Belk History

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The Company Description of Its Time

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Belk, Inc. is one of the nation's largest privately owned mainline department store companies - the historical profile's summary, and the frame for everything that follows. The company was founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, N.C., and at the time of the filing was in the third generation of Belk family leadership. Belk.com offers a wide assortment of fashion apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family, along with top name cosmetics, a wedding registry and a large selection of quality merchandise for the home. The brand statement is regional and deliberate: a department store rooted in timeless values and a rich heritage, committed to delivering fashion and today's top brands to the modern Southern woman.

From Downtown Stores to One Company - and a 2015 Sale

John and Tom Belk, sons of the founder, became chief executives in the mid-1950s after their father's death. They developed relationships with manufacturers of national apparel brands and led the migration of Belk stores from older downtown buildings to modern expanded stores in suburban malls and shopping centers throughout the South. In 1967 a single logo unified the Belk brand - the store shed its bargain image for one of fashion, and the big 'B' could be seen all over the South. In 1988 Belk celebrated its 100th anniversary, in 300 stores across 16 states. In 1998, 112 store corporations became one, in one of the largest SEC filings in history, with more than 7,000 pages of legal paperwork.

In 2004 a new generation took the reins: Tim Belk was named chairman and CEO, his brother Johnny president and chief operating officer, and McKay president and chief merchandising officer. They guided the acquisition of key department stores, including Proffitt's, McRae's and Parisian. The later record preserved in historical descriptions give the scale - 303 Belk stores in 16 Southern states occupying 29 million feet of retail space - and then the change of ownership: on August 24, 2015, Belk announced a definitive merger agreement under which investment funds managed by New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners would acquire 100% of Belk in a transaction with an estimated enterprise value at closing of approximately $3.0 billion.

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