THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030467
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 40 lines
Bargain shoppers in Suffolk and Virginia Beach soon will have a new discount venue.
Tags - a Belk companies outlet that offers discounts on brand-name merchandise - will replace Leggett Outlet Centers in those two South Hampton Roads cities, a company spokesman said.
``The name will change; the stores will remain open,'' said Bob Tysinger, general merchandise manager for Belk in South Boston. ``All of the credit cards will still be good, and we feel we'll be offering our customers a nicer shopping experience.''
Danville-based Leggett Stores Inc., with four South Hampton Roads department stores, was bought last fall by Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk. The buyout also included Leggett Outlet Centers. There are two in Hampton Roads and four elsewhere in Virginia.
The Suffolk store is on Main Street. The Virginia Beach store is on Laskin Road.
``We're already starting to operate the Leggett Outlet Centers under the Tags format,'' Tysinger said. ``Customers probably won't notice a lot of difference.''
Tags is Belk's version of the discount department store, Tysinger said. He compared it to Stein Mart, T.J. Maxx and Burlington Coat Factory. The addition of the six Leggett Outlet Center stores will raise the total number of Tags stores to 16.
Tysinger called Tags a little more ``upscale'' than Leggett Outlet Centers. He said the company plans to invest money in the new Tags stores. The name change will take place in late spring. ILLUSTRATION: TAGS, a Belk companies outlet that offers discounts on
brand-name merchandise, will replace Leggett Outlet Centers in
Suffolk and Virginia Beach. Says Bob Tysinger, general merchandise
manager in South Boston, ``We've already started to operate the
Leggett Outlet Centers under the Tags format.''