Belk

In 1984, I went to work for Belk Department Store. I had worked for them before during college, and then between college and seminary, so I knew them already. I had been a porter, warehouse checker, and sales associate. Now, I came back to be the full-time sales associate in Books and Candy. It was good. I could eat all the candy I wanted, and I did. About a year later, I was promoted to be the Buyer for two stores. I bought Stationery, Luggage, Records, Books, Toys, Candy, Gifts, Housewares, and Small Electrics. It was a big job, but also a lot of fun. I couldn't have done it without Vicki and Paige who kept reminding me what I had done the day before. After three years of buying, they promoted me again to be the Credit Manager. That is where I met Debbie. Another love. We had fun. I thought Debbie was the one. I don't know if she ever knew that, but I think she did. She has now married and changed her name, and we are talking again. Anyway, after a year of Credit Manager, they moved me to another store, and got demoted to Sales Associate in Stationery. Belk was real good about moving folks around. They used to always fire on Mondays, so if you survived past 6pm on Monday, you had a job for the rest of the week. I came back to my original store to be the Sales Associate in Men's Shoes. I did that for a couple of years, until one Sunday night, a guy named Jim Culler was killed in a bike accident. He worked in the warehouse as the Systems Analyst. He took care of making sure we paid the invoices based on what we received. I went to his funeral, and the manager offered me his job at the graveside. I said yes. I got to wear jeans and no nights or weekends. They also taught me how to use a computer. Thanks, guys. Belk announced they were closing their Columbia stores. Financial mismanagement. So, I moved to Accounts Payable. My main job was to explain to vendors why we couldn't pay them. I had a list of lies that my bosses would give me. After Belk closed, I commuted to Charlotte for 4 months with 2 other guys to close the books. We paid $4 million in 4 months to folks. We joked that we could hve written checks to ourselves, and no one would have known, but of course we didn't do that. Belk was a very good experience. I learned a lot about business, good and bad. We used to say that if you could work at Belk, you could work anywhere. That's true.