One of Russellville’s department stores, Belk, announced this week that the Russellville location will be closing but will reopen as Belk Outlet, selling clearance items from larger retailers.
Belk officials advised that the store will close at 8 p.m. on February 27th before having a grand reopening under a new brand name, Belk Outlet.
Staff members at Russellville’s Belk location confirmed the change with excitement, sharing that the change means they’ll be able to get new merchandise that the store did not have previously.
The decision to open the outlet store was made following a successful trial period of a Belk location in Greenville, Tennessee, which has been operating as a new Belk Outlet, selling clearance items from larger retailers. Under their new brand model, Belk reports that they’ve been able to triple their product assortment.
The Greenville, Tennessee Belk Outlet store opened on January 30, pioneering the concept for future stores to replicate.
“Right now, we’re focused on this Belk Outlet and seeing how our customers respond to it,” a Belk spokesperson explained. “We’re confident that our customers are going to like it because of the fantastic prices and the expanded product assortment this location will now be able to accommodate.”
The outlet location does not sell beauty or fine jewelry products and all sales are final.
These changes come within five months of Belk naming Don Hendricks as its new Chief Executive Officer. Hendricks replaced Nir Patel, who resigned after less than a year at Belk to become the Chief Operating Officer at Gamestop.
Similar changes are expected to ripple across the region under the successful new model.
Belk was founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and wedding registries.