Loft in Birkdale Village was outbid on the lease for its prime location and will close this month.

Jan. 18. By TL Bernthal. Two stores in Birkdale Village  are closing , but the Kilted Buffalo renewed its lease for five years, representatives of the businesses said.

Claire’s  —  which sells jewelry and fashion accessories, plus ear piercing — closes Saturday, Jan. 21. Associates can transfer to other store locations such as NorthLake Mall or in Denver.

The last day to shop at Loft will be Thursday, Jan. 26. Gabi Boucher, the sales lead at the Birkdale Village store, said the lease was up and Loft was outbid for the space. The  20-25 staffers at Birkdale Village  are being transferred to SouthPark Mall or Promenade on Providence in Charlotte. All sales are final now at a 70 percent discount.

Kilted Buffalo at Birkdale has renewed its lease in Birkdale Village for five years, according to staff at the LangTree location.

That should put an end to the rumor that the Cheesecake Factory is moving in the space vacated by The Gap, stretching to the Kilted Buffalo. Of course, something like a Cheesecake Factory could go in The Gap and Total Wine space.

North American Properties, which owns Birkdale Village, did not respond to requests for comment.

Other Birkdale Village news

Village residents attended the Huntersville town board meeting Tuesday, Jan. 17, to re-iterate concerns about parking, traffic congestion, unruly teenagers, feeling misled by the owner’s representative, and the North American Properties re-zoning request that would allow for 350 multifamily units, a 125-room boutique hotel 150,000 square feet of office space, and 25,000 square feet of commercial space.

Birkdale Village has requested to rezone almost 9 acres at the Townley and Lindholm drives from highway commercial conditional district to highway commercial conditional district.

Susan Irvin, the lawyer for applicant DDRTC Birkdale Village LLC, told the board and residents at the meeting that Birkdale Village would submit revised  plans —with major revisions based on leaders’ and residents’ input — this week.

The board is required to delay a vote on the plans for 30 days once new plans are received, but she asked the board to defer the vote to delay to the board’s Feb. 6 meeting so town leaders have a chance to review the new plans. That could push a decision into March, at the earliest.

In January, Birkdale Village asked that the decision on its rezoning request be delayed until the Feb. 20 Huntersville Town Board meeting.