New acquisition by Belk

[rockhilljames]

I know some of you folks on here are retail fans, just wanted you guys to know that Belk will be announcing a new acquisition this week on the heels of last year's Proffit's & McRae purchase.

This purchase is not even close to being as large, and isn't as obvious as the last one. I cannot announce details of who, what, or when other than to say it should be announced later this week.

It is not another chain of stores or even retail locations, it's more of a supplier purchase, which is interesting in its own right.

...however, another BIG purchase is in the works which will add to Belk's retail footprint.

[DigitalSky]

wow, exciting news!

[gs3]

...however, another BIG purchase is in the works which will add to Belk's retail footprint.

All insider gossip on this one is that Belk will purchase Parisian from Saks Inc.

[StevenRocks]

Belk will probably cherry-pick Parisian's best locations.

[DigitalSky]

Does that mean Phipps too?

[mallguy]

The OP is correct- Belk is buying a jewelry supplier:

http://www.plainvanillashell.com/article.asp?ID=6291

Hopefully Parisian won't be next! How disappointing it would be to have that terrific chain vanish. That would leave a lot of malls in AL, SC, etc. missing anchors.

[rockhilljames]

Yep.

You guys are pretty good at figuring out Belk's next move too...although I can't go into that either.

Let's just say that Belk is not done just yet...

[mallguy]

Ugh! I don't like this! I want Parisian to stick around, especially as Lord & Taylor, a very similar store, is gone from the South.

The above post re: Belk cherry-picking Parisian locations seems to make the most sense. There are Parisians in places like Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, which I don't see Belk as really wanting- plus there are some B-grade malls in Alabama, along with Richland Fashion Mall and others, that already have Belk anchors. Belk might not want those either.

To think that a chain that has stores at Eastland Mall and Rock Hill Galleria would also have an anchor at Phipps Plaza-- goodness!

[StevenRocks]

To think that a chain that has stores at Eastland Mall and Rock Hill Galleria would also have an anchor at Phipps Plaza-- goodness!

Retail happens

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

To think that a chain that has stores at Eastland Mall and Rock Hill Galleria would also have an anchor at Phipps Plaza-- goodness!

I posted something similar in the Atlanta forum, but from what I understand no one wants that to happen. This is a good opporunity for Simon. Much like L&T closing the Phipps store.

[mallguy]

I posted something similar in the Atlanta forum, but from what I understand no one wants that to happen. This is a good opporunity for Simon. Much like L&T closing the Phipps store.

But what could Simon do with the space? Belk's has got to be dying to get to Phipps Plaza, and without Belk's there would be just two anchors.

[StevenRocks]

But what could Simon do with the space? Belk's has got to be dying to get to Phipps Plaza, and without Belk's there would be just two anchors.

Full-sized Barneys New York perhaps?

[gs3]

Belk wants to shore up it's presence in several states where it has some stores. Example Alabama, the Proffitt's/McRae's buyout got them in the door, but they aren't dominant. Take Birmingham for example, Belk is in the Galleria along with Parisian, but Belk is not in Brookwood or The Summit. In Mobile, Belk is in a B (probably C) grade shopping center (Springdale), while Parisian is in the dominant mall Bel Air. Same in Huntsville, Belk is in Madison Square, but not the better performing Parkway Place. Belk isn't in Montgomery at all. Since the bulk of Parisian stores are in Alabama, Atlanta, and Tennessee, this would help Belk greatly. The few far flung stores (2 in the Detroit Metro, 2 in Indy, Cincinnati, etc, Belk would probably sell off).

[mallguy]

This just stinks- now apparently most every regional mall in the US will be anchored by some or all of the following- Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sears, JC Penney, Saks, Belk, Dillard's, Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor (maybe?) and Macy's, plus maybe a few other regional chains such as the Bon-Ton and Von Maur. I didn't care about losing stores like Hecht's and JB White but when distinctive, good-quality chains such as Parisian and, before that, Ivey's, fall by the wayside, with mall deaths as a result, it is unfortunate.

The consumer will be the loser here. Hopefully Federated won't buy up the rest of those chains.

[StevenRocks]

when distinctive, good-quality chains such as Parisian and, before that, Ivey's, fall by the wayside, with mall deaths as a result, it is unfortunate.

The consumer will be the loser here. Hopefully Federated won't buy up the rest of those chains.

The sad poart is that nobody much cares right now, but when all the choices are gone and we're shopping for everything at Wal-Mart and Macy's, then we'll be a worse off consumer nation for it.

[charlotte_bon_vivant]

The sad poart is that nobody much cares right now, but when all the choices are gone and we're shopping for everything at Wal-Mart and Macy's, then we'll be a worse off consumer nation for it.

In defense of Federated, they said recently that they refuse to sell the chain to anyone who won't keep the chain alive. Hopefully, they keep their word and we can add L&T back to our list of stores.

[StevenRocks]

In defense of Federated, they said recently that they refuse to sell the chain to anyone who won't keep the chain alive. Hopefully, they keep their word and we can add L&T back to our list of stores.

If Federated keeps that promise, it will surprise me, but I hope they will. The impact of losing the remaining Lord & Taylor stores to malls would be devastating.

[orulz]

As far as I'm concerned, since Federated didn't keep the Marshall Fields name at least for the store on State Street in Chicago, nothing in this world is holy to them.

From now on, we can expect nothing less that complete homogenization in the world of department stores.

[mallguy]

There is an article on one of the Charlotte TV station websites about Belk- mentions that Parisian acquisition as a possibility, but it sounds preliminary.

Thus I'd figure the deal is done and Belk is actually just about to sign the purchase agreement!

[rockhilljames]

Not quite.

Further along than most people think.

[mallguy]

Although no news is good news re: Parisian's demise, any updates?

Thanks.

[kayman]

UGH! Belk. They need to leave Parisian be. Why does every corporation out of Charlotte have to acquire Birmingham based corporation? Leave us be in Birmingham. I'm sorry but Wachovia is lame, and Belk is lamer and mediocre at best. We don't need anymore of those boring a** Belks in Alabama.

[AuLukey]

UGH! Belk. They need to leave Parisian be. Why does every corporation out of Charlotte have to acquire Birmingham based corporation? Leave us be in Birmingham. I'm sorry but Wachovia is lame, and Belk is lamer and mediocre at best. We don't need anymore of those boring a** Belks in Alabama.

If lame is the fourth largest bank in the country, I hope I'm lame when I get older.

[turbocraig]

UGH! Belk. They need to leave Parisian be. Why does every corporation out of Charlotte have to acquire Birmingham based corporation? Leave us be in Birmingham. I'm sorry but Wachovia is lame, and Belk is lamer and mediocre at best. We don't need anymore of those boring a** Belks in Alabama.

I guess then it's a fair question to ask why the corporations in BHM do so poorly or are so vulnerable as to sell themselves to CLT companies. Sorry, but that knife cuts both ways.

[kayman]

If lame is the fourth largest bank in the country, I hope I'm lame when I get older.

Well, it is insulting to see Wachovia and now Belk want to takeover another homegrown major corporation like Parisian. Parisian is very upscale compared to Belk and it would a downgrade for them to be bought out. The Belk store at Riverchase Galleria was downgraded big time compared to the Proffitts that was located there before the acquistion. The Parisian location at The Summit, which as a very upscale lifestyle center, converted to Belk would hurt them more than help the center. Birmingham is known amongst most retailers to be home to more upscale shopping centers than regular regional ones. Places like Colonial Brookwood Village, The Summit, Riverchase, and other centers that are still the planning stages like The Falls at Grants Mill and proposed The Summit at Deerfoot are all upscale centers that draw customers from MS, TN, GA, and even FL.

The SouthTrust purchase by Wachovia has cause a lot of financial hardship upon Birmingham financial establishment which was comparable to Charlotte before the acquistion. Birmingham was the 3rd largest finanical capital outside of NYC. We need to have a free market with ample competition amongst corporations not more acquistions. It is the pose of living in a capitalist nation.

I guess then it's a fair question to ask why the corporations in BHM do so poorly or are so vulnerable as to sell themselves to CLT companies. Sorry, but that knife cuts both ways.

Actually SouthTrust was a Fortunate 500 2 consecutive years before it was acquired by Wachovia, so it wasn't doing so poorly. Wachovia approached them for the acquistion, not the other way around. The reason why Wachovia approached SouthTrust is because they knew Birmingham was home to Big 4 and had to acquire 1 of them to prevent being the problem them overtaking them down the line.