Belk Leggett, downtown Durham, North Carolina. Exterior, circa 1965 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk Leggett, downtown Durham, North Carolina. Side street exterior, circa 1955 (top) and circa 1965 (bottom) (courtesy Pat Richardson)

former Dillard's (former J.B. White), National Hills Shopping Center, Augusta, Georgia (Photgraphed 1/1/08 by cantnot)

This recently closed Dillard's started life as a J.B. White department store in 1963. It became a Dillard's in 1998 when that company purchased J.B. White's parent company, Mercantile Stores.

Dillard's operated the National Hills store until early 2008, when the decision was made to permanently close this location and relocate to the new Village at Riverwatch, though at the time of this writing, a firm opening date has not been reached for the new location.

Boscov's (former Fowler, Dick & Walker - The Boston Store), 11-23 Court Street, Binghamton, New York. (photo courtesy Pat Richardson)

JCPenney, Valley View Mall, Roanoke, Virginia. Upper level exterior entrance. Photographed 2/22/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Valley View Mall

Belk’s Trade Street Façade through the years

UPDATED with new pictures (3/9/08), (3/27/08) and (4/10/08)

Belk, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior entrance on Trade Street, circa 1950. (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior entrance on Trade Street with lighted roof sign, circa 1974 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Charlotte, North Carolina. Newspaper advertisement showing artist's rendering of skywalk from Overstreet Mall, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. Exterior entrance on Trade Street with skywalk from Overstreet Mall, circa 1980 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

site of former Belk, downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. Skywalk that used to lead into the store from the Overstreet Mall and a commemorative plaque on Trade Street, 2008. (Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
The Belk Archive

Belk, Myrtle Beach Mall (former Colonial Mall Myrtle Beach and Briarcliffe Mall), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Exterior entrance. (Photo taken, 2/28/08. courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Myrtle Beach Mall (former Colonial Mall Myrtle Beach and Briarcliffe Mall), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mall entrance to women's store. (Photo taken, 2/28/08. courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Myrtle Beach Mall (former Colonial Mall Myrtle Beach and Briarcliffe Mall), Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mall entrance to men's store. (Photo taken, 2/28/08. courtesy Pat Richardson)

Macy's (former Hecht's), The Streets at Southpoint, Durham, North Carolina. Exterior at night. Photographed 2/18/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
Macy's (former Hecht's), The Streets at Southpoint

Macy's (former Macy's, Rich's, and Rich's-Macy's before conversion back to Macy's), Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Upper level mall entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)


Macy's (former Macy's, Rich's, and Rich's-Macy's before conversion back to Macy's), Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Sign for down escalator. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

Macy's (former Macy's, Rich's, and Rich's-Macy's before conversion back to Macy's), Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Mall entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

The Many Faces of Belk, Monroe, North Carolina

UPDATED with new pictures and text (3/2/08)

The twentieth century was a time of major changes for American retail. Simple downtown dry goods stores evolved into full line department stores and then moved to the suburbs.

One excellent example of this is the Belk in Monroe, North Carolina. Below you can see the one hundred year evolution of what was a small dry goods store (in 1888)to a typical small town department store (in 1950) into a modern regional destination (by 1960) that eventually relocated to a regional mall (in 1979) to capture even more sales, and is still successful today.

Many thanks for Patrick Richardson for providing most of these historic photos.

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. Original "New York Racket" dry goods store, late 1800s. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. Exterior on sale day, July 19, 1934. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. renovated exterior, 1940s. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. 1950's shoe salesman Hadley Helms. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. 1950's saleswoman. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. circa 1955. (Belk, Inc.)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. Harvest Sale w/ William Henry Belk enjoying the proceedings, 1950. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. Remodeled exterior, sometime in the late 1950s. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe, North Carolina. A typical shopping scene from the 1950s. (Courtesy Pat Richardson)

Belk, Monroe Mall, Monroe, North Carolina. Exterior entrance, 11/2/06. (Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Belk, Monroe Mall
The Belk Archive

former Sears, SouthPark mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Grand Opening advertisement, 1970. (courtesy Pat Richardson).

Previously on LiveMalls
former Sears, SouthPark
SouthPark: The Early Years

Belk, SouthPark mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Fairview Road exterior entrance at night, circa 2003 (courtesy Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Belk, SouthPark
The Belk Archive

Also check out
Charlotte Eats (Pat's new blog)

Belk, Alamance Crossing, Burlington, North Carolina. Photographed 1/21/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
Belk, Burlington Square Mall

Dillard's (former Meyers, Jordan Marsh and Ivey's), Four Seasons Town Centre, Greensboro, North Carolina. Photgraphed 1/21/08.


Dillard's (former Meyers, Jordan Marsh and Ivey's), Four Seasons Town Centre, Greensboro, North Carolina. Photgraphed 5/8/05.

Previously on LiveMalls
Dillard's (former Meyers, Jordan Marsh and Ivey's), Four Seasons Town Centre

JCPenney, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Mall entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

JCPenney, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Vintage view of mall entrance. (courtesy Keith at Malls of America)

JCPenney, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Exterior entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

Dillard's, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Exterior entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

Dillard's, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Mall entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

Belk, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Exterior entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

Belk, Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. Mall entrance. (courtesy cantnot at Grocerying)

JCPenney, Valley View Mall, Roanoke, Virginia. Remodeled lower level entrance. Photographed 1/12/08.

Previously on LiveMalls
JCPenney, Valley View Mall

Dillard's, Short Pump Town Center, Richmond, Virgina. Upper level side exterior entrance. Photographed December 15, 2007.

Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina. Menu for Tuesday's, a restaurant in the mall, circa 1978. (courtesy of Pat Richardson)

Previously on LiveMalls
Eastland Mall, Charlotte, North Carolina

Dillard's, Stony Point Fashion Park, Richmond, Virgina. Exterior façade facing Chippenham Parkway. Photographed December 15, 2007.

Dillard's, Stony Point Fashion Park, Richmond, Virgina. Exterior entrance facing Chippenham Parkway. Photographed December 15, 2007.