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Parisian

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For other uses, see Parisian (disambiguation).
Parisian

<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:16px 0 16px 0;">Image:PARISianlogo.PNG</td></tr>

Type Specialty Department Store
Founded 1887 in Birmingham, Alabama
Headquarters Birmingham, Alabama

<tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Key people</th><td>Toni Browning, CEO & President</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Industry</th><td>Retail</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Products</th><td>Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Slogan</th><td>"You're Somebody Special"</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Website</th><td>http://www.parisian.com/</td></tr>

Contents

Parisian is a moderate to upscale U.S. chain of department stores, based in Birmingham, Alabama known for its superior level of personalized service and limited distribution of specialty brands such as Juicy Couture, Karen Kane, BCBG Max Azria, Garfield & Marks, Tahari, Jig Saw, 7 For All Mankind, Diesel, Paper Denim & Cloth, Robert Talbott, Tommy Bahama, Joseph Abboud, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Callaway, Cutter & Buck, Indigo Palms, Bobbi Brown, Brahmin, French Connection, Laura Mercier, Trish McEvoy, Donald Pliner, Stuart Weitzman, Kate Spade, Salvator Ferragamo, Sigrid Olsen, Jones New York Signature, MAC, Via Spiga, Brighton, Cole Haan, and Coach, which are typically carried only at specialty stores. Parisian also supplements its merchandise assortments with a selection of proprietary brands and premier national brands.[1]

Parisian stores in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio are operated by The Bon-Ton. All other Parisian locations are part of Belk. Former owner Saks Incorporated agreed to sell Parisian to Belk for $285 million on August 2, 2006 and completed the sale on September 30, 2006. In turn, Belk then announced the closing of 11 Parisian stores, selling five of them to Bon-Ton.

Image:Parisian Store.jpg

[edit] History

The chain was founded by sisters Bertha and Estella Sommers under the name Parisian Dry Goods & Millinery Company in 1887 in Birmingham. In 1945, Parisian adopted an aggressive program of brand-name merchandising and enhanced customer service as it expanded. In 1983 it became a publicly traded company and it joined Proffitt's Inc., in 1996. In September of 1998, Proffitt’s, Inc. and Saks Holdings, Inc. completed a merger transaction where Saks Fifth Avenue and its Off 5th outlet stores became the Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises division of Proffitt’s, Inc. At that time, Proffitt’s, Inc. was renamed Saks Incorporated.

Particularly in its larger markets, Parisian was placed in a marketing tier between the luxury-oriented SFA chain and the company's other more moderate nameplates. At its height, Saks Incorporated operated more than 250 mid-level to high end department stores under its Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises group, the Parisian division, the Northern Department Store Group (Younkers, Herberger's, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store), and its Southern Department Store Group (Proffitt's and McRae's) — plus more than 50 Club Libby Lu specialty shops.

Following the divesting of its Southern Department Store Group in July 2005 to Belk, Inc., and the March 2006 sale of its Northern Department Store Group (controlled under the divisional umbrella of Carson Pirie Scott) to Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., for $1.1 billion, Parisian survived as a division emphasizing its service, fashion, and specialty items much like its New York-born corporate sibling. Though it has shared several markets with SFA, many of Parisian's markets are comparatively smaller in scale.

In January 2006, Saks Incorporated announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives for its 38 Parisian stores (which could lead to a sale), the last of its mid-level department store chains. The company's activity within the last 12 months is seemingly oriented toward the return of Saks Fifth Avenue as an independently operated brand for the first time in more than 30 years. Some industry experts have also speculated that the activity positions a streamlined Saks Incorporated itself for buyout at a later point.

On Wednesday August 2, 2006 it was announced that Belk, Inc. had entered into a stock purchase agreement with Saks Incorporated to acquire 38 Parisian department stores, a 125,000 square foot administrative/headquarters facility in Birmingham, Alabama, and a 180,000 square foot distribution center in Steele, Alabama. Plans have been announced to close one of the distribution centers, in and to change the Parisian stores over to the Belk's nameplate during the third quarter of 2007. With the transaction now complete, Belk operates a total of 315 stores in 19 states. [2]

On October 25, 2006 Belk announced that it has reached an agreement to sell four Parisian stores located in the Midwest to The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. and a fifth store scheduled to open in Clinton Township, Michigan at The Mall at Partridge Creek in fall 2007.

With the sale to Belk, it looked as though the last of Birmingham's historic department store brand names would be lost, joining Pizitz, Loveman's, Yielding's, and Blach's in the annals of history. However, Bon-Ton has expressed interest in keeping the Parisian nameplate for the five stores they acquired.[3]

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Current Parisian Locations

[edit] Alabama

[edit] Arkansas

[edit] Florida

[edit] Georgia

[edit] Indiana

[edit] Michigan


[edit] Mississippi

[edit] Ohio

[edit] South Carolina

[edit] Tennessee

[edit] New Parisian store openings

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008 (will open as Belk)

[edit] Closed Parisian locations

[edit] Alabama

[edit] Florida

[edit] Georgia

[edit] Ohio

[edit] South Carolina

  • Columbia - Columbiana Centre - 95,000 sq. ft., Closed 2/06 to become JCPenney
  • Greenville - Greenville Mall - 120,000 sq. ft, Converted to Proffitt's in 1999; closed in 2004

[edit] Advertising Slogans

  • "You're Somebody Special"

[edit] References

  1. ↑  , Merchandising "Saks Incorporated Annual Report (Parisian)". SEC Filing, 10 April 2006.
  2. ↑  ""The Look" Parisian Fall 2006 Catalog". Parisian., September 2006.
  3. ↑  , Merchandising "For new owner, Parisian is 'bon'". IndyStar.com, 26 October 2006.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Parisian"
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