Proffitt's
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| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by Belk |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Defunct | March 8, 2006 |
| Headquarters | Alcoa, Tennessee |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares |
| Parent | Saks, Inc. (1998-2005) |
| Subsidiaries | McRae's |
| Website | None |
Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc.
Jeweler David W. Proffitt and James Ellis founded the Ellis-Proffitt Co. on Main Street in downtown Maryville, Tennessee, in 1919. The first store had seven departments: ladies ready-to-wear, ladies accessories, millinery, men's shoes, dry goods, and bargain basement. Ellis sold his share of the company to Proffitt in 1921 due to illness. The company expanded by opening its second store in Athens, Tennessee in 1936. In the 1960s, the Maryville store moved from downtown to Midland Plaza in Alcoa.
In 1982 the store relocated again to Foothills Mall in Maryville where two stores remained until the Belk acquisition, one for Women and the other for Men, Kids, and Home. A warehouse and distribution center opened in Maryville in 1970. A location in Knoxville opened in 1972 in West Town Mall with an Oak Ridge store following in 1974. A second Knoxville store was added in 1984 at East Towne Mall (now Knoxville Center). In 1984, the company had four stores and annual sales of $40 million.
For the first 65 years of its existence, the company was a family-owned business, but in 1984 it was acquired by RBM Acquisition Co., led by R. Brad Martin.
Proffitt's Inc. went public on July 3, 1987 on the NASDAQ market under the symbol PRFT. The West Town Mall location in Knoxville was expanded to 122,000 square feet (11,300 m2) later that year making it the largest store in the chain. Proffitt's purchased the Chattanooga based Loveman's Department Store in 1986, adding four Chattanooga stores and one in Dalton, Georgia, its first location outside of Tennessee.
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