mean by that, but apparently plans have been under way for years to redevelop this property into something much bigger. It looks to be a modern mixed-use development, like many that have sprung up across the country over the past couple decades. As it stands today though, Glen-Lennox to me is the small strip mall with two (successful) restaurants. From highway 54 (Raleigh Rd), the property does go farther back into the woods (north) with a combination of old and new homes and apartments plus a fairly new, five-story, glass office building at the corner of 15-501 (Fordham Blvd) and Glen Lennox Dr: the Industrious at The Gwendolyn coworking space. There are new trails around here too. The shopping center is located on 54 at 15-501 on the east side of Chapel Hill, close to the Durham border. The closest interstate exit is I-40 exit 273: NC 54 - Chapel Hill, Durham.

Those who drive along Raleigh Road (HWY-54) are greeted by the eye-catching '50s Glen Lennox…read moreShopping Center sign. The Glen Lennox Shopping Center in Chapel Hill, NC has the honor of being the first suburban shopping center in Chapel Hill, NC and one of the first in the state after Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC. After WWII, the Glen Lennox Cottages were built for the returning GI's who were attending UNC. Due to the Glen Lennox Cottages being on the edge of town in the '50s there was a need for nearby retail and the captive audience made it very popular as well as its novelty, ushering in a new era of shopping. What was once the shopping destination in Chapel Hill in the '50s and '60s has now been eclipsed by the Glenwood Square Shopping Center, its younger sibling across the street, and all of the nearby shopping centers in the area. Despite the shortcomings, there is still a heartbeat in this shopping center. Currently all businesses in the center are in the service sector, which fills a niche in the area. There are restaurants, a kitchen and bath renovation shop, an optometry practice, a tanning salon, a beauty salon, Time Warner Cable center, and an investment practice. While the optical store may appear to be retail, in reality it is the feeder store to the optometry practice housed within. One of the differentiating features of this strip mall is that it was built with a second-story to house offices. In the center of the strip is the walk-up to the offices called the Lennox Building Offices; over time, a handicap-accessible entrance was added on the side of the building. Among the nondescript offices are medical practices as well as Amy's Alterations. Near Amy's office suite there is a small seating area that looks like it came out of a Mad Men set. This shopping complex, unlike other shopping centers built around the same time, has been capable of adapting to the changes over the decades and still draws people in. One of the factors that helped this property not decay was its affiliation with the ever popular Glen Lennox Cottages, plus the charm of this place lays mostly with its '50s Americana appeal.

There is an outstanding selection of stores here, but please be cognizant about past security…read moreissues. It's best to go during the daytime in my opinion. I will say that security guards are numerous for the interior stores and security may have improved over the past months. Aside from this security issue, this is hands-down the best mall in the area in terms of store quality and interior design. Prices vary greatly depending on the store and what promotions are available during your visit, so I wouldn't necessarily pick this as a place to find good deals. However, you will have a great chance of finding trendy clothing and items you can actually use due to the variety of stores available here.

Went this weekend and it was busy.. I do like the fact that there is a mall nearby that is still…read morepoppin. The stores we went into had great service and the food court was loud as going strong! The bathrooms were clean.

This mall is everything! Plenty of stores, free parking and several nice restaurants. This mall…read morestays packed but it's pretty spacious. Service is nice and the stores usually have sales. I love coming here and enjoying the play area, and the pop up art and attractions they have through out the year!

This is super cool mall! With the decline in the mall culture, The Streets at Soutpoint continues…read moreto keep itself updated with the latest merchandise and restaurant trends. It's staying in business by trying new ideas and making sure that it continues to bring in customers. The size of the mall seems a lot easier to manage due to the perfect number of stores without it being too overwhelming. It's not forcing stores to go out of business because they are competing with similar stores. Seems like they have that under control. The mall is also clean, which is a plus! It seems shiny and new all the time. It can get busy here on Saturdays, especially the nighttime when the young folks like to come out and hang out. I try to avoid it during those times because it can get a little ghetto and obnoxious (can't stand teenagers). I prefer the weekdays when it's a lot quieter, where I can shop and walk in peace. Overall, great options in the food court and food options connected to the mall.