Triangle Town Center Heads Into the Holidays as a Specialty Mall

"Vacancies are opportunities to repurpose space into something more relevant - whether it be entertainment, paddle sports, or demising for smaller users - that drives visitors and customers to the property."

Denis Nezaj of Summit Properties sent that statement to ABC11 in late April, the same week Macy's marked everything down 80 percent ahead of its final Sunday at Triangle Town Center. Saks Fifth Avenue, next door, was closing too. Six months later, the mall on Capital Boulevard is going into its first holiday season without either store.

So the question for anyone in North Raleigh making a gift list is a practical one. What is the mall good for in November and December 2026? The current directory gives a fairly clear answer. Triangle Town Center now works best as a two-anchor mall built around specialty, hobby and family stops. Planning a trip that way makes it far more useful than shopping it the way you might have in 2015.

Two of the Four Original Anchors Are Still Open

The 70-acre property opened in 2002 with Sears, Hudson Belk, Dillard's and Hecht's as its anchors, as the News & Observer noted in its February look at the mall. Two of those department store names still trade there today.

• Dillard's is operating. Its official store page lists the Triangle Town Center address and current weekly hours.
• Belk is still on the mall's directory, and the News & Observer described Belk and Dillard's as the mall's remaining anchors in its March coverage. Check Belk's own hours before you build a Saturday around it.

Saks Global announced on March 6 that it would close the Raleigh store along with 11 others nationwide, according to the News & Observer. Neither Macy's nor Saks appears on the mall's directory now.

That leaves two department stores where there used to be four, plus a fifth Saks box that has also closed. If your holiday list depends on one-stop department store shopping, plan on a Dillard's run and a Belk run. Leave Macy's and Saks off the route.

What Fills the Rest of the Gift List

Most of the mall's storefronts sit between the anchors, and that is where the gift options are. In February, the News & Observer described many of the mall's stores as stocking specialty goods such as remote-control cars, anime, and swords and armor for fantasy games. The current directory reflects that mix. Alongside national chains, it lists independent and specialty names that are hard to find together anywhere else in North Raleigh.

For hobby and fandom gifts

• AnimeX
• Animazed
• Fight or Flight Comic Store
• f.y.e. - for your entertainment

For experiences and kids

• All In Adventures
• Choo Choo Express
• Barnes & Noble, whose store page lists hours and in-store storytime events for October

For home, style and grooming

• Big Lion Furniture
• Classic Closet Boutique
• Crystal Jewelry
• Dubai Frangrance
• Billionaire's Barber Club

For a break between stops

• A Toda Madre
• Chili's Grill & Bar
• Chick-fil-A
• Charleys Philly Steaks
• Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's Pretzels

The familiar mall brands are still there too, including Bath & Body Works, American Eagle Outfitters, Champs Sports, Claire's, Finish Line and Express Factory Outlet.

For a holiday trip, this tenant mix changes the math. A family buying for a teenager into anime, a comic collector, or a younger child who would rather do something than unwrap something can cover several names in one building. Crabtree Valley and Southpoint don't group those niches this tightly. The mall's strength this season is its specialty stores, and Dillard's and Belk handle the classic department store gifts.

The Posted Holiday Hours

Triangle Town Center has posted its holiday schedule. Individual stores, and especially the anchors, often keep their own hours, so check a specific store's page before a narrow-window trip.

Two dates stand out. Black Friday opens at 9 a.m., an hour earlier than the posted Saturday and weekday holiday openings. The last Sunday before Christmas, Dec. 20, runs only noon to 7 p.m., the shortest posted day of the final week. If you're picking up a gift you ordered ahead, Monday through Wednesday of that week gives you the longest windows.

The mall's main free event on the calendar so far is the Candy Cane Stroll on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 11 a.m. No Santa event is listed on the mall's events page yet. More holiday programming may be added between now and December.

Who Decides What Fills the Empty Anchors

The longer-term future of the mall depends on its large empty anchor buildings, and they do not all belong to the mall's operator.

Triangle Business Journal reported in February that Macy's sold its Triangle Town Center store for $3.4 million. The buyers are longtime local investors who already own the former Sears property at the mall. As a result, two of the four original anchor buildings now share an owner. That owner is a local group, and the mall operator's statement about repurposing vacancies came from Summit Properties.

Summit's ideas so far are examples rather than plans: entertainment, paddle sports, or splitting large spaces for smaller tenants. In March, CBS17 reported that no major redevelopment plan had been announced. The City of Raleigh's list of active rezoning cases, updated Oct. 9, includes no case for Triangle Town Center or 5959 Triangle Town Blvd.

For North Raleigh, that means the holiday season will look much like the current directory. Large changes to the old Macy's or Saks buildings would show up first as public filings or tenant announcements, and none are on record as of mid-October.

Changes at a regional mall like Triangle Town Center affect daily errands and longer-term plans across the north end of Raleigh, from where people shop to what nearby buyers ask about. If you live near Capital Boulevard or Wakefield and want to talk through how retail shifts in your part of town fit into a future sale or purchase, Bobbie Callahan is glad to put together a Personalized Market Plan for your corner of North Raleigh.