Charlotte-based Belk department stores closed due to coronavirus; Target cuts hours
Belk department stores are closed through the end of the month because of the coronavirus, the department store announced Tuesday.
The Charlotte-based department store posted online that its stores are temporarily are closed through March 30, based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance to restrict large gatherings.
“We understand this development can greatly impact our store associates, and we’ve taken steps to support them and their families during this time,” Belk CEO Lisa Harper said in an online letter to customers. “We’re providing benefits and compensation to our impacted workforce during this two-week temporary closure.”
Customers can continue to shop online and through the store’s app, the message states.
Other large retailers, like Apple stores, Anthropologie, REI, Madewell, JCrew and Nike, already announced store closings.
Charlotte-area malls — South Park, Northlake, Carolina Place, Concord Mills and Charlotte Premium Outlets — remain open with shortened hours.
The store closings come a month after Belk announced the elimination of 80 corporate jobs because of restructuring.
The department store, founded in Monroe in 1888, has 294 stores in 16 Southern states. In 2015, Belk was sold to the private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $3 billion.
Other retailers making changes
In a notice to customers Wednesday, Target CEO Brian Cornell announced the retail giant is cutting hours and will close daily at 9 p.m. to replenish and deep clean stores.
Stores also will reserve the first hour of shopping on Wednesdays for vulnerable guests, such as elderly and people with health concerns.
Other stores have implemented a similar policy, including Dollar General, which on Tuesday began opening the first hour of business daily to seniors.
The Fresh Market on Tuesday also began designating special shopping hours of 8-9 a.m, Monday-Friday for seniors and people at risk.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 10:30 AM.