McRae's was a mid-range regional

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chain founded and based in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, with locations in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century.

History

Samuel P. McRae founded the store in

in 1902 as a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

store. It remained a family-owned business through the ensuing decades, while continuing to grow. Sales increased from only $1 million in 1955 to $10 million in 1970. The first location outside

opened in University Mall (now

University Town Plaza University Town Plaza is an outdoor shopping mall in Pensacola, Florida, United States. It is being developed on the site of the former University Mall, which operated from 1974 to 2013. The mall's original anchor stores were J. C. Penney, Sears ...

) in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

in 1974. In 1987, McRae's acquired 13 stores in Alabama from

Pizitz Pizitz was a major regional department store chain in Alabama, with its flagship store in downtown Birmingham. At its peak it operated 12 other stores, mostly in the Birmingham area with several locations in Huntsville and other Alabama cities. ...

. With strengths in home furnishings, men's apparel, and

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

, the chain was considered one of the most successful family-owned businesses in the country. McRae's was acquired by

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

-based

Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in ...

in 1994 in a transaction that ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called "a case of a little fish swallowing a bigger one."Stephanie Strom
"Proffitt's Department Stores To Buy McRae's Retail Chain"
''The New York Times'', March 4, 1994. McRae's had 28 stores with combined annual sales of $419 million and Proffitt's had 25 stores with annual sales of only $201 million. After the sale, McRae's stores retained their name and were operated as a separate subsidiary. Proffitt's merged with Saks Holdings, owner of

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

, in 1998. The merged company changed its name to Saks Incorporated. Proffitt's and McRae's became part of Saks Incorporated's Southern Department Store Group.

Foley's Foley's was a regional chain of department stores owned by Federated Department Stores (1947–1988, 2005–2006), later owned by May Department Stores (1988–2005) and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the divisi ...

acquired one McRae's in Louisiana at

The Mall at Cortana Cortana Mall (formerly The Mall at Cortana) was an enclosed shopping mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was at the intersection of Airline Highway and Florida Blvd ( U.S. Route 190). It was last owned by Moonbeam Equities of Las Vegas, Nevada. ...

, ran by Mike Herndon. As Saks sought repositioning as a more luxury retail-oriented operation, its mid-range chains became targets for sale. McRae's and Proffitt's were among the first to be sold.

Charlotte Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

-based

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

, the nation's largest privately owned department store chain, bought Proffitt's/McRae's in a deal that closed in July 2005. On March 8, 2006, most McRae's stores were downgraded into

stores, with three stores excluded. Locations in

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

and

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statist ...

were retained by Saks to convert to its Parisian chain, though both stores eventually would be among the Parisian locations also sold to

. In addition, the

Mall of Louisiana The Mall of Louisiana is a mid-scale shopping mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between I-10 and Bluebonnet Blvd. It is the largest mall in Louisiana. It is the only regional mall in Baton Rouge. The anchor stores are 2 Dillard's stores, Dick's ...

store in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

became a

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company a ...

location."Dillard's, Inc. Purchases McRae's Store at The Mall of Louisiana from Belk"
''Business Wire'', August 18, 2005.

References

External links

Details of the sale of McRae's to Belk
from the ''

Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating ...

'', Jackson, Mississippi, April 30, 2005
History of McRae's
timeline, ''

'', Jackson, Mississippi, April 30, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcrae's Retail companies established in 1902 Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Defunct department stores based in Mississippi Defunct companies based in Mississippi 1902 establishments in Mississippi 2006 disestablishments in Mississippi