The Cotton Exchange holds a lot of history in its eight 19th-century buildings. Each of the eight…read morebrick buildings originally served a different industrial purpose. For instance, the Sprunt building started as a flour mill and a hominy mill. The structure was renovated in 1919 and became the central trading office for cotton bales, eventually growing into one of the world's largest and busiest cotton-exporting companies. The bales left the Cape Fear River port's docks to be shipped directly to England, Europe, and other parts of the United States, and remained fully operational until 1950. After the shipping port declined, the complex was abandoned and deteriorated to the point that it was scheduled for complete demolition. Fortunately, local developers stepped in to save the buildings, preserving the original architecture, heart pine beams, and exposed brickwork. The marketplace officially opened in 1976. It was the very first successful "adaptive reuse" historic preservation project in the state. Today, the Cotton Exchange is a wonderful, bustling mixture of locally owned restaurants and specialty shops. While exploring the multi-level halls, I really enjoyed viewing the built-in hallway exhibits filled with vintage photographs, educational storyboards, and antique tools tracing the complex's port history. I have since learned of a few treasures I missed while visiting, so I am already planning a return trip to find the rest and explicitly check out the Wilmington Walk of Fame installation out in the courtyards! It is a fantastic destination for exploring downtown, offering a large parking lot where merchants will validate your parking ticket with a purchase.

Didn't really see any shops that interested me here. Of those I did stop into, the people were…read morefriendly, but the prices were a bit overboard. And I was surprise with the lack of local goods (eg olive oil place is all imported but no info on the labels). I parked in their lot because I figured I would easily find something I'd like, support local, and validate my parking. Probably could have enjoyed a light meal here but not my kind of place - too tourist trappy.

Nice place to walk around, along the river in Wilmington. There are lots of shops and some very…read morepopular restaurants all right there. A couple restaurants right on the water as well. There's public parking (metered) along the roads and free parking for those dining in the restaurants.

From the owner: A unique collection of shops and restaurants located right on the Cape Fear Riverfront!read more

Very big mall- outside walkways. Late in Sept., very hot…read moreOK Lots of stores- didn't see much in way of a deal.

Took the wife to go see a movie in a Saturday. The lines at the concession stand was quick and…read moreeveryone was delightful.

Nicest storage facility in Leland by far!! Great rates and…read morevery user friendly!! The facility itself has great curb appeal and looks amazing, very well kept up!

I have a Class A unit. My wife and I are going on a 6 week tour of Europe and we wanted to store…read morethe rig rather than leave it at the house. Number one concern: security. I called and one of the owners picked up the phone. I grilled the poor guy. This place has more cameras and sensors than Fort Knox! If you need to get in at night, just call so they know you are coming. Really great talking with Eric. Very friendly. I had no qualms about leaving the RV with Powered Storage. I especially liked the automatic vertical gate. The wife doesn't have to jump out to push buttons.

Always patient and helpful attendants at the entrance for theater and easy to access parking spacesread more

This five story parking deck alternately serves the nearby Cape Fear Community College and the…read moreWilmington Convention Center. Four lanes that can be used for entrance and exit, there are the usual ramps that go around and around to help you find a free spot. There are stairs at each end and an elevator (hooray, no smell of urine!) at one end. From the roof, there is a good view of the Cape Fear River and the USS North Carolina. Great spot for sunset pictures! [Review 13996 overall, 1318 of 2020, number 2636 in North Carolina.]

This review is for the parking garage, managed by Lanier, on 2nd and Market streets…read more This is one of the cheapest places to park. Very reasonable. In fact, I believe the first 30 minutes is no charge. The deck is significantly cheaper than the private parking lots elsewhere. You have to not like money if you park in the private lots. If you have a big truck like the Tim man, this deck can be challenging when it is near capacity. The spaces are small, or so it seems to me anyway. So this is a deck with multiple levels. It has stairs for the in-shape folks, and elevators for the fat asses like me. The elevators are slower than crap. You get a ticket when you enter, and use that ticket at an unmanned pay station when leaving. Cards only.

It says 7 an hr but it charge me 18 and it's needs the trash pick up after it has signsread more

My apologies to the City of Wilmington…read more While attempting to set up my Yelp business page, I somehow entered "Wilmington" where my business name was supposed to go and briefly appeared to have claimed ownership of the entire city. To make matters worse, my photo ended up attached to the page. No municipal takeover was intended. This was simply the result of an ambitious entrepreneur, a Yelp account, and a missing pair of reading glasses. Thankfully, Yelp sorted it out. My apologies for the confusion, and congratulations to Wilmington on regaining its independence. -- Candice, High Vital Society

Washout flop. This is a beautiful city and the Riverwalk is a great asset but people who run this…read morecity starting with the Mayor really did a bad job tonight. Earlier today we stopped at the information booth on the Riverwalk and the lady behind the counter was very clear about where and what time the fireworks will be, no smiles but she was clear about the time 9pm and location: right in front of the "battleship". Well we had dinner and were there, right in front of the battleship at 8pm waited until 9:10pm and the fireworks started about ONE mile away on the river, we could barely see it, we could hear the noise but were very dissatisfied and disappointed. We know you are a very popular Mayor but you failed big time on this 249 anniversary of our Independence. That woman that should be told to smile said " fireworks will be visible from any point on the riverwalk" I took a picture of your City Hall and one of the Battleship that will serve as a reminder of your uselessness, you let down thousands of people by changing the location at the last minute