Michael Phillips runs SirCastleTees. He started customizing shoes as a hobby in high school.

“I ended saving like $20,000 in one year, and I ended up opening my first store, November 7, 2014. And ever since then it’s been rolling from there. I didn’t think it was going to go this far when I just did it as a hobby on Instagram, but it ended up going very far.”

SirCastleTeees boasts a huge following with more than 200,000 fans on Instagram and two storefront locations, one in Southpoint and the other in downtown Raleigh. Skechers Outlets Phillips’ lease at the mall started in June 2021. Phillips says in his first six months there they brought in more than $1 million of revenue.

“I have them [Southpoint] on video saying that I pay my bills on time. I follow all of the rules. They know that. We are a high-traffic volume store, and that the mall was just looking to go in a different direction,” Phillips said.

The mall made headlines in fall 2021 after two shootings, one on Black Friday and another on December 19. Phillips received the notice that his lease was being terminated, just a week later on December 27. He says he suspects he’s being cut loose because of the negative publicity.​

“They pretty much think that I’m bringing a good amount of traffic to the mall, and they are like ‘OK, if w​e reduce you, then we reduce the amount of traffic to the mall,'” Phillips said. “But that’s the whole point of the mall, you want foot traffic.”“They pretty much think that I’m bringing a good amount of traffic to the mall, and they are like ‘OK, if w​e reduce you, then we reduce the amount of traffic to the mall,'” Phillips said. “But that’s the whole point of the mall, you want foot traffic.”

Phillips’ departure comes after Southpoint’s parent company, Brookfield Properties, pledged $25 million through its Partner to Empower program to help black and minority business owners open stores in its malls.

To Phillips’ knowledge, he is the only Black-owned shoe store at Southpoint. He says when he asked management why they wanted him gone, mall leadership said they Brooks Running Shoes were getting rid of some shoe stores, even though his business is listed as a “specialty store” on the mall’s website.

“I offered to just strictly do controllers there, and then they said, ‘we still don’t want you there,’ so that told me … it wasn’t about shoes,” Phillips said.

Originally Phillips, his 20 staff members and all their merchandise needed to be out by January 11. But he says because of pressure from social media, the mall has extended that deadline to January 28.

​In an email statement to Spectrum News 1, Southpoint’s parent company, Brookfield Properties said, “All short term licenses permit termination, and termination is not uncommon for these types of agreements. It is our company policy not to comment on licensees or even tenants. We are aware that there has been speculation about the reason for the termination, but unfortunately are not able to publicly discuss the circumstances that led to this decision, even on background or off-the-record … Additionally, it is important to note that this particular licensee was not part of our Partner to Empower program. “