Longtime Cullman residents who consider Belk a decades-old staple of local retail culture can rest easy as the company enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

According to executives with the North Carolina-based retailer, the Cullman store’s not in danger of closing, and no employees are expected to lose their jobs.

Through an agreement with majority owner Sycamore Partners, the nationwide Belk chain revealed earlier this week that it will seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it shores up obligations to lenders through a “prepackaged plan.” 

Those proceedings haven’t begun yet, but once they do, the company is expected to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of February, according to Belk senior director of public relations, events & community Jennifer Anderson.

Via email, Anderson said Wednesday that Belk stores — including the Cullman location — aren’t expected to close as part of the company’s restructuring plan, and that the retailer “expect[s] to move forward on an expedited basis, while continuing normal operations.”

Anderson also said the company expects that “Belk will remain open for business, and our customers will continue to receive the quality merchandise and service they expect when shopping at Belk’s nearly 300 stores across the Southeast and at belk.com.

“Suppliers and landlords will be paid for ongoing and outstanding goods and services provided; and associates will be paid and receive their benefits as usual,” she added. “We do not anticipate any store closings or layoffs in conjunction with this financial restructuring.”

On Tuesday, Belk issued a press release alongside Sycamore Partners indicating that it intends to file for Chapter 11 protection as part of a plan to “recapitalize the business, significantly reduce debt by approximately $450 million, and extend maturities on all term loans to July 2025.

“Under the terms of the [Restructuring Support Agreement] RSA, Sycamore Partners will retain majority control of Belk,” the release added. “The retailer has received financing commitments for $225 million in new capital from Sycamore Partners, leading global investment firms KKR and Blackstone Credit, and certain existing first lien term lenders (the “Ad Hoc First Lien Lender Group”). Pursuant to the RSA, members of an ad hoc crossover lender group led by KKR Credit and Blackstone Credit (the “Ad Hoc Crossover Lender Group”) and other participating lenders will acquire a minority ownership in Belk.”

As with other local retailers, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the Cullman store in the pandemic’s earliest days, with the Cullman location temporarily shutting its doors to customers in mid-March of last year. The store reopened, under new guidelines, later that same spring.