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Industry | Retail |
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Founded | 1919 |
Defunct | March 8, 2006 |
Fate | Acquired by Belk |
Headquarters | |
Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares |
Parent | Saks, Inc. (1998-2005) |
Subsidiaries | McRae's |
Website | Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index) |
Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc. At the time of their demise they operated 47 Proffitts & McRae's stores.
Jeweler David W. Proffitt and James Ellis founded the Ellis-Proffitt Co. on Main Street in downtown Maryville, Tennessee, in 1919. [1] The first store had seven departments: 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, eventually expanding to occupy two stores in the mall, following the departure of Hess's from the market. Both stores remained throughout 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). In 1984, the company had four stores and annual sales of $40 million (~$99.3 million in 2023). [2]
For the first 65 years of its existence, the company was a family-owned business, but in 1984 it was acquired by RBM Acquisition Co., led by R. Brad Martin. [2]
Proffitt's Inc. went public on July 3, 1987, on the NASDAQ market under the symbol PRFT. [3] The West Town Mall location in Knoxville was expanded to 122,000 square feet (11,300 m2) later that year making it the largest store in the chain. Proffitt's purchased the Chattanooga based Loveman's Department Store in 1986, adding four Chattanooga stores and one in Dalton, Georgia, its first location outside of Tennessee.
In 1989, a new 80,000 square feet (7,000 m2) store opened in Biltmore Square Mall in Asheville, North Carolina, bringing the total stores to eleven. The years 1992 and 1993 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 fall 1992, 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.
Proffitt's purchased the Jackson, Mississippi based McRae's chain in 1994. [3] The McRae's stores, unlike the previous acquisitions, continued to operate separately and under their nameplate. 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 Forever 21, formerly 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.
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. In the same year the company moved from the NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange and began trading under the PFT symbol. The company purchased the Carson Pirie Scott chain [3] in 1998 which also consisted of Boston Store and Bergner's and they continued to operate those stores 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 (operated as Hecht's until 2006, now Macy's) 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 which now houses a Von Maur store. The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store, Herberger's, and Younkers names were eventually sold to Bon-Ton Stores on March 6, 2006. [3]
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, Inc. and its NYSE ticker symbol changed to SKS. [3]
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 names with the purchase of those stores by Belk. [3] 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 southern United States. 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 [3] and these two locations were rebranded as Belk stores almost a year after the purchase.
Parisian Inc. was an American chain of upmarket department stores founded and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Competing mainly through the 1980s against Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Gus Mayer, Parisian underwent a series of restructurings and mergers during its 130-year history, and was taken over by Proffitt’s, Inc. in 1996. In September 2006, Belk purchased Parisian from Saks for $285 million with twenty-four locations later becoming Belk by September 2007. Parisian was quickly sold once more in October 2006 to The Bon-Ton with stores operating in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Parisian operated individually under its own separate division until 2013 when the exclusive rights to operate Parisian had expired, marking the end of this upmarket department store.
Younkers Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout Iowa and bordering states in the Midwest region of the United States. It is pronounced yong-kers. Younkers became influential as it acquired several rivals throughout the 20th century both inside and outside of Iowa. The chain itself was sold by the late 1990s, with ownership transferring out of state, and its Des Moines-based headquarters closed by 2003 as a part of a corporate consolidation. Following its last sale in 2006, Younkers operated as a subsidiary of The Bon-Ton, with locations in seven Midwestern states, primarily in shopping malls. As of 2013 the chain operated more than fifty locations in the region. On August 29, 2018, Younkers closed its doors one last time.
Saks, Inc. was an American holding company founded in 1919. Before acquisition by the Canadian-founded Hudson's Bay Company in 2013, it held ownership of department store chains including New York City-based Saks Fifth Avenue (1998–2013) and Tennessee-based Proffitt's (1919–2005). It acquired several mid-range department store chains in the 1990s, however, refocused on upscale retailing and divested of them in the mid-2000s.
Riverchase Galleria, locally known as The Galleria, is a large, super–regional shopping mall and mixed use development in Hoover, Alabama, in the Greater Birmingham metropolitan area. It is ranked 43rd on the list of largest shopping malls in the United States. It is the largest enclosed shopping center in Alabama.
Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company also has stores in 27 more states; however, it is absent from the Northeast, most of the Upper Midwest, and most of the West Coast, aside from three stores in California.
Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and a wedding registry.
McRae's was a mid-range regional department store chain founded and based in Jackson, Mississippi, with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century.
The Boston Store is a digitally native retailer. It was established in 1897 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a department store.
Hamilton Place is an enclosed, two-story shopping mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, just off I-75. It was the largest shopping mall in the state of Tennessee from 1987 to 1998.
Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. The former York, Pennsylvania-based company BonTon filed for bankruptcy in February 2018 and sold the name to CSC Generation, which sold it to BrandX.com in 2021, operating an e-commerce site under the brand name. Along with Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, and Younkers, the names of most of the defunct retail group's department store chains are owned by BrandX.
P.A. Bergner & Co. is an upscale Midwestern department store in the United States, that was established in 1889. The chain is now an online retailer operated by BrandX.com, Inc. The flagship store was located in Peoria, Illinois at The Shoppes at Grande Prairie.
Miller's Department Store was a chain of department stores based in East Tennessee.
Mount Berry Mall, previously named Mount Berry Square, stands as a single-level enclosed shopping destination situated in Rome, Georgia. Serving as the sole enclosed mall within the city, it first opened its doors in 1991. The mall features Belk and Dunham's Sports as its anchor stores and is currently under the ownership and management of the Hull Property Group.
West Oaks Mall is a local mall located in Ocoee, Florida near Orlando. It is anchored by Dillard's Clearance Center, J. C. Penney, a SunPass Customer Service Center, and a Bed Bath & Beyond Call Center, and has 115 store spaces, a food court, and a 14-screen AMC theater.
West Town Mall is a shopping mall located in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Opened in August 1972, this one-level mall is located in the western portion of Knoxville in the West Hills community. West Town Mall is located along Interstates 40/75 and Kingston Pike. The mall has 1,339,000 square feet (124,397 m2) of gross leasable area, making it the largest of any enclosed shopping mall in Tennessee. The anchor stores are Dillard's, Dick's House of Sport, 2 Belk stores, JCPenney, and Cinebarre.
The Mall at Johnson City is an enclosed shopping mall in Johnson City, Tennessee, United States. The mall features over 90 stores and a food court. It is managed by Washington Prime Group. Opened in 1971, the mall features Dick's Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Belk, and JCPenney as anchor stores, with more than 90 inline tenants.
Foothills Mall is an indoor regional shopping mall located in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Foothills Mall features approximately 70 stores and restaurants. Adjacent to the mall is the Foothills Plaza complex which includes several additional restaurants and a Kroger.
Bristol Mall was the only regional shopping mall serving Bristol, Virginia. It opened in 1975. Former anchors included Sears, Belk, JCPenney, and a movie theater. With Bristol being the home of country music, long before Knoxville or Nashville, for many years there had been a museum at the mall, showcasing the legacy this left to the area.
College Square is an indoor regional shopping mall located in Morristown, Tennessee. College Square is owned by Time Equities Inc and managed by Urban Retail Properties. It features approximately 50 stores and restaurants including AMC College Square 12.
Brody Brothers Dry Goods Company, Inc., more commonly referred to as Brody's, was an upscale fashion merchandise chain formerly headquartered in Greenville, North Carolina, with branch stores located in eastern North Carolina. The Brody family remains prominent in eastern North Carolina and the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University was named in their honor.