Belk

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Belk, Incorporated
Type Private
Founded 1888 (Monroe, North Carolina, USA)
Headquarters Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Industry Retail
Products Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
Website www.belk.com

Belk, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the United States' largest privately held department store chain.[1] Selling mainly mid-range merchandise (and some high-end products in certain markets), Belk competes in the market segment above that of Kohl's, Sears, and JCPenney, similar to that of Dillard's and Macy's, but below the level of Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk, the store was first called "New York Racket" and then "Belk Brothers," after William Belk made his brother, John, a partner.[2] The business grew steadily, relying on "bargain sales" and advertising to grow the business. Today, the chain is still family-owned and currently has more than 200 stores in 14 Southern states, particularly in the Carolinas.[3]In 2005, Belk generated US$2.45 billion in sales and employed 17,900 people.[4]Also in 2005, Belk purchased the Proffitt's and McRae's department stores from Saks Incorporated, and these stores converted to the Belk nameplate on March 8, 2006.[5] The company also purchased the Parisian department store chain from Saks Incorporated, with most Parisian stores to be converted to the Belk namplate sometime in 2007. Select stores have, in turn, been sold to The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., primarily in Parisian's locations in the Midwest. Belk will additionally trade its newly-acquired Parisian location in Collierville, Tennessee with Macy's parent Federated for a current Macy's (former Hecht's) in Wilmington, North Carolina sometime in the first calendar quarter of 2007. [1]

Belk claims to distinguish itself from competitors by offering attentive customer service and a "hassle-free" return policy[2]

Belk also recently sold their credit card division/receivables called Belk National Bank to GE MoneyBank, and consumers were issued new Belk credit cards, replacing the old ones issued by BNB. The new ones are now issued by GE Money Bank.[6]

Contents

[edit] Controversy and Criticism

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Belk is accused of fascism in some cases. On November 28, 2006 they caught four customers in the Edgewater Mall store for hanging up a sticker. The sticker was anti-Bush, and the customer who placed it was arrested. The four customers were then held for 2 hours being asked questions by security. Belk thought they were members of the Silent Kids and banned the four for life from any Belk store and a year from the mall. During the photographing for banning, one of the four said "I'm banned?" as the camera snapped. One of the customers' friends came back the next day and placed similar stickers with dinosaur stickers. The stickers were taken down immediately by security. They suspected the one who questioned the banishment came back.

[edit] Partnership names

Beginning in 1921 with the Leggett Bros. stores of Virginia, the Belk family formed various partnerships with other merchandisers in different markets. (This complex story is chronicled in a book [3] about the evolution of the company.) This unusual corporate ownership structure resulted in dual or hyphened names on many of their stores. In 1998, Belk bought out or merged away this partnership structure and formed Belk, Inc. from its 112 existing Belk companies, with certain well-established partnership names allowed to remain.[7]Some of the dual names used included:

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000772713-page.html
  2. ^ http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/Al-Be/Belk-Inc.html
  3. ^ http://www.belk.com
  4. ^ http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/Al-Be/Belk-Inc.html
  5. ^ http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3608580
  6. ^ http://www.belk.com
  7. ^ http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/Al-Be/Belk-Inc.html

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/e/l/Belk.html"