Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks 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 in Athens, 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 in West Town Mall with an Oak Ridge store following in 1974. A second Knoxville store was added in 1984 at East Towne Mall (now Knoxville Center). Also in 1984 the family-owned company was acquired by RBM Acquisition Co led by R. Brad Martin.

Going public

Proffitt's Inc. went public on July 3, 1987 on the NASDAQ market under the symbol PRFT. The West Town Mall location in Knoxville was expanded to later that year making it the largest store in the chain. Proffitt's purchased the Chattanooga based Loveman's Department Store adding four Chattanooga stores and one in Dalton, Georgia, its first location outside of Tennessee. A new store opened in Biltmore 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 18 Hess's locations in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia. Some of these locations were formerly Miller's of Tennessee stores. This added new stores in Rome, Georgia; Elizabethtown and Ashland, Kentucky; Bristol, Virginia; and Kingsport and Johnson City, Tennessee. In early Fall 1992, just shortly before the Hess's purchase was completed, a new Proffitt's store opened in The 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 based McRae'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 purchased Parks-Belk, an independently owned affiliate of Charlotte, North Carolina based Belk, Inc. This purchase gave Proffitt's a presence for the first time in Greeneville, Tennessee, and gave the company an additional store in each mall in Kingsport and Johnson City. A Parks-Belk location in Morristown, 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 to Goody'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 the Fort 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 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Morgantown and Parkersburg, WV, and they would eventually build a new store at College Square Mall in Morristown, Tennessee.

Acquisitions of Parisian, Younkers and Carson Pirie Scott

Birmingham, Alabama, based Parisian and Younkers of Des 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 the Carson Pirie Scott chain in 1998 which also consisted of Boston Store and Bergner's and they continued to operated those store under their respective names. Later in 1998, the company purchased North Carolina based Brody's and those stores were converted to the Proffitt's name. 1998 also saw Proffitt's acquire a group of 15 stores from Dillard's after its buyout of Mercantile Stores. Five former Castner Knott store in Nashville, Tennessee were renamed Proffitt's, but sold in 2001 to May Department Stores after proving marginally profitable under Proffitt's management. The former Brody's stores were sold to Belk in 2004. Also, in 2004, Proffitt's opened a store in Alabama at the Riverchase 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 on March 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 to Saks Incorporated and the NYSE symbols changed to SKS.

Sale 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. On October 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

Alabama

• Birmingham - Riverchase Galleria (opened 2004 - originally a Macy's store, converted to Belk in 2006, closed 2007 as Belk now occupies the former Parisian and McRae's stores in the mall, now vacant, building to be demolished and replaced by Nordstrom 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 (now Belk )
• Goldsboro - Berkeley Mall ( - originally a Brody's store)
• Greenville - Colonial Mall (formerly The 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)

South Carolina

• Spartanburg - Westgate Mall (formerly J.B. White)
• Greenville - Greenville Mall (formerly Parisian)

Tennessee

• Alcoa: Midland Center - (opened 1962, closed 1982, relocation)
• Antioch - Hickory Hollow Mall (opened as Castner Knott, became Proffitt's 1998, sold to Hecht's in 2001, now Macy's)
• Athens - Proffitt's Plaza
• Chattanooga - Eastgate Mall
• Chattanooga - Hamilton Place Mall
• Chattanooga - Northgate Mall
• Cleveland - Bradley Square Mall
• Franklin - CoolSprings Galleria (opened as Castner Knott, became Proffitt's 1998, sold to Hecht's in 2001, now Macy's)
• Greeneville - Greeneville Commons
• Goodlettsville - RiverGate Mall (opened as Castner Knott, became Proffitt's 1998, sold to Hecht's in 2001, now Macy'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 old Hess's store (now Goody's) and moved their store. Both stores here are now Belk.
• 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 now Belk.
• Knoxville - Knoxville Center Mall Now Belk
• Knoxville - West Town Mall Now Belk
• Maryville: Downtown, Broadway - (opened 1919, closed 1962, relocation)
• Maryville - Foothills Mall - Now Belk
• Morristown - College Square Mall Now Kohl's due to College Square Mall already having Belk as an anchor.
• Nashville - Bellevue Center (opened as Castner Knott, became Proffitt's 1998, sold to Hecht's in 2001, now Macy's)
• Nashville - The Mall at Green Hills (opened as Castner Knott, became Proffitt's 1998, sold to Hecht's in 2001, now Macy's)
• Oak Ridge - Oak Ridge City Center Now Belk

Virginia

• Bristol - Bristol Mall

*Main store - originally Hess's; converted to Belk

*Home store - originally Parks-Belk; converted to Belk Home Store

• Chesapeake

*Chesapeake Square Mall - became Dillard's 1997

*Greenbrier Mall - originally Hess's; became Dillard's Men's 1997, now JCPenney

• Glen Allen - Virginia Center Commons - originally Hess's; became Dillard's 1997
• Hampton - Coliseum Mall - originally Rices Nachmans, later Hess's; became second Dillard's store 1997, mall later demolished.
• Newport News - Patrick Henry Mall - originally Rices Nachmmans, later Hess's; became Dillard's 1997
• Richmond - Chesterfield Town Center - originally Hess's; became Dillard's Men's 1997, currently vacant
• Virginia Beach - Pembroke Mall - opened as Rices Nachmans, later Hess's; became Dillard's 1997, later Freight Liquidators, wing of mall demolished

West Virginia

• Morgantown - Morgantown Mall - Now Belk
• Parkersburg - Grand Central Mall - Now Belk

References

External links

• Belk
• Saks Incorporated