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The Raleigh store -- along with Charlotte, Atlanta, and Birmingham -- has long been a flagship. So has Winston-Salem:
"Belk currently operates 15 flagship stores including stores at Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, SouthPark Mall in Charlotte and Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. Under this new strategy, the company plans to nearly double the number of flagship stores over the next five years through expansions and remodels of existing stores, enhancement of premium brand offerings in existing stores, and the opening of new stores that meet flagship store criteria."
I'm not impressed by the photos. Looks like a drop-in grid ceiling (in a department store?)! The brands and designer labels are pretty common as well, and are in most other standard department stores.
The Belk at Hanes Mall was the top producing store twenty-some years ago. The store there is more spacious and open than even the real "flagship" store at Southpark here in Charlotte. But these days, Belk has lost a lot of its luster. In the Walmart world we live in, it's a constant paddle against standard bearers like Macy's and Dillards.
I'm not impressed by the photos. Looks like a drop-in grid ceiling (in a department store?)! The brands and designer labels are pretty common as well, and are in most other standard department stores.
The Belk at Hanes Mall was the top producing store twenty-some years ago. The store there is more spacious and open than even the real "flagship" store at Southpark here in Charlotte. But these days, Belk has lost a lot of its luster. In the Walmart world we live in, it's a constant paddle against standard bearers like Macy's and Dillards.
Please do not turn this into a Winston Vs Greensboro debate..
Just curious, does anybody know if the Belk in Southpoint in Durham is a flagship store? It's a very nice store, but I'm not much of a shopper so can't compare to Crabtree, Southpark, or Hanes, or Gboro.
Howdy!
The Belk at Streets at SouthPoint, unfortunately isn't a flagship store. However that store has a lot of volume and I wouldn't be surprised if one day that store would eventually become a flagship.
Just down here in South Carolina, they are upgrading the Belk location at Columbiana Centre in Columbia, SC into a flagship store. They (Belk) are currently renovating half of the old Sears store location at the mall and is turning that into the Belk's Men's Store and the current upstairs area where the Men's department is at will become more selling space for the women's department and they will be able to expand their current offerings and bring in more upscale brands and price points.
Basically the upscale flagships are larger in footprint and have better selections with items that aren't found in other locations. For example, Belk at SouthPark (in which I recently visited) competes and competes NICELY with Neiman Marcus, Dillard's, Nordstrom, and the Macy's in which SouthPark is one of Simon Malls most profitable properties in the country. You will see items in that particular Belk location that you won't see at Carolina Place or Northlake Mall in Charlotte or here at Haywood Mall in Greenville, or Belk at Mall of Georgia.
If I recall correctly Belk almost go into some trouble years ago when they purchased the Parisian Department Store brand from Saks (parent company) as Parisian was an upscale department store and Parisian was located at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta (caddy corner from Lenox Square, featuring Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom) well anyways, the developers said that Belk wasn't "upscale" like Saks, Lord & Taylor, etc., so Belk had to "make" that location at Phipps Plaza an upscale store. Personally, that Belk isn't any different than any others that I've been too. If all, it reminded me of the Belk store that used to be at Four Seasons. Nothing to write home about huh?!
I will say that the Belk brothers that are in control now are expanding the Belk brand. Who would have thought that a department store famous in the Carolinas and Virginia might end up being a national brand?
I think the Belk at Southpoint is pretty similar to the Nordstrom at Southpoint, but can't compare to other locations of those stores. I haven't seen a Dillards as nice as either of them.
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