Atlanta a 'critical market' for Belk

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Belk Inc., a Southern department store chain, has been upping the ante in Atlanta. In the last two years, the company has spent $35 million expanding Atlanta stores and building new ones.

In March, Belk will open new stores in Newnan and Bethlehem, near Winder. Combined, the new stores created 200 jobs and cost $19.6 million to build.

 … The chain may need to do more to differentiate those stores with segmented marketing, said Randy Stuart, an assistant professor of marketing at the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University.

“You can’t be all things to all people,” she said. “You can’t use the same promotion for everybody. You have to convince the Phipps customer, who likes shopping at Saks, to go there. Give them a reason.”