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Belk to purchase Parisian

Alababy

By Alababy
in Birmingham

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A2 Town

A2

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Just to throw numbers around Charlotte is already at almost 2.4 Million in its CSA (the 13 county Charlotte region). This is expected to around 3,800,000- 4,000,000 in 20 years. Again this is just to throw numbers around. Charlotte's MSA is calculated in a way that actually takes counties out due to the way it is calculated (ie Commuting Patterns). For example Anson is included, whereas Lancaster is not. ;)

In just a few years just Mecklenburg County will be larger than BHAM's total MSA. (By 2010 projections Meck county will exceed 1,000,000 people).

Charlotte, the city proper is about two and a half times the size of B'ham's city proper.

http://www.charlottechamber.com/content.cf...;content_id=186

http://www.charlotteusa.com/Regional/regio...communities.asp

The metro Region is growing at an estimated 80,000 people annually. I am not a retail guy per se, but I am originally from B'ham and know the frustration that many have, concerning Parisian's (among many other things)

I do understand that B'ham feels as though they have been picked apart by NC firms. Rcently the aquisition of Southtrust, by Charlotte based Wachovia, put a really bad taste in Birmingham natives mouths. This recent aquisition of Parsians by Belk is just another painful blow. Although I see Belk and Parisians as comparable, I know many in the Ham feel bitterness toward yet another loved corporate name taken by an NC firm.

A2

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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I go away for one day, and all hell breaks loose ;) I'm glad Durhamite spoke up so that you guys will realize it's not just me, as you've all tried to prove that the fears about Belk are more than individual.

If you want to be factual, go to the closest Parisian and Belk stores and write down the brands that are carried, and note the prices of all of the merchandise, in each store, or in at least a section (e.g., men's dress shirts or men's shoes) to limit the time it'll take you to do it, and then average out the prices of all of the shirts or shoes, for example. The average price point at the Parisian will be higher than at the Belk, and Parisian will have more "designer" brands in it.

I for one never said Parisian is a Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus. Parisian isn't, and that's why I like it. It's a moderately upscale store that has fasionable clothes that aren't too edgy yet aren't the bland plaids and Levi's that other more moderately-priced department stores have. Parisian is chock full of a lot of the same brands I see at Lord & Taylor, which is also one of my favorites: moderately upscale ones (which I buy) such as Joseph Abboud, Silverstone, Alex Cannon, Tailor Byrd, and more. Belk has some of those brands and others (and admittedly does have some nice brands in some of its stores) but in my experience, as someone who shops pretty much every day, not to the extent that Parisian has, and Belk has more moderately-priced merchandise than Parisian does, even in malls that have both Belk and Parisian stores (indicating that Parisian aims at a more affluent market).

Belk CAN operate a high-end store if it wants to. My view is that it just won't, to the same extent Parisian does. In malls that have both Parisian and Belk stores in them, the Parisian is consistently at least a little more upscale than the Belk. So we already know what we're likely going to get.

And just because there is X amount of buying power in a market doesn't necessarily mean that a successor retailer will aim to capture it in the same way an existing retailer does. Take the Greenville Mall (SC) Parisian, which was converted to a Proffitt's. The merchandise moved downscale when that change happened, even though one could have said beforehand, "just the name is changing, and both stores have the same parent, and Greenville is a growing market, so Proffitt's will also want to capture those dollars by having the same types of merchandise that Parisian does". That didn't happen.

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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I think some people have just been burned one too many times with these retail buyouts and losing Parisian is about all they can take; I for one have lost favorite chains and have also seen some of my favorite malls go under due to anchor closures after mergers, leaving department stores that I like to shop in few and far between due to these mergers. I think that's why it's getting so emotional.

Parisian's owners ought to be reading this- who knew that a chain could inspire so much affection?!

I for one will be making a pilgrimage to Phipps Plaza to shop at Parisian one last time- or perhaps back to the Citadel Mall one (so convenient to have a Target in the same mall as a Parisian, even though I'm not too fond of the in-line tenants at that mall).

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gs3 Metropolitan Area

gs3

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Shocked to see the comparison between I.Magnin and Parisian. Kind of funny. I.Magnin was much more upscale, along the lines of Bergdorfs and Neimans. Parisian, even it's heyday, was only as upscale as say Jacobsons....much more "upper middle" than highend.

Some good reads above.

Being from Birmingham, I think most of the "anti-Belk" attitude is emotional and people in B'ham have their feelings hurt. Birmingham may not be as large or powerful as Charlotte, but it is every bit as proud. Alabamians are a proud bunch! :thumbsup:

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rnc Whistle-Stop

rnc

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This thread is a laugher. Alabama and other areas of the SOUTH too upscale for Belks :lol: (that's hillarious). What in the world are you people talking about? I think some of you should travel around the country a bit more. Parisians is gone and Belk will cater to markets that WANT mid-to-higher end retail and will not to areas that don't. They've been doing that for decade in the Carolinas. Maybe that's why their so profitable, not trying to sale ice to eskimos; especially those that can't afford BRAND name ice.

Belk stores in the Triangle and Triad don't even resemble stores in smaller markets (even in the Carolinas). Maybe some people are unware of the population and wealth in the Carolinas. For one, the population of NC is nearly twice that of Alabama with metros that are larger and have as much or more wealth than any in Alabama. And by the way, growing much faster. Take off the blinders and deal with reality.

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DruidCity Hamlet

DruidCity

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I went to the Galleria today. Although I didn't buy anything at the mall other than food (as is usually my case) , I did go through the Belk store, mainly because

I wanted to see what the big deal was. Well, it looked about like every other department store I've ever seen, and it appeared to be doing a tremendous amount of business.

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memphian Hamlet

memphian

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I went to the Galleria today. Although I didn't buy anything at the mall other than food (as is usually my case) , I did go through the Belk store, mainly because

I wanted to see what the big deal was. Well, it looked about like every other department store I've ever seen, and it appeared to be doing a tremendous amount of business.

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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I'm glad to hear their doing a strong business as I wish no ill-will toward Belk. I would think that Belk will probably keep the Parisian spot at the Galleria since it is a much nicer building and then try to get rid of the old macy's/proffitt's/belk. Maybe they'll do the double-anchor thing. Who knows?

The biggest problem I see now is that almost every single mall below the Mason-Dixon Line will some combination of the same five stores. How many Dillard's, Belks, Macy's, JCPenney's and Sears do we really need? I intentionally left out SAKS, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus because as of right now they are usually in destination malls. Given a few years I suspect you'll see a lot more of them too.

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memphian Hamlet

memphian

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If I were Belk I'd want the larger location for sure. Problem is that I think Proffitt's did a funky half-ass renovation of the former Macy's. It looks like a Macy's with a new coat of paint. Proffitt's did very little to hide that the store was once a Macy's. However, they did have a few amenities that were nice like the nail bar, the bakery/cafe, salon and gourmet food section in the home store. I think Belk got rid of most of that.

I'd really like to see things slow down in the department store sector. Let the consumers catch up with all of the consolidations and learn which store(s) they'll patronize. That may be the best thing for everyone involved.

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StevenRocks City

StevenRocks

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If I were Belk I'd want the larger location for sure. Problem is that I think Proffitt's did a funky half-ass renovation of the former Macy's. It looks like a Macy's with a new coat of paint. Proffitt's did very little to hide that the store was once a Macy's. However, they did have a few amenities that were nice like the nail bar, the bakery/cafe, salon and gourmet food section in the home store. I think Belk got rid of most of that.

I'd really like to see things slow down in the department store sector. Let the consumers catch up with all of the consolidations and learn which store(s) they'll patronize. That may be the best thing for everyone involved.

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