Uptons was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The chain operated primarily in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, with locations in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The chain was closed in 1999.

History

The first Uptons opened at

Roswell Mall Roswell Town Center, formerly Roswell Mall, is a shopping center located in Roswell, Georgia, built in 1974. It is situated at the intersection of Holcomb Bridge Road and Alpharetta Highway. This mall is not to be confused with the bigger, newer ...

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2010 census, the city had a population of 88,346. The 2020 estimated population was 94,884, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A close suburb of Atla ...

in 1985. Two stores later opened in other parts of Atlanta. In 1987, Uptons acquired 14 stores from Meyers-Arnold of

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

. Thirty-seven locations of the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

-based

J. Byrons Byrons, also known as J. Byrons, Jbyrons, or Jackson Byrons, was an American mid-priced department store chain in Miami, Florida. Byrons was founded in 1896 as a pharmacy called Byrons Red Cross. In 1947, the Byrons flagship store on Flagler Stree ...

department store chain were acquired in 1996. A year later, the company moved its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

from Norcross (a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...

) into the nearby

Peachtree Corners Peachtree Corners is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, and is the largest city in Gwinnett County with a population of 42,243 as of the 2020 US Census. Peachtree Corners is the only ...

area in

Technology Park Atlanta Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

. In July 1999, American Retail Group decided that maintaining the Uptons chain was too costly. By 2000, the chain had closed the last of its seventy-five stores. At the time, American Retail Group also owned clothing retailer

Maurices Maurices Inc., stylized as maurices, is an American women's clothing retail chain based in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1931 in Duluth, the chain comprises more than 1,000 stores in the United States and Canada, primarily located in shopping malls ...

, Inc.;

sporting goods Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

chain

Eastern Mountain Sports Eastern Mountain Sports (or EMS) is an outdoor clothing and equipment retailer in the Northeastern United States headquartered in Meriden, Connecticut. EMS sells outdoor equipment and clothing from both name brands and its own EMS line. The compa ...

, Inc; and The Hub, Inc. (which comprised the clothing chains Millers Outpost,

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. () is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's () brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to o ...

Outlet by M.O.S.T., Dockers Outlet by M.O.S.T., Juxtapose and Anchor Blue).

References

{{reflist Defunct department stores based in Atlanta Companies based in Gwinnett County, Georgia American companies established in 1985 Retail companies established in 1985 Retail companies disestablished in 1999 Defunct companies based in Georgia (U.S. state)