Buyers for the other Proffitt's chains don't want it and don't have to stock it.
Proffitt's centralizes real estate, financial operations and information technology, but each division maintains its own buying office.
But the sort of savings in merchandising that Proffitt's other acquisitions yielded look more remote this time.
When the last Proffitt family member retired as chief executive, Martin quit politics and took over the business.
Although both buy some of the same cosmetics brands, Saks and Proffitt's stores share practically no clothes labels.
City Girl, a line of moderately priced women's casual clothing with ornate touches, is sold only at Proffitt's stores.
Located mostly in Iowa, Younkers would give Proffitt's an entre into the Midwest.
For more on Mike Mullen and his early years, we turn now to DAY TO DAY's senior producer, Steve Proffitt.
Never pressing too hard but remaining persistent, he would talk about what a great addition Younkers' 50-store chain would be for Proffitt's.
Tellingly, Mr Martin is changing Proffitt's own anonymous moniker to Saks Inc.
Proffitt's now boasts 233 stores across the Southeast and Midwest, including such well-known regional department stores as Younkers, Parisian, McRae's, Herberger's and Proffitt's.
Though direct mail has worked well for luxury and mid-priced goods, catalogues may not be the right conduit for Proffitt's more standard fare.
Proffitt's is paying 1.3 times sales, more than double the rate that it has typically paid for so-what store names such as Younkers and Parisian.
A. from Vanderbilt University, Martin invested in real estate on the side and in 1984 bought Proffitt's, a family-owned four-store department store chain in southeastern Tennessee.
With 40% of its stores in towns with populations fewer than 150, 000, Proffitt's is popular with these brands because it gets them where they might not otherwise have an outlet.
On the sales front, Philip Miller, the current boss of Saks, argues that Proffitt's cash flow and real-estate portfolio will speed Saks's plans to open stores, pay for more renovations and help take Saks's name into new countries and new retail formats such as the Internet.
应用推荐