Another Charlotte company decided to end remote work for its corporate employees

Belk is calling its corporate employees back to the Charlotte office after going completely remote since the start of the pandemic.

The department store’s corporate employees will return to in-office work three days at week at Belk’s headquarters at 2801 W. Tyvola Road.

Working in-person together more frequently will help with collaboration and productivity, Belk spokeswoman Jessica Rohlik told The Charlotte Observer on Monday.

Rohlik declined to elaborate on why Belk changed its office work policy, how many employees it affects or when the requirement begins.

The move comes as Charlotte metro’s office vacancy rate hits 24.6% at the end of last year, The Charlotte Observer reported. Many employers have been tackling the decision to get employees back in the office, including offering incentives.

The Charlotte Ledger newsletter first wrote about Belk’s return-to-office mandate.

Belk corporate goes remote

Belk’s corporate employees moved to remote work during the COVID outbreak.

In 2021, Belk said it would sublease its Charlotte headquarters on West Tyvola Road and shift the majority of corporate employees to teleworking. As of February 2021, Belk had about 1,200 corporate office employees. Rohlik declined to say how many corporate employees Belk has now.

At that time, Belk officials said productivity and communications had improved during the pandemic, and employees “overwhelmingly” supported working from home.

Belk also planned to use excess space in local stores for meeting rooms and offices, which the company said would help corporate employees work more closely with store products and customers.

Belk changes amid bankruptcy, debts

Belk has six more years on its lease at West Tyvola Road. The 15-year lease was signed in 2016.

That move came just months after three generations of the Belk family sold the department store chain to private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $3 billion in December 2015.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, the now 136-year-old department store was facing a $2 billion debt load and declining store sales.

Belk filed for and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2021. The bankruptcy plan was approved within 24 hours, cutting its debt load by about $450 million, the Observer previously reported.

Belk also saw multiple leadership changes, including a lawsuit.

Lisa Harper, who had been Belk CEO since 2016 and was the company’s first CEO outside of the Belk family, was replaced July 2021 by longtime Belk employee Nir Patel.

But less than a year in the role, he left and Don Hendricks replaced him. Belk sued Patel, another former executive and GameStop Corp. over alleged “deceptive trade practices.” Belk filed a voluntary motion to dismiss the case with prejudice in 2022, and terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Then last July, Belk unloaded more than $950 million in debt and gave some lenders more controlling interests in the company.

The financial restructuring also included securing $485 million in new financing as part of its strategy to strengthen its financial standing.

Belk’s retail moves

The iconic Southern department store has been shifting its focus, too.

In 2023, Belk debuted its first outlet store in Greeneville, Tennessee. Belk has opened over a dozen stores since, including one in North Carolina at at Northlake Mall in Charlotte. Belk now has 17 outlet stores in 12 states, according to the company’s website. The company’s job listings online also show Gastonia’s Eastridge Mall as an outlet store.

Belk also has been expanding its national brand product offerings by adding over 180 new brands, Belk said last May.

The company has 17,000 employees and nearly 300 department stores in 16 Southeast states.

This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 1:50 PM.