Dive Brief:
- Belk is opening 10 more Belk Outlet stores this month, the retailer announced Thursday. The additional locations bring the total Belk Outlet stores to 16.
- Belk is opening the new locations in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Belk Outlets include discounted items that come directly from larger Belk stores and a range of designer brands that locations may not have carried in the past.
- Official celebrations of the new Belk Outlet stores will take place on June 3. To celebrate, the retailer is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony at each location with treats and music for attendees.
Dive Insight:
Belk is opening more outlets after debuting the concept earlier this year in Greeneville, Tennessee. The outlets so far have been met with a positive response, the company said.
Soon after opening its first outlet location, the retailer opened five more of the off-price stores, and is now once again expanding that footprint. Overall, the retailer operates around 300 stores in 16 Southeastern states.
Belk Outlet locations opening in May
| State | City | Address | Opening Date |
| FL | Land O Lakes | 2111 Collier Pkwy | 5/16 |
| FL | Palm Coast | 270 Cypress Edge Dr. | 5/16 |
| GA | Cordele | 907 E. 16th Ave. | 5/12 |
| GA | Saint Marys | 101 City Smitty Dr. | 5/16 |
| LA | Bossier City | 2990 Meadow Creek Dr. | 5/23 |
| MD | Westminster | 400 N. Center St. | 5/23 |
| OK | Stillwater | 2040 N. Perkins Rd. | 5/23 |
| TX | Sherman | 3606 Town Center St. | 5/23 |
| VA | Franklin | 1354 Armory Dr. | 5/23 |
| WV | Parkersburg | 100 Murdoch Ave. | 5/23 |
SOURCE: Belk
But even as the retailer began opening its outlet concept at the start of this year, analysts questioned the company’s health. In February, Moody’s downgraded Belk from Caa2 to Caa3 due to the company’s “unsustainable capital structure that increases the likelihood of default,” the agency wrote.
Last fall, Belk named Don Hendricks as its new CEO. He took the company’s helm after serving as interim CEO since May 2022. He previously served as chief operating officer since 2016.
Hendricks replaced Nir Patel, who was in the chief executive role for less than a year before he left to join Gamestop as COO.
