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Hudson Belk turns out the chandeliers


StevenRocks

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See pictures of before and after at http://livemalls.blogspot.com/2005/01/huds...alley-mall.html

One (actually two) of the literal beacons of my early childhood have been removed. The Hudson Belk store at Crabtree Valley Mall has removed the chandeliers from their east exterior entrance.

I already miss those things. They were there when I was 4 or 5 and were the most interesting things to see when traveling down US 70, helped along somewhat by being attached to a mall. They were there throughout the growing-up years, formally rocking 1972 for what seemed like forever.

They added life to a fa

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  • 3 months later...

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Childhood experiences exist in the memory like a pleasant dream frozen in time (notwithstanding the millions of children in the world who suffer hunger, war, abuse and abandonment). Change inevitable...yes...but always a melancholy experience when the memories are fond....

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Hudson Belk at Crabtee Valley Mall is Belk's most productive store overall, with sales exceeding Belk SouthPark by a noticable margin. To its credit, Belk SouthPark is a bigger store that sells more luxury merchandise (and adds more to Belk's image), but Hudson Belk moves more merchandise.

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Hudson Belk at Crabtee Valley Mall is Belk's most productive store overall, with sales exceeding Belk SouthPark by a noticable margin. To its credit, Belk SouthPark is a bigger store that sells more luxury merchandise (and adds more to Belk's image), but Hudson Belk moves more merchandise.

We have Belks in my hometown but some I noticed are called Hudson Belk in other areas. Are the Hudson stores owned by other parties/investors?

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where is this proposed skybridge for belk going to be located and what is it going to connect?

It's at the east entrance of and it connects the store to a parking deck constructed a year or so ago.

We have Belks in my hometown but some I noticed are called Hudson Belk in other areas. Are the Hudson stores owned by other parties/investors?

The Hudson family of Raleigh used to own 50% of Hudson Belk stores, and after Belk reorgainzed in 1998, they own aproximately 12% of Belk, Inc.

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I sent an expansion plan to Crabtree twice, but never heard back from them. My plan involves moving Hudson Belk off of the mall's main axis and expanding all the way to Blue Ridge Rd. with an outdoor, parking deck-top, urban setting. Here is a link to the full letter (with a rendering and maps). What do you think about this idea??

http://www.raleighing.com/2005/08/crabtree_expans.html

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I sent an expansion plan to Crabtree twice, but never heard back from them. My plan involves moving Hudson Belk off of the mall's main axis and expanding all the way to Blue Ridge Rd. with an outdoor, parking deck-top, urban setting. Here is a link to the full letter (with a rendering and maps). What do you think about this idea??

http://www.raleighing.com/2005/08/crabtree_expans.html

I saw your plan on another thread. It's quite nice. :)

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I sent an expansion plan to Crabtree twice, but never heard back from them. My plan involves moving Hudson Belk off of the mall's main axis and expanding all the way to Blue Ridge Rd. with an outdoor, parking deck-top, urban setting. Here is a link to the full letter (with a rendering and maps). What do you think about this idea??

http://www.raleighing.com/2005/08/crabtree_expans.html

I really really like this!!! Too bad you never heard back from them :( I made up expansion plans for SouthPark like this a few years ago but never got formal with it

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^ Thank you so much. One benefit that I never addressed is that a form of mass transit could be plugged into the 2 levels of above ground parking, under the stores, if the chance arrives. That way the platform and patrons would never get wet going to Crabtree.

(I'd love to see a transit line going from Atlantic Ave and the Beltline area to North Hills, Crabtree, RBC Center/Stadium, and Fairgrounds.

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This may be a bit off topic but I wonder what Belk is doing with those chandeliers. I wouldn't mind having one. I probably need to find a Belk that still has them and when they come to take them down have them give me a call. :D

The Hudson Belk chandeliers probably went to the scrapheap. The ones at SouthPark got thrown away when they remodeled a few years ago.

Your next best chance at some Belk lighting fixtures is at Eastland Mall in Charlotte. cantnot has a great picture of the chandeliers there, of which there are four. That store is slated to close in the next couple of years, just in case you want or need some 10-foot tall lighting fixtures. :lol:

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The Hudson Belk chandeliers probably went to the scrapheap. The ones at SouthPark got thrown away when they remodeled a few years ago.

Your next best chance at some Belk lighting fixtures is at Eastland Mall in Charlotte. cantnot has a great picture of the chandeliers there, of which there are four. That store is slated to close in the next couple of years, just in case you want or need some 10-foot tall lighting fixtures. :lol:

THROWN AWAY! how sad!!!

Heres Belk's Chandaliers at Eastland, a little blurry, sorry

belkeastlandchand2ux.jpg

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I heard a rumor from a store manager at Crabtree about 3 months ago that they are planning a major renovation at in the parking lot next to Belk and the adjacent fringe stores. I haven't heard much about it since then so who knows. I would imagine that the exterior of Belk will be at the least, modified if not overhauled.

I saw an blurb in the N&O about Apple putting a store in at Crabtree a while back too. This would delight me since I have an Apple and live about 1 1/2 miles from the mall. I was at Southpoint last week at the Apple store and asked them about it. I was told that the plan on putting store in the "new" part of the mall when they expand. They said that they think it is in Crabtree's hands and the time frame will be determined when Crabtree decides to expand.

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^yeah i saw that too Apple building a 2nd store in a market, that doesn't happen much. I'm sure it'll be very popular

Of course I agree w/ Steven about the chandeliers being the signature for Belk. Mike- Same w/ SouthPark before it was remodeled, I like the original look a whole lot more but i'm sure people thought it was "outdated" (outdated being relative because personally i thought it was revolutionary and post-modern in some ways)

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The Crabtree store signified a look that was synonymous with Belk for many years: the tri-or-quad-partite porticos, chandeliers, decorative streetlamps. Those are the things that said "department store" to me growing up, and still do to a certain extent.

I can understand somewhat Belk's desire to move on architecturally, but the new look can be very bland at times, especially when repeated, as opposed to the old look, which stayed soewhat fresh over decades and hundreds of stores.

With all of its signature elements stripped away except for the portico, maybe Hudson Belk Crabtree Valley would be better served by renovating its exterior at this point. They've done their damage and I've done my grieving; the best thing to do is hope they don't screw the place up further trying to imporve it.

On Apple: it is unusual to see two stores in a market the size of the Triangle, but there are a lot more potential customers here than a typical market and there's not much cross traffic between Durham and Raleigh from a shopping and dining standpoint. Southpoint and Crabtree are easily 30 minutes away from each other by car and both are successful, high-end malls. That's why The Cheesecake Factory is in Durham as well as Raleigh. There was enough business in the market for two locations.

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