Belk to purchase Parisian

[Alababy]

Belk and Parisian announced a 285 million dollar deal to acquire Parisian. Talk about changing the face of Birmingham retail!

http://belk.com/media/pdf/Press_releases/2...tores080206.pdf

[Southpaw]

Does Belk plan to rebadge the stores as Belk or keep Parisian as a separate store name/division similar to McRae's/Proffitt's?

[TRoberts]

Does Belk plan to rebadge the stores as Belk or keep Parisian as a separate store name/division similar to McRae's/Proffitt's?

The press release says stores will be rebranded by the third quarter of 2007. I have to wonder now, what happens to all the over lap since so many mall sites already have a rebranded McRaes and/or Profitts? Now you're going to have some malls with as many as three Belk owned anchor spots. I see a lot of malls being placed in a world of hurt by this transaction.

The first place that comes to mind is the brand new Pinnacle at Tutwiler Farms in Trussville. Parisian was building their "store of the future" there as a two-story prototype for all of their future stores. Belk also has a one-story anchor spot there. Which will they keep and is this finally Dillard's chance into the Birmingham market.

I see Belk holding onto all of the Birmingham area stores EXCEPT for one of the two in Trussville and also the Galleria. Belk will now control the two largest anchor spots at the Galleria. I have to imagine they give up one of those. And on top of that, Saks still owns the old McRae's anchor spot which continues to sit vacant.

And boy isn't it going to be odd to see such a mid-scale retailer as Belk in such an upscale center as Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.

[atlrvr]

What most people don't understand is that the inventory between different markets for Belk fluctuates wildly.

The flagship Belk at SouthPark Mall in Charlotte crushes every Parisian I've been in (though admitidely I haven't been in the one at Phipps).

The Charlotte store stocks Armani, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Kate Spade, Chanel, etc.....I would expect the Phipps Plaza store to be stocked similarly.

[HSVTiger]

The press release says stores will be rebranded by the third quarter of 2007. I have to wonder now, what happens to all the over lap since so many mall sites already have a rebranded McRaes and/or Profitts? Now you're going to have some malls with as many as three Belk owned anchor spots. I see a lot of malls being placed in a world of hurt by this transaction.

The first place that comes to mind is the brand new Pinnacle at Tutwiler Farms in Trussville. Parisian was building their "store of the future" there as a two-story prototype for all of their future stores. Belk also has a one-story anchor spot there. Which will they keep and is this finally Dillard's chance into the Birmingham market.

I see Belk holding onto all of the Birmingham area stores EXCEPT for one of the two in Trussville and also the Galleria. Belk will now control the two largest anchor spots at the Galleria. I have to imagine they give up one of those. And on top of that, Saks still owns the old McRae's anchor spot which continues to sit vacant.

And boy isn't it going to be odd to see such a mid-scale retailer as Belk in such an upscale center as Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.

Yep big changes for sure, Madison Square with Belk's and Parisians, Parkway Place with Parisians.

There are not too many retailers left who need that kind of space.

[TRoberts]

Yep big changes for sure, Madison Square with Belk's and Parisians, Parkway Place with Parisians.

There are not too many retailers left who need that kind of space.

Truly, the only one left who needs any large amount of space to make a presence known is Dillards (but they don't need it in Huntsville). This could lead to huge changes at Madison Square as I still think Dillards will jump ship to go to Bridge Street as the anchor store there.

[kayman]

Oh goodie, all the Parisian locations will go straight to s**t. Belk is a lame mid-price chain that would ruin what's left of upscale retail in this region. Oh well.

[Alababy]

...Saks still owns the old McRae's anchor spot which continues to sit vacant.

Actually, Saks doesn't own that space, Pizitz does, and it is still in litigation over the whole McRae's/Proffit's thing.

[TRoberts]

Actually, Saks doesn't own that space, Pizitz does, and it is still in litigation over the whole McRae's/Proffit's thing.

McRae's bought the Pizitz chain in 1986 from the Pizitz family. Ultimately, McRae's wound up under the Saks nameplate as everyone knows. When Saks sold off the McRaes/Proffitts chain last year, they kept certain assets of the chain to theirselves and did not include them in the sale. Most of the assets kept were existing McRaes/Proffitts store which Saks converted to Parisian's nameplate. The Galleria store, however, was simply shuttered since Parisian already existed there in a much larger anchor spot than did McRaes. Saks kept the spot since Belk was already getting the Proffitts spot and had no need for the McRaes spot.

Truth be known, I think Saks ultimate thought was to open another Birmingham area Saks store in the McRaes spot to go head to head with the revived Macy's nameplate at the Galleria (but that's just my opinion).

[HSVTiger]

Truly, the only one left who needs any large amount of space to make a presence known is Dillards (but they don't need it in Huntsville). This could lead to huge changes at Madison Square as I still think Dillards will jump ship to go to Bridge Street as the anchor store there.

The preliminary teneant list doesn't include an anchor that large at Bridge Street, it's more about

quanity and quality instead of size. Wild Oats and Barnes Noble will probably be the largest single tenants

there. Both Dillards stores in HSV are excellent in my opinion.

[TRoberts]

The preliminary teneant list doesn't include an anchor that large at Bridge Street, it's more about

quanity and quality instead of size. Wild Oats and Barnes Noble will probably be the largest single tenants

there. Both Dillards stores in HSV are excellent in my opinion.

At one time, I saw a preliminary site plan of Bridge Street (very similar to this one, http://www.osholdings.com/world_famous_bri..._siteplans.asp) which included Anchor spots in the two locations occupied by the areas next to the parking structure. Both spots are now listed as around 45,000 to 50,000 sq. ft. and would be about double that as a two story structure (think two story department store with entrances from the main level and upper level of the garage).

As for the Galleria space, I mean Saks still controls the lease there (although the Pizitz family does own the building and the ground upon which it sits).

[gs3]

Truth be known, I think Saks ultimate thought was to open another Birmingham area Saks store in the McRaes spot to go head to head with the revived Macy's nameplate at the Galleria (but that's just my opinion).

Saks kept this lease because of a lawsuit from the Pizitz family. Don't know all the technicals. Doubtful that Saks would have ever considered a 2nd B'ham store as their first at The Summit is somewhat an under-performing store (that shrunk the size internally by walling off sections). Not to scare anyone, but with the sale of Parisian, Saks Inc will retrench all corporate operations to New York and Saks Inc will no longer be a B'ham company. The Saks at The Summit was opened purely under the Brad Martin regime since Saks Inc had offices there. I would think the future of that under-performing store could be cloudy. In Saks Fifth effort to regain the limelight from Neiman's they will definitely be focusing on store productivity and focusing on core markets.

[HSVTiger]

At one time, I saw a preliminary site plan of Bridge Street (very similar to this one, http://www.osholdings.com/world_famous_bri..._siteplans.asp) which included Anchor spots in the two locations occupied by the areas next to the parking structure. Both spots are now listed as around 45,000 to 50,000 sq. ft. and would be about double that as a two story structure (think two story department store with entrances from the main level and upper level of the garage).

As for the Galleria space, I mean Saks still controls the lease there (although the Pizitz family does own the building and the ground upon which it sits).

Bridge is evolving, don't think there will be that large single space available. of course this latest thing

may cause some changes. Both mentioned retailers have those spots possibly.

[Alababy]

Saks kept this lease because of a lawsuit from the Pizitz family.

Yep--I was getting there.

But Saks was sued by Pizitz, which is the landlord for that space. Sale of the chain is separate from who owns that building and holds the lease. Apparently, even though they do not own any stores anymore, Pizitz still holds the leases on many of the spaces.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizitz)

Selling the chain to Belk only prevented them (Saks) from being enjoined; the way Pizitz sees it, they could/should be holding a lease and sales profits with somebody through 2011. As far as I know, there has been no settlement yet.

If anyone were to try to move into that particular store, it probably needs to be gutted and redone. The roof leaks badly, as was never fixed properly while McRae's was still there. I remember seeing associates moving racks and pulling out large garbage cans every time it rained.

[StevenRocks]

Oh goodie, all the Parisian locations will go straight to s**t. Belk is a lame mid-price chain that would ruin what's left of upscale retail in this region. Oh well.

If y'all were actually shopping at Parisian, maybe they'd have had a chance at survival.

[Alababy]

If y'all were actually shopping at Parisian, maybe they'd have had a chance at survival.

That's quite an assumption and a generalization. Maybe take a look at that particular poster's info, which I personally found very telling.

I don't think that our shopping habits had much at all to do with it. Saks has been shopping every nameplate they have except their namesake for 2 years now, regardless of performance.

[kayman]

That's quite an assumption and a generalization. Maybe take a look at that particular poster's info, which I personally found very telling.

I don't think that our shopping habits had much at all to do with it. Saks has been shopping every nameplate they have except their namesake for 2 years now, regardless of performance.

Exactly, I just bought my girlfriend and mother their birthday presents from Parisan @ Summit Birmingham just last month. I do shop at Parisian, and just like Alababy said Saks was looking to rid themselves of the nameplate for awhile now.

[mallguy]

The Belk press release, available through the "About Belk" link on the Belk website, states that 2 Birmingham stores are being acquired, plus Hoover, etc.- although Birmingham proper seems to have 4 Parisian stores. Uh-oh!

[TRoberts]

The Belk press release, available through the "About Belk" link on the Belk website, states that 2 Birmingham stores are being acquired, plus Hoover, etc.- although Birmingham proper seems to have 4 Parisian stores. Uh-oh!

Birmingham proper has two stores, the Summit & the downtown location (Harbert Plaza). The other stores being acquired are in Trussville (Tutwiler Pinnacle), Homewood (Brookwood Village) and Hoover (Galleria).

[StevenRocks]

That's quite an assumption and a generalization. Maybe take a look at that particular poster's info, which I personally found very telling.

I don't think that our shopping habits had much at all to do with it. Saks has been shopping every nameplate they have except their namesake for 2 years now, regardless of performance.

I understand that the poster's comment was placed there out of ignorance, but my genneralization has some truth in it. Without personally blaming you or anybody else, sales at Parisian were off a bit. They've been floundering for several years under Saks, Incorporated and the sale price to Belk was a lot lower than it should have been.

Parisian's sales per sqare foot were higher than Belk ($285 vs $129), but considering the makeup of the chain and merchandise offered they were not performing particurally well by comparasin. Belk stocks a lot of moderate-pried apparel in its smaller stores, and slower-turning home merchandise and its stores tend to be larger overall.

[mallguy]

Parisian's sales per sqare foot were higher than Belk ($285 vs $129)

Out of curiosity- where did you get those sales figures? Having done commercial real estate in a previous job, I'd say that $285 is pretty good- I took Belk's and Saks' 10-Ks and figured that Parisian was doing I think $157 of revenue per square foot of property and Belk was doing I think $146- not necessarily the same as sales per square foot but close. I think the best sales per square foot I saw were the Nordstrom at Tysons Corner (several hundred) and the worst were a Lord & Taylor somewhere ($90 or so).

BTW I hope that nothing I have written is coming across the wrong way- I fully respect your views and thank you for your very knowledgeable posts about this stuff. If you're not already in the retail real estate business, you should go into it- you really are knowledgeable.

[DruidCity]

What most people don't understand is that the inventory between different markets for Belk fluctuates wildly.

The flagship Belk at SouthPark Mall in Charlotte crushes every Parisian...

I think we do understand that Belk's vary wildly between markets, and that's our big concern. I don't doubt that the markets Belk cares about, like Charlotte, are beautiful and upscale. Alabama isn't Charlotte, though.

Nobody cares about Alabama but some Alabamians

[StevenRocks]

Out of curiosity- where did you get those sales figures? Having done commercial real estate in a previous job, I'd say that $285 is pretty good- I took Belk's and Saks' 10-Ks and figured that Parisian was doing I think $157 of revenue per square foot of property and Belk was doing I think $146- not necessarily the same as sales per square foot but close. I think the best sales per square foot I saw were the Nordstrom at Tysons Corner (several hundred) and the worst were a Lord & Taylor somewhere ($90 or so).

BTW I hope that nothing I have written is coming across the wrong way- I fully respect your views and thank you for your very knowledgeable posts about this stuff. If you're not already in the retail real estate business, you should go into it- you really are knowledgeable.

I may have got my numbers crossed up on this, so your numbers are probably closer than mine on this. I thought I read that figure on Parisian somewhere. No offense taken.

Unfortunately, your figures illustrate my point better that Parisian was underperforming as a chain. If Belk maintains at least the status quo, they'll be fine.

I think we do understand that Belk's vary wildly between markets, and that's our big concern. I don't doubt that the markets Belk cares about, like Charlotte, are beautiful and upscale. Alabama isn't Charlotte, though.

Nobody cares about Alabama but some Alabamians

Belk cares about Alabama. They've bought so many stores there that it forces them to care

[memphian]

But the question remains... how will Belk stock those stores? If they did a Southpark type store in almost every Parisian location then there would be no issue. We know they won't and therefore the consumer loses and ultimately so does Belk b/c these consumers already have other places to shop for moderate purchases. I could really care less about the name going away but I will miss that certain aire that Parisian has. I guess you could say that shopping Parisian was an experience.

[StevenRocks]

But the question remains... how will Belk stock those stores? If they did a Southpark type store in almost every Parisian location then there would be no issue. We know they won't and therefore the consumer loses and ultimately so does Belk b/c these consumers already have other places to shop for moderate purchases. I could really care less about the name going away but I will miss that certain aire that Parisian has. I guess you could say that shopping Parisian was an experience.

The answer to your question is not clear at this point. Obviously not every Parisian store will be the equivilent to Belk SouthPark, but it's a certainty that Belk will retain most of the merchandise mix of the Parisian stores, and will more than likely enhance them.