Wednesday, March 8, 2023

[UPDATE] Belk is Bringing New Outlet Store to Georgia

Belk is bringing one of their first outlet stores to Georgia.  The Charlotte-based department store will in April open a new "Belk Outlet" at Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville.  The new outlet is replacing a traditional Belk store that the company closed as of February 28 to renovate and reopen in April as an outlet.  

In recent years, Belk had limited shopper access to the store to only its main level, an indication that sales at this store were not meeting expectations.  Closing off space allowed for the store to both consolidate merchandise and operate with fewer employees.  

Several other department stores, including Dillard's, Macy's, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, among others, operate some sort of "outlet" or "clearance" stores, but Belk's foray into the off-price channel started this year.  The company in January opened its first Belk Outlet at Greenville Commons, a large shopping center in Greenville, Tennessee, where the company converted an existing traditional Belk into an outlet store.  

The Arbor Place store, originally opened as Parisian in 1999, became a Belk in 2007 following the purchase of Parisian by the Charlotte brand in 2006.  

The company was noncommittal in January with regard to expanding the outlet concept, saying only “We’re confident that our customers are going to like it because of the fantastic prices and the expanded product assortment this location will now be able to accommodate.”  

In addition to the Douglasville outlet, online reports suggest Belk is also opening new outlet stores in Clarksville, Tennessee (Governor's Square Mall), Richlands, Virginia (Claypool Hill Mall), Russellville, Arkansas (Valley Park Centre) and Laurens, South Carolina.   The Belk outlets do not sell beauty products or fine jewelry and all sales are final.

Dillard's, whose "clearance centers" follow a model closest to what Belk seems to be doing (converting under-performing stores to outlets), operates 28 such stores around the country, including three in North Carolina and five in Florida, but none in Georgia.  

According to its website, Belk currently operates a total of 44 stores in Georgia, including those at The Forum in Peachtree Corners, Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw and Snellville Pavilion in Snellville.  The retailer previously closed stores at Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, North Point Mall in Alpharetta and Phipps Plaza in Buckhead, among others.  

Private equity firm Sycamore Partners purchased Belk, then majority owned by the Belk family, for $3 billion in 2015.  

Are you a current of former Belk shopper?  Do you like the idea of a Belk Outlet?  What is your favorite off-price retailer?

Please share your thoughts below.  

15 comments:

Ham said...

Belk in sort of a weird store. I've shopped often at the one in Peachtree Corners and even remember the one a Phipps both being very nice places to shop. One day coming home from Athens I stopped by the one in Snellville and thought I'd gone to Walmart. The place was cluttered, and customers had wrecked everything. Employees were far between and rude when you could find them. I have a suspicion which version of Belk the Outlet will resemble, so probably not high on my list.

Anonymous said...

Hope this helps to clean up their other stores. They are packed full of merchandise and junk, you can barely walk through the departments. If this gives them a better way to liquidate old or slow moving inventory then all for it.

Anonymous said...

The one in Peachtree Corners was similar vibe the last time I was there. They do market and stock their stores based on their customer base.

Anonymous said...

The Phipps plaza location was awesome! The location at Town Center is nice too. The non mall locations like Snellville and Conyers seem to offer findings that you’d find at Kohls.

My Charleston, South Carolina family swears by Belks (they pronounce it with a s). When they come to town they’d be so thrilled we have an outlet.

Anonymous said...

That’s funny. I remember growing up in Athens, Ga, before the mall, there was a Belk store on East Clayton Street. Everybody also added an “s” when saying Belk. But to go one step further, everyone called Belk, by it’s full name. “Gallant Belks”. When a the mall was built and the store moved from downtown, the sign on the new store, simply read “Belk”. I remember hearing ladies discussing their take on the name change. Many had conspiracy theories, such as Mr Gallant and Mr Belk, wanted the stores to be run differently and it lead to a big fight and Mr Belk bought out Mr Gallant and they parted ways. My favorite theory, was how Mr Gallant was a big flirt with all of the female employees and female customers. He started having an affair with some of the customers. ( the old lady telling this to a group of old women that were hard of hearing and gathered at the mall, for their daily exercise,) referred to the females “carrying on” with this old man, as “loose fluzies”. This upset some of the women of the Pentecostal persuasion, so much, that they, cheered Mr Belk for doing the Christian thing, and getting rid of Mr Gallant, but in the spirit of being born again, they closed their charge account. It was their nod of approval to the holy ghost. It was almost as big of a scandal, as when Sears dropped Roebuck. If these ladies were alive today, they would probably pronounce Walmart with a “K”. “WALMARK”

Anonymous said...

Belk customers for the most part have champagne taste on a beer budget, they think a $125 Ralph Lauren shirt should be $15, Belk needs to distance themselves from these low budget customers.

Anonymous said...

And the customer base for snellville, conyers, Athens, and norcross is shall we say “urban”. I’ll leave it at that.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was already an outlet!!

Anonymous said...

Why do you post these lies? Just to spam?

Anonymous said...

You do realize since their bankruptcy / reorganization of debt less than two years ago, Polo Ralph Lauren apparel is no longer sold in Belk stores? Only Polo Ralph Lauren Sleepwear and underwear.

Anonymous said...

There were many cobranded hyphenated versions of Belk stores all over the New South and beyond, until about 12 years ago. You had Belk - Rhodes, Belk-Jones and etc. of co-branded stores that helped Belk expand out of the Southeast.

Anonymous said...

Polo is still sold online and in flagship belk stores

Anonymous said...

Polo Ralph Lauren is still sold in Belk stores- they just were cut out of the lower volume stores. Even some small-town Belk stores still sell Polo if they're profitable enough. Statesboro, Ga is one example.

Anonymous said...

Polo Ralph Lauren is still sold in Belk stores- they just were cut out of the lower volume stores. Even some small-town Belk stores still sell Polo if they're profitable enough. Statesboro, Ga is one example.

Anonymous said...

I just left the Belk Outlet in Arbor Place Mall on Douglasville hoping I could find some resemblance of Belk but not. The store is cluttered with old low quality and outdated merchandise and smells of an old closet. Sorry to say I will not be visiting again. I feel bad that merchant will bring this to Douglasville rather than a TJ Max.

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