Stores you miss (formerly in Greenville-Spartanburg) (Ward: rated, best, corporate)

[PuppiesandKittens]

What stores that used to be in Greenville-Spartanburg do you miss?

I miss Parisian and Ivey's.

Both were higher-end department stores. Parisian was like Lord & Taylor and was based in Birmingham. It had a location at the second (upscale) version of Greenville Mall for only a few years in the 1990s. It became a Proffitt's (sic), which was like a JC Penney, and then closed, even though Belk bought both chains. The Greenville Mall store had a center court with lots of natural light, nice clothes and good service.

Ivey's was downtown and then at McAlister Square. It was Greenville's "high-end" department store at the time. It's been so long that I don't remember what it would compare to today, although it was definitely higher-end than Belk and probably fancier than Dillard's, too. Dillard's bought it in 1990 or so and then the McAlister Square store (which was then a Dillard's) closed in 1995.

Any others?

[g-man430]

Oshman’s, Montgomery Ward, and Uptons.

[UpstateJohn]

Not really a store, but I miss Jjrs and Lonestar steakhouse.

[Carolina Knight]

I miss Harris Teeter, Montgomery Ward, and Oshman's.

Harris Teeter is returning if it stays on schedule in opening its new stores in Greenville.

Oshman's was the best sporting goods store. It was the only sporting goods retailer that sold hockey gear.

[vistatiger]

JB White and Montgomery Ward at the Greenville Mall. Rich's before it became Macy's.

Ivey's at McAllister Square and Hillcrest in Spartanburg were very classy stores. That chain was owned by beloved Marshall Fields at one point I believe. They got a lot of their great customer service culture from them.

Greenville's own dept. store Meyers/Arnold at McAllister and across the upstate was very nice. Never understood why they sold out to Upton's out of Atlanta because Upton's was a cheaper store like JCP or Kohl's. Meyers/Arnold was more upscale.

[Dan In SC]

Bob Evans and Mimi's Cafe

[tylerSC]

Originally Posted by vistatiger

JB White and Montgomery Ward at the Greenville Mall. Rich's before it became Macy's.

Ivey's at McAllister Square and Hillcrest in Spartanburg were very classy stores. That chain was owned by beloved Marshall Fields at one point I believe. They got a lot of their great customer service culture from them.

Greenville's own dept. store Meyers/Arnold at McAllister and across the upstate was very nice. Never understood why they sold out to Upton's out of Atlanta because Upton's was a cheaper store like JCP or Kohl's. Meyers/Arnold was more upscale.

JB White and Ivey's both became Dillard's. A former JB White at Augusta Mall in Georgia is a very nice store. Ivey's was based in Charlotte and more upscale than Belk. It later had the same corporate owners as Marshall Field's, which was bought by May Co. which also owned Hecht's. And those stores, as we know, along with Rich's, all became Macy's. In fact, most regional dept. store chains across the country were converted to Macy's. Although many indeed miss Rich's, the backlash regarding the conversion of Marshall Field's is the most severe, as Macy's has struggled to retain a following in the Midwest regions. The former Lazarus division which was affiliated with Rich's under Federated is doing much better in Ohio. And as mentioned, all the former Proffitt's and Parisian stores were acquired by Belk from former owner Saks Inc. Back in October a former Macy's in Kentucky was converted to Belk, and early next year the former Bon-Ton store in Hagerstown, Maryland will also become Belk. Meanwhile Macy's is trying to revitalize its top performing stores, and close the poor performers in secondary malls which resulted in too many poorly managed stores after the series of mergers.