Conn’s and Belk Launch First 5 ‘Store-in-Store’ Locations

The first store-within-a-store pilot locations from a partnership between Belk and Conn’s have opened in five Belk locations, a press release said.

The newly named “Conn’s x Belk” locations will give the regional department store’s customers access to Conn’s home product categories and other services such as next-day deliveries and installation.  The five locations include: Knoxville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Ridgeland, Mississippi; Charleston, South Carolina.

The locations will have numerous Conn’s product categories, including furniture, home electronics and appliances, and the stores will vary between 10,000 to 25,000 square feet depending on the locations.

Conn’s x Belk locations will open throughout this summer and early fall, and Belk has plans for an eCommerce rollout in the fall.

“We’re thrilled that our first five Conn’s x Belk concept stores are open with more coming soon, giving us the opportunity to introduce new customers to Conn’s key differentiators, including our high-quality product assortment, white glove next-day delivery and in-house repair service,” said Chandra Holt, President and CEO of Conn’s, Inc. “This is an important step in our journey to scale, reimagine and strengthen our business.”

PYMNTS spoke with Holt recently, and she talked about her goals for Conn’s, including an ambitious goal to be a “multibillion-dollar omnichannel business by 2025.”

Read more: Conn’s CEO Looks Beyond Current Headwinds, Sees ‘Payment Options for Everyone’

Holt said the path forward would be tied into the roots of the country since its formation 130 years ago, being that the company had always been about “providing access to our financing and high-quality goods.”

According to Holt, a goal of the company is to have a “payment option for everyone,” which will encompass traditional branded credit cards and installment loans, BNPL plans and “old-school layaway plans.”

“We’ve been doing buy now, pay later with our own financing for a long time, so we challenged ourselves; ‘How can we make sure we have a payment option for anyone who walks into Conn’s, no matter what their credit rating is?’ and so we actually recently launched old-school layaway,” Holt said.

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