Before acquisition by the Canadian-founded Hudson's Bay Company in 2013, it held ownership of numerous regional department store chains including Carson's, McRae's, Parisian, and Proffitt's as well as the New York City-based Saks Fifth Avenue.

After going public under the symbol PRFT on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1987, Proffitt's Inc. grew by acquiring several department stores.

The acquisition brought the Saks Fifth Avenue and Off 5th franchises, as well as Folio, a mail-order business and Saks.com, an online retailer.

The decision resulted in a July 2005 sale of its combined 47 Proffitt's and McRae's stores to Belk for approximately $622 million.

[7] On August 2, 2006, Saks Incorporated announced that it had agreed to sell its upscale 38 Parisian stores, along with two regional distribution centers and Birmingham corporate headquarters to Belk, which rebranded them under their own name in the third quarter of 2007.