Have you been to Belk?

I needed some shirts and ties for an upcoming business trip, and perhaps a new suit. So I checked out the new Belk department store, next to the new JCPenney. Belk is new to Texas, so unless you have roots in the Carolinas or the Southeast, you may not be familiar with them. From the grapevine I'd heard Belk was like Kohl's, but with better stuff. Here are my impressions from my first trip to the men's department at Belk:

• Belk indeed is like Kohl's in size, but Belk has much better lighting. The lighting is quite warm and inviting. There's more open space in Belk. I'm not sure if the building is indeed bigger than Kohl's or if there's less merchandise.
  
• The first thing that caught my eye was the brand names they offer: Izod, Colours, Polo, Lucky. Same stuff as Dillards or even Neimans. No problem finding a wide variety of colors, and all the main sizes seemed to be in stock.
  
• I mentioned up top that I was in the market for a new suit. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it off the rack at a department store, because I like having an experienced sales person make sure I get a good fit. Just when I was about to settle on shirts and ties, a gentleman walks up to me, introduces himself and asks if he can help. I decided to take him up on his offer and brought him over to the suit area. I told him what I wanted and he took me right there. I tried on a couple of his suggestions, and he was quite helpful with the fit. In the end, I'm happy I asked for help. You'll get more experienced service at a true men's store, but this guy knew enough about what he was talking about to make me feel comfortable in buying a suit.
  
• Belk has a great selection of ties, and they prefer the brands that favor bright colors, which I like. I hate ties that just hang there and blend in.
  
• The employees are still learning their way around the store and its systems. On a cold dreary Saturday afternoon, the store was quite busy. Combine that with an inexperienced and perhaps incomplete staff and you might need to prepare for a short wait to check out. I'm sure this will get better.
  
• The sales clerks want to get to a first-name basis with you. The guy who helped me called me by name at several key turns in the transaction. I heard other clerks make a point of introducing themselves and learning their customers' names. That's something I've never heard in all my visits to Kohl's.
  
• Much of their merchandise is heavily-discounted, like Kohl's, but not all of it is. All the shirts and ties I bought were "buy one, get one free" or 30-40% off. But be careful. Some of their merchandise (the Polo collection, for instance) was full-boat on this visit.
  

I found it pretty easy to drop $500 in my first visit to Belk, thanks in part to a salesman's timely interjection. Nice store - I'll be back.

What's your first impression, and have you been to the newfangled no-mall JCPenney store next door?