Belk, River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia, Mall entrance under renovation in 2005-2006. Photographed with camera phone 9/28/05.
Belk, River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia. Mall entrance detail. Photographed with camera phone 9/28/05.
Belk, River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia. Cosmetics and Fragrances department under renovation. Photographed with camera phone 9/28/05.
Belk, River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia. Men's Chaps Ralph Lauren sportswear department. Photographed with camera phone 9/28/05.
Belk, River Ridge Mall, Lynchburg, Virginia. Escalator well. Photographed with camera phone 9/28/05.Previously on LiveMalls
Belk, River Ridge Mall
In terms of ambience and interior design, I think Belk is unappealingly stogy and downscale. I've been to four of their stores in Alabama, including one anchoring an upscale regional shopping center, and each store had a very uninspiring interior design.
ReplyDeleteI guess years of Dillards, Parisian and even McRaes have left me spoiled.
Great cameraphone photography, by the way. :)
Thanks for the comments. While I respect your opinion, I beg to differ on Belk being "unappealingly stogy and downscale."
ReplyDeleteThe store pictured dates from 1981 and was remodeled for the first time when the photos were taken. It looked better before the renovation (and after) than these progress photos suggest.
Maybe it's because I've lived in the core Belk markets of Virginia and the Carolinas for a while, but I think their store design is typically very good. In fact, it tends to be the best into the mall, especially at flagship locations. Not to take anything away from Dillard’s, Parisian and McRae’s, but I was not bowled over by the design of any of their stores I visited. Dillard's is increasingly cookie-cutter in its design approach, for example, and that minimizes the "wow" effect of visiting individual stores.
I suggest that you check out the numerous Belk store photos form North Carolina and Virginia and consider your opinion on their store design. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how nice their stores are overall.