Saks Sells Four Proffitt's to Belk

Birmingham, Ala., Saks Inc. agreed to sell four North Carolina Proffitt's stores to Belk, Inc. Belk will assume the leases on the properties. The properties are the 90,000 square foot store in the Colonial Mall in Greenville, the 80,000 square foot store in the Golden East Crossing Mall in Rocky Mount, the 50,000 square foot store in the Vernon Park Mall in Kinston, and the 52,000 square foot store in the Berkeley Mall in Goldsboro. Proffitt's plans to operate the stores through the end of February, when the leases, fixtures and equipment will transfer to Belk.

"We continue to evaluate our real estate portfolio and rationalize it as appropriate in order to focus our resources on our most productive locations," said George Jones, CEO of Saks Department Store Group, said. "This action is consistent with that strategy."