ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — While there are dozens of shops at Tanger Outlets Asheville, the outlet mall on Brevard Road, there is only one Overlook Coffee Collective, and very soon, it won’t be at Tanger.
Overlook Coffee owner Carrie Prado said she was blindsided by the news that Tanger would not be renewing her lease after two years with the company. Instead, she learned, the outlet mall planned to reinstate a Starbucks in the space, which the coffee chain had previously occupied. Overlook needed to be out by the end of the month.
Tanger did not indicate the reason for choosing not to renew Overlook’s lease.
“My specific lease is I pay a base rent, plus 10% after I get over $200,000,” Prado said. “Both years, I reached my percentage rent in November, so then I would get really big bills in January, my traditionally slow month. So, that was also difficult. Tanger did work with me in getting that caught up, but they did not forgive any of that. I did have to pay it.”
Because of leasing delays during a previous lease period, the company had switched Overlook to a month-to-month leasing model. However, Prado said she had received emails as recently as March stating Tanger planned to renew her lease.
Then, around 4:10 p.m. on April 30, Prado received a phone call from the specialty leasing office at the Tanger corporate headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“I called them back at 4:20, and their response was, ‘We didn’t want to let you know until it was a sure thing, but Starbucks does want to come back. You know, your lease ends, so you’re on a month-to-month, so we’ll give you 30 days,'” Prado recalled. “I was like, oh, well, my old lease had 60 days. It already was kind of a scary lease for a small business to have 60 days.”
Tanger agreed to extend the notice to 45 days. Outlook is allowed to remain operational until June 10 and be out of Tanger entirely by June 17.
While Prado accepted the decision, she was frustrated at the lack of consideration granted to Overlook as a local business with local employees. The coffee “collective” is also a hub for local goods, such as Pennycup coffee and Poppy popcorn, something Prado prides herself on.
“I know Tanger has done some good things, but I do want to shine light on, like, other things that they could have helped with in their own house,” Prado said.
A representative Tanger Asheville management responded to a request for comment via email.
“Tanger Outlets Asheville is home to both national and locally owned shops and restaurants,” Tanger wrote. “While we are unable to share specific details about lease terms and negotiations, the center remains committed to supporting a vibrant mix of retailers and the Asheville community.”
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CORRECTION, 9 p.m., May 2, 2025: A previous version of this story wrote Overlook Coffee Collective’s name as “Outlook.” The name has been corrected.