Uptons
{{Short description|Department store in Atlanta, Georgia}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Uptons
| logo = Uptons Department Store Final Logo.png
| type = department store
| genre =
| defunct = 2000
| founder = George Upton
Bobby Upton
| location_city = Norcross, Georgia
| location_country = United States
| locations = 75
| area_served = Southeastern United States
| fate = Divested by American Retail Group
| key_people =
| industry = retail
| products =
| services =
| owner = American Retail Group
}}
Uptons was a department store based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The chain operated primarily in the Southeastern United States, 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 in Roswell, Georgia in 1985.{{cite news|last=Moody|first=Carl|title=Roswell Mall grows with new tenant|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB7C164A1D90B4F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|work=The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution|date=7 March 1985|access-date=12 August 2016}} Two stores later opened in other parts of Atlanta. In 1987, Uptons acquired 14 stores from Meyers-Arnold of Greenville, South Carolina.{{cite news|last=Lester|first=Debra|title=Westgate Meyers to Close|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19870802&id=76UeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ns4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3366,259976|work=The Herald-Journal|via=Google News|date=2 August 1987|access-date=12 August 2016}}
Thirty-seven locations of the Florida-based J. Byrons department store chain were acquired in 1996.{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_199601/ai_n14962670 |title=ARG folds 37 Byrons into Uptons.(American Retail Group)(Brief Article) |access-date=2007-09-29 |date=January 1996 |work=Daily News Record}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}} A year later, the company moved its headquarters from Norcross (a suburb of metro Atlanta) into the nearby Peachtree Corners area in Technology Park Atlanta.{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1997/12/08/newscolumn1.html |title=Uptons moving headquarters to Technology Park |access-date=2007-09-29 |date=1997-12-05|work=Atlanta Business Chronicle |first=Tony |last=Wilbert}}
In July 1999, American Retail Group decided that maintaining the Uptons chain was too costly.{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1999/09/20/newscolumn4.html |title=Uptons: Interest in its sites leads to verbal deals |access-date=2007-09-29 |date=1999-09-17 |work=Atlanta Business Chronicle |first=Libby |last=Waldrop}} By 2000, the chain had closed the last of its seventy-five stores.{{cite web |url=http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/072099/new_uptons.shtml |title=Uptons stores to be shut down |access-date=2007-09-29 |date=1999-07-20 |work=Online Athens |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802084930/http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/072099/new_uptons.shtml |archive-date=2009-08-02 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1999/07/19/daily1.html |title=Uptons stores to close |access-date=2007-09-29 |date=1999-07-19 |work=Atlanta Business Chronicle}} At the time, American Retail Group also owned clothing retailer Maurices, Inc.; sporting goods chain Eastern Mountain Sports, Inc; and The Hub, Inc. (which comprised the clothing chains Millers Outpost, Levi's Outlet by M.O.S.T., Dockers Outlet by M.O.S.T., Juxtapose and Anchor Blue).