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CHARLOTTE – Management at the Plaza Fiesta Carolinas in Fort Mill, S.C. said several large businesses have moved in, and their bottom dollar is better than projected.

Roel Lopez, the operations manager, said the mall is about two years ahead of its projected progress and weathering an economic storm just beyond their walls.

One way the nontraditional mall has remained mostly immune to the market misfortunes is by attracting an eclectic clientele. The customers there are multicultural, but its specific appeal to the Hispanic community has proven profitable.

The Hispanic population is growing in North Carolina and quickly becoming big spenders. In 1990, that demographic spent close to $840 million in North Carolina. But that number has quadrupled in 10 years, and did it again by 2008.

Officials said by 2013, Hispanics are expected to spend $18 billion.

Hispanics are currently the second biggest spenders in the state, accounting for 9.4 percent of total buying dollars. That number is expected to get even larger when considering that Hispanic spending has increased by 1,314 percent in the last 18 years.

And retailers have noticed; BB&T just recently opened a branch inside Plaza Fiesta Carolinas. Since then, it’s opened more accounts in the last 90 days than any other branch.

A Sprint store opened around the same time. Meanwhile, a super market is coming soon, and a karate school will be among the new tenants as well.