Parisian
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| Parisian | |
 |
|
| Type | Nameplate of Belk |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1880 in Birmingham, Alabama |
| Headquarters | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
| Slogan | "You're Somebody Special" |
| Website | http://www.parisian.com/ |
Parisian, a nameplate currently used by both Belk and Bon-Ton, is a moderate to upscale U.S. department store chain. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, Parisian went through a series of restructurings and mergers during its 130-year history, became a regional chain in the 1980s, and will likely be phased out by the end of 2007.
Belk bought the department store chain from Saks Incorporated in a $285 million deal on September 30, 2006. Belk immediately resold five of the stores in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio to Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., which operates Bon-Ton and other department store nameplates.
Belk closed a handful of the remaining stores and is expected to re-brand the rest as Belk stores by September 2007.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings
The original Parisian store was founded in 1877 in Birmingham by sisters Bertha and Estella Sommers under the name Parisian Dry Goods & Millinery Company.[1] The Sommers sisters moved the store three times and sold it in 1911 to Louis Gelders and G. W. Beringer, who renamed it The Parisian Company. Lauren Bloch, the store's general manager, bought it in 1918 and renamed in Bloch's Parisian.
Carl Hess, a German immigrant, and William Holiner bought the store in the early 1920s and moved it to a larger building in Birmingham in 1928. The Great Depression pushed the company into receivership and near demise in 1932, though it emerged and grew in the 1940s and 1950s.
Emil Hess (son of Carl Hess) and Lenny Salit (son-in-law of William Holiner) developed a credit program in the 1950s, and the store was one of the first in the country to offer free gift wrapping, free shipping and a liberal return policy.
Parisian opened a second store in 1963, a suburban store that was an immediate hit. The company opened the third store in nearby Vestavia in 1965 and the fourth in Eastwood Mall in 1969.
In the 1970s, Parisian added stores in Huntsville, Montgomery and Florence, Alabama.
In the 1980s, Parisian anchored major mall developments, including Bel Air Mall in Mobile (1983) and Madison Square Mall in Huntsville (1984).
[edit] Growth of Parisian in the 1980s and 1990s
Parisian's owners took the company public in 1983, raising $22.5 million for expansion. A second offering in 1986 raised an additional $18 million. Parisian expanded into Dothan, Pensacola, Chattanooga and Atlanta.
Hooker Company, an Australian investor, bought Parisian in 1988 for $250 million and pledged $125 for an aggressive store expansion. Hooker filed for bankruptcy during the late 1980s economic downturn. Donald Hess, who had taken over operations from father Emil Hess, bought Parisian back and — heavy with debt — sold a 45 percent interest to Lehman Brothers in 1990, which injected $35 million into the company.
Parisian opened nine new stores 1992 and opened five more stores in 1993, stretching its footprint into Detroit and Nashville.[2]
[edit] Acquisition by Proffitt's in 1996
In 1996, Proffitt’s Inc. bought 38-store Parisian for $200 million and assumed Parisian's $250 million debt. Proffitt's, which had acquired Younkers and McRae's two years before, also acquired G.R. Herberger's in 1996. In 1997, Proffitt's included five brands: 19 Proffitt's stores, mostly in Tennessee; 29 McRae's stores in Alabama and Mississippi; 48 Younkers stores, mostly in Iowa and Wisconsin; 40 Parisian stores; and 39 Herberger's stores, concentrated in the Midwest.
Proffitt's continued to make acquisitions, buying the Carson Pirie Scott chain of 52 stores in the Midwest in 1997 and Brody's in North Carolina in 1998. Proffitt's bought Saks Fifth Avenue for $2.1 billion in 1998, which included 100 Saks stores and 40 discount Off Fifth outlet stores, and changed its own name from Proffitt’s, Inc. to Saks Incorporated.[3]
At its height, Saks Incorporated operated more than 250 medium to high-end department stores under its Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises group, the Parisian division, the Northern Department Store Group (Younkers, Herberger's, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store), and its Southern Department Store Group (Proffitt's and McRae's) — plus more than 50 Club Libby Lu specialty shops.
[edit] Sale of Parisian to Belk in 2006
Belk, Inc., a privately held department store chain based in Charlotte, purchased the Proffitt's and McRae's stores from Saks on March 8, 2006, and immediately converted them to the Belk nameplate. On August 2, 2006, Belk announced the $285 million purchase of Parisian — 38 Parisian department stores, a 125,000 square foot administrative/headquarters facility in Birmingham, Alabama, and a 171,000 square foot distribution center in Steele, Alabama — from Saks.
On February 2, 2007, the company further announced plans to change the Parisian stores over to the Belk nameplate by September 12, 2007. [4] With the Parisian transaction complete, Belk operates 315 stores in 19 states. [5]
During March 2007, elements of Parisian's operations such as its website have gradually been incorporated into those of Belk. Parisian's Steele distribution center is also scheduled to close by the end of the same month, according to an earlier announcement by Belk, eliminating 84 jobs. Another phase of transition will involve conversion of private brands such as Parisian Signature and Parisian Bébe, slated to begin in June 2007.
[edit] Sale of Parisian stores to Bon-Ton in 2006
On October 25, 2006 Belk announced the $22 million sale of four Parisian stores and rights for the construction of a fifth store to The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. The stores included:
- Livonia, Michigan - Laurel Park Place - 148,800 sq. ft.
- Rochester Hills, Michigan - Meadowbrook Village - 120,500 sq. ft.
- Beavercreek, Ohio - Fairfield Commons - 130,200 sq. ft. - now an Elder-Beerman.[6]
- Indianapolis, Indiana - Circle Centre - 144,000 sq. ft. - formerly the L.S. Ayres flagship store - now a Carson Pirie Scott.[7]
- Clinton Township, Michigan - The Mall at Partridge Creek - 120,000 sq. ft. (opening October 2007)
The sale closed on October 31, 2006.[8] At that time, Bon-Ton operated 282 stores in 23 states under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s, Younkers and Parisian nameplates. [9] Bon-Ton announced plans on March 13, 2007, to close two Bon-Ton stores in New York.[10]
The two Bon-Ton-owned Parisian stores in Michigan (Laurel Park Place in Livonia and another location in Rochester Hills) have continued the Parisian nameplate[11] and the Clinton Township expected to open in October 2007 is presently identified as a Parisian.[12] Unlike retailers such as Belk and Macy's that have consolidated acquisitions into a unified brand, Bon-Ton has not announced plans to consolidate its brands into one or a handful of nameplates.
Belk and Bon-Ton have not made completely clear whether the Parisian nameplate will continue in any form or which company owns the right to open future stores with the Parisian name, though Belk has said that it will convert all of its Parisian stores to the Belk nameplate in the third quarter of 2007. If the name is discontinued, Parisian would join Pizitz, Loveman's, Yielding's, and Blach's on the list of extinguished Birmingham department store retailers.
[edit] Current, former, and future locations
[edit] Point of interest
- Jon Coffelt, while living in Birmingham, Alabama was commissioned by Jim Mitchell to paint over 100 works for the Parisian Department Store chain beginning in 1988 which helped launch his career considerably as a visual artist. Coffelt currently lives and works in Manhattan.
[edit] References
- ↑ , Merchandising "Saks Incorporated Annual Report (Parisian)". SEC Filing, 10 April 2006.
- ↑ ""The Look" Parisian Fall 2006 Catalog". Parisian., September 2006.
- ↑ , Merchandising "For new owner, Parisian is 'bon'". IndyStar.com, 26 October 2006.
[edit] External links
- Parisian official website
- Saks Incorporated corporate website
- Belk official website
- Belk & Parisian merger information website
- Parisian corporate history
Store Conversions to Belk
2007: Parisian 2006: Proffitt's | McRae's
