Belk — Local services in Kingsport

I was pleasantly surprised to find a full department store in town, it was clean and well stocked. On my first visit, I did not feel welcome. I actually filled out a survey with my honest feedback, which I almost never do. To my surprise, the manager reached out to me personally. She was so sweet. I appreciated her authenticity, she genuinely wanted to make it right. I will be back again! :)

*update, the manager and Belk team sent me a sweet surprise thank you in the mail. It was completely unexpected, and truly touched my heart! I can see that the management really cares about taking care of people, not just counting transactions, as has become the norm for many chain businesses. The manager who contacted me referred to her customers as “guests,” which says a lot. I hadn’t spent a lot of money on that fateful first visit, but regardless, she went out of her way, above and beyond, to let me know that all are welcome.

The overall store and shopping experience was great. There wasn't a huge line, and the floor presentation was nice. But that's not why I give this place 2 stars. The issue is employees/management while I understand the mall isn't very busy, and there's not much foot traffic through Belk.... it's very very disrespectful and just unprofessional for a Belk employee to be sitting up on a check out counter on their phone while other employees around them in the SAME department are busy finding things to do (straighten merchandise, check fitting rooms, keep up overall store presentation etc.). Regardless of how busy the store is or isn't you find something to do, or stand there NOT on your phone and most definitely do not SIT on a SALES counter. I hope this issue will be fixed because it definitely made this shopping...

Honestly Belk isn't my type of store. It's all a marketing scheme discounting overpriced merchandise so it feels like your getting higher-end clothes for a great deal. Really you're getting a $20 shirt that was marked up to $50 and "discounted" to $30. ... still, if this is your thing, it's a good store. You can actually get great deals here and they sell relatively good quality cute stuff. There merchandise is a bit over crowded and out of sorts but not unbearably. Fairly clean and bright and well organized for a department store. I'd give it lower stars, honestly, but the sales clerked who checked us out was so exceedingly patient, the whole place deserves an extra star...