- Proffitt's
Infobox_Defunct_Company | company_name = Proffitt's, Inc.| company_| fate = Acquired by
Belk
subsid =McRae's
foundation = 1919| defunct =March 8 ,2006
location =Alcoa, Tennessee | industry =Retail | products = Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares| homepage = None|Proffitt's was a department store chain based in
Alcoa, Tennessee . On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's andMcRae's stores were converted intoBelk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 fromSaks Incorporated .History
Beginnings
D.W. Proffitt and James Ellis founded the Ellis-Proffitt Co. on Main Street in downtown Maryville,
Tennessee , in 1919. The first store had seven department consisting of ladies ready-to-wear, ladies accessories, millinery, men's shoes, dry goods, and bargain basement. Ellis sold his share of the company to Proffitt in 1921 due to illness. The company expanded by opening its second store inAthens, Tennessee in 1936. In the 1960s, the Maryville store moved from downtown to Midland Plaza in Alcoa. In 1982 the store relocated again to Foothills Mall in Maryville where 2 stores remained until the Belk acquisition, one for Women and the other for Men, Kids, and Home. A warehouse and distribution center opened in Maryville in 1970. A location in Knoxville opened in 1972 inWest Town Mall with an Oak Ridge store following in 1974. A second Knoxville store was added in 1984 at East Towne Mall (nowKnoxville Center ). Also in 1984 the family-owned company was acquired by RBM Acquisition Co led byR. Brad Martin .Going public
Proffitt's Inc. went public on
July 3 ,1987 on the NASDAQ market under the symbol PRFT. [http://www.saksincorporated.com/aboutus/ Saks, Inc. History] , Saks, Inc. website, accessed July 17, 2008] TheWest Town Mall location in Knoxville was expanded to convert|122000|sqft|m2|-2 later that year making it the largest store in the chain. Proffitt's purchased theChattanooga based Loveman's Department Store adding four Chattanooga stores and one inDalton, Georgia , its first location outside of Tennessee. A new convert|80000|sqft|m2|-3 store opened inBiltmore Square Mall in Asheville, North Carolina in 1989, bringing the total stores to eleven. The 1992-1993 years saw a number of acquisitions making Proffitt's one of the fastest growing retailers in the US. During that time, the company purchased 18Hess's locations in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia. Some of these locations were formerlyMiller's of Tennessee stores. This added new stores inRome, Georgia ; Elizabethtown andAshland, Kentucky ;Bristol, Virginia ; and Kingsport andJohnson City, Tennessee . In early Fall 1992, just shortly before the Hess's purchase was completed, a new Proffitt's store opened inThe Mall at Johnson City in the company's entry into the Tri-Cities market. The Hess's purchase led to a dual-store format in the mall, similar to the one in the Foothills Mall in Maryville. In Johnson City, once the Hess's store was vacated and renovated, the Men's and Home Stores were moved to that building, leaving Women's and Children's in the newly constructed Proffitt's building.Acquisitions of McRae's and Parks-Belk
Proffitt's purchased the
Jackson, Mississippi basedMcRae's chain in 1994. The McRae's stores, unlike the previous acquisitions, would continue to operate under their nameplate and operational division In 1995, Proffitt's purchasedParks-Belk , an independently owned affiliate ofCharlotte, North Carolina basedBelk , Inc. This purchase gave Proffitt's a presence for the first time inGreeneville, Tennessee , and gave the company an additional store in each mall in Kingsport and Johnson City. A Parks-Belk location inMorristown, Tennessee was part of the deal, but the store was closed instead of being converted to a Proffitt's. The Johnson City Proffitt's was already operating under the dual location concept and this gave the company three stores in the same mall. The former Hess's store (now home toGoody's Family Clothing ) which housed the Men's and Home Store was vacated and relocated to the former Belk site along with the Children's department. This move created the largest Proffitt's Men's Store in the company and allowed the Women's department its own store. The former Hess store in theFort Henry Mall in Kingsport was transformed into the largest Proffitt's Home Store, with all other departments remaining in the former Parks-Belk location. Proffitt's would later open stores inSpartanburg, South Carolina , Morgantown and Parkersburg, WV, and they would eventually build a new store atCollege Square Mall inMorristown, Tennessee .Acquisitions of Parisian, Younkers and Carson Pirie Scott
Birmingham, Alabama, based
Parisian andYounkers ofDes Moines, Iowa , were both acquired in 1996 and retained their names and operating units.Herberger's was purchased in 1997 and kept its nameplate and the company moved from the NASDAQ to the NYSE and began trading under the PFT symbol. The company purchased theCarson Pirie Scott chain in 1998 which also consisted ofBoston Store andBergner's and they continued to operated those store under their respective names. Later in 1998, the company purchased North Carolina basedBrody's and those stores were converted to the Proffitt's name. 1998 also saw Proffitt's acquire a group of 15 stores fromDillard's after its buyout ofMercantile Stores . Five formerCastner Knott store in Nashville, Tennessee were renamed Proffitt's, but sold in 2001 toMay Department Stores after proving marginally profitable under Proffitt's management. The former Brody's stores were sold toBelk in 2004. Also, in 2004, Proffitt's opened a store inAlabama at theRiverchase Galleria in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover in the location vacated by Macy's. The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store, Herberger's, and Younkers names were eventually sold to Bon-Ton Stores onMarch 6 ,2006 .Merger with Saks Fifth Avenue
Late 1998 would see the biggest name change when Proffitt's purchased Saks Holdings Inc, the holding company for luxury retailer
Saks Fifth Avenue . Upon closing of the acquisition the company name changed toSaks Incorporated and the NYSE symbols changed to SKS.ale to Belk
The McRae's operations would ultimately be consolidated into the Proffitt's division's Alcoa, Tennessee, based offices. They would however, continue to operate under the McRae's name. The year 2005 would signal the end of the Proffitt's and McRae's with the purchase of those stores by Belk. On
March 8 ,2006 , all McRae's and Proffitt's stores were converted into Belk stores. The conversion ended two of the most well-known retailing names in the south. The only exceptions were two Alabama McRae's stores in Tuscaloosa and Gadsden, which were retained to convert into Parisian locations. OnOctober 2 ,2006 , the Parisian unit was sold to Belk and these two locations converted to Belk stores almost a year after the purchase.Former Proffitt's locations
hidden begin
title = Former Proffitt's locations
titlestyle = background:#CCCCFF; text-align:left;
bodystyle = text-align:left;Alabama
*Birmingham -
Riverchase Galleria "(opened 2004 - originally aMacy's store, converted toBelk in 2006, closed 2007 asBelk now occupies the former Parisian and McRae's stores in the mall, now vacant, building to be demolished and replaced byNordstrom in 2012)"Georgia
*
Dalton -Walnut Square Mall
*Rome -Mount Berry Square Mall Kentucky
*
Ashland -Ashland Town Center
*Elizabethtown, Kentucky -Towne Mall North Carolina
*Asheville -
Biltmore Square Mall Opened 1989 ( nowBelk )
*Goldsboro -Berkeley Mall (" - originally a Brody's store")
*Greenville -Colonial Mall ("formerlyThe Plaza Mall - originally a Brody's store")
*Kinston -Vernon Park Mall (" - originally a Brody's store")
*Rocky Mount -Golden East Crossing ("opened 1998 - originally a Brody's store")outh Carolina
*
Spartanburg -Westgate Mall (formerlyJ.B. White )
*Greenville -Greenville Mall (formerlyParisian )Tennessee
*Alcoa: Midland Center - "(opened 1962, closed 1982, relocation)"
*Antioch -Hickory Hollow Mall (opened asCastner Knott , became Proffitt's 1998, sold toHecht's in 2001, nowMacy's )
*Athens -Proffitt's Plaza
*Chattanooga -Eastgate Mall
*Chattanooga -Hamilton Place Mall
*Chattanooga - Northgate Mall
*Cleveland -Bradley Square Mall
*Franklin -CoolSprings Galleria (opened asCastner Knott , became Proffitt's 1998, sold toHecht's in 2001, nowMacy's )
*Greeneville -Greeneville Commons
*Goodlettsville -RiverGate Mall (opened asCastner Knott , became Proffitt's 1998, sold toHecht's in 2001, nowMacy's )
*Johnson City -The Mall at Johnson City Ironically, Proffitt's purchased the Parks-Belk store in the late 1990s and converted the store to their nameplate, Proffitt's purchased the oldHess's store (now Goody's) and moved their store. Both stores here are nowBelk .
*Kingsport -Fort Henry Mall The Parks-Belk store was purchased in the late 1990s and converted to Proffitt's giving them two locations in the mall. Both stores are nowBelk .
*Knoxville -Knoxville Center Mall NowBelk
*Knoxville -West Town Mall NowBelk
*Maryville: Downtown, Broadway - "(opened 1919, closed 1962, relocation)"
*Maryville - Foothills Mall - NowBelk
*Morristown -College Square Mall NowKohl's due toCollege Square Mall already havingBelk as an anchor.
*Nashville -Bellevue Center (opened asCastner Knott , became Proffitt's 1998, sold toHecht's in 2001, nowMacy's )
*Nashville -The Mall at Green Hills (opened asCastner Knott , became Proffitt's 1998, sold toHecht's in 2001, nowMacy's )
*Oak Ridge -Oak Ridge City Center NowBelk Virginia
*
Bristol -Bristol Mall :*Main store - originallyHess's ; converted toBelk :*Home store - originally Parks-Belk; converted to Belk Home Store
*Chesapeake :*Chesapeake Square Mall - becameDillard's 1997:*Greenbrier Mall - originallyHess's ; becameDillard's Men's 1997, nowJCPenney
*Glen Allen -Virginia Center Commons - originallyHess's ; becameDillard's 1997
*Hampton -Coliseum Mall - originally Rices Nachmans, laterHess's ; became secondDillard's store 1997, mall later demolished.
*Newport News -Patrick Henry Mall - originally Rices Nachmmans, laterHess's ; becameDillard's 1997
*Richmond -Chesterfield Town Center - originallyHess's ; becameDillard's Men's 1997, currently vacant
*Virginia Beach -Pembroke Mall - opened as Rices Nachmans, laterHess's ; becameDillard's 1997, later Freight Liquidators, wing of mall demolishedWest Virginia
*
Morgantown -Morgantown Mall - NowBelk
*Parkersburg -Grand Central Mall - NowBelk References
External links
* [http://www.belk.com/ Belk]
* [http://www.saksincorporated.com/ Saks Incorporated]
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