Uptons was a

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 ...

based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The chain operated primarily in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

, with locations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The chain was closed in 1999.

History

The first Uptons opened at

Roswell Mall Roswell Town Center, formerly Roswell Mall, is a shopping center located in Roswell, Georgia, built in 1974. It is situated at the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Alpharetta Highway. This mall is not to be confused with the bigger, newe ...

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2020 census, the city had a population of 92,883, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A suburb of Atlanta, Roswell has an affluent National Registe ...

in 1985. Two stores later opened in other parts of Atlanta. In 1987, Uptons acquired 14 stores from Meyers-Arnold of

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

. Thirty-seven locations of the

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 ...

-based J. Byrons department store chain were acquired in 1996. A year later, the company moved its

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

from Norcross (a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

) into the nearby

Peachtree Corners Peachtree Corners is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is the largest city in Gwinnett County with a population of 42,243 as of the 2020 U.S. census. Peachtree Corners is the on ...

area in Technology Park Atlanta. In July 1999, American Retail Group decided that maintaining the Uptons chain was too costly. By 2000, the chain had closed the last of its seventy-five stores. At the time, American Retail Group also owned clothing retailer

Maurices Maurices Inc., stylized as maurices, is an American women's clothing retail chain based in Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1931 in Duluth, the chain comprises more than 1,000 stores in the United States and Canada, primarily locat ...

, Inc.;

sporting goods Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since the p ...

chain

Eastern Mountain Sports Eastern Mountain Sports (or EMS) is an American outdoor clothing and equipment retailer in the Northeastern United States headquartered in Meriden, Connecticut. EMS sells outdoor equipment and clothing from both name brands and its own EMS line. ...

, Inc; and The Hub, Inc. (which comprised the clothing chains Millers Outpost,

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

Outlet by M.O.S.T., Dockers Outlet by M.O.S.T., Juxtapose and Anchor Blue).

References

{{reflist Defunct department stores based in Atlanta Companies based in Gwinnett County, Georgia American companies established in 1985 Retail companies established in 1985 Retail companies disestablished in 1999 Defunct companies based in Georgia (U.S. state)